Business ·
Indiana Seeks More Applicants for Tank Replacement Funding
Officials say annual funding has gone partly unused as county fleets and private owners replace aging underground equipment.
At the Morgan County Highway Department in Martinsville, three underground fuel tanks were being removed after about three decades of service. Superintendent Eddie Fisher expected the removal, replacement and related work to cost $400,000 to $500,000, according to Leslie Bonilla Muñiz’s July 23 report for the Indiana Capital Chronicle, published by WFIU. The Chronicle’s reporting
Fisher expected state reimbursement to reduce the county’s expense after the project was completed. Indiana had paid $21 million toward the retirement of more than 500 tanks by July, agency officials told the Chronicle. Despite those projects, the program had yet to spend its full $20 million annual allocation during any year since its 2023 authorization.
IDEM reviews proposed work before construction begins and decides whether retirement or replacement is warranted by a tank’s age, condition or obsolescence. In its June 2023 program announcement, the agency identified lined steel and first-generation fiberglass systems, tanks more than 30 years old and certain tanks at risk of a major release as possible candidates. Approval covers up to half of eligible expenses; it does not make every part of a replacement project reimbursable. IDEM’s program guidance
Covered work can include removing and disposing of a tank, preparing its closure report and installing a replacement system below the shear valve. Dispensers, canopies, buildings and expanded parking areas fall outside that allowance. Costs for excavating and disposing of contaminated soil discovered during removal must be submitted separately under an eligible leaking-tank incident, a distinction that can change the owner’s expected share of the project. IDEM’s June 2023 program announcement
Payment also depends on when claims are reviewed. IDEM’s program guidance says project approval does not reserve money for that job. Annual reimbursement limits are divided among three groups according to the number of tanks an applicant owns, so an eligibility decision and a payment are separate stages.
Officials were still seeking applicants when the Chronicle visited Martinsville. “We would like to see more applications, more projects come in, because the money is available,” IDEM spokesman Allen Carter told reporters. The Chronicle’s reporting