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State updates underground storage tank cleanup fund: applications rising as single-wall tank deadline nears
Summary
Division of Financial Assistance presented a 2025 status update on the UST cleanup fund: reimbursements over $1 billion in five years, program backlog shifting, new single-wall tank deadline is driving applications and letters of commitment, and companion grants and programs growing.
SACRAMENTO — The State Water Resources Control Board received an annual update on May 6 from the division that manages the Underground Storage Tank (UST) Cleanup Fund, which reimburses costs for cleanup of petroleum releases.
Program status: Staff reported more than $1 billion reimbursed to claimants over the past five years. The fund operates on a per-gallon petroleum storage fee (2¢ per gallon) and was extended through 2035. UST staff said the program saw an 18% increase in applications year-over-year and a roughly 200% increase in “letters of commitment” issued as owners respond to a year-end deadline for single-wall tanks.
Backlog and reimbursements: About 21,000 claims have been received historically; 3,362 claims are active and roughly 83% are for eligible claimants. Fund managers reported $129.3 million in release-to-account reimbursements since July 2024. The program has used 75% of its FY spending authority but had not fully used FY24–25 authority at the time of the briefing.
Companion programs: Staff described multiple companion accounts and grant programs, including commingled-plume assistance, expedited-claims (ECAP) account for stalled long-term sites (average closure post-enrollment ~3 years), Emergency/Abandoned/Recalcitrant (EAR) account for sites where responsible parties won’t comply, school-district accounts, and orphan-site cleanup grants. The RUS program for small UST owners had its largest awards year in program history (75 projects, about $43.2 million committed) driven by the single-wall tank deadline.
Equity and climate work: Division staff described a stalled-case initiative (in partnership with EPA) that has helped close hundreds of long-lived cases and a tribal-engagement task force to reach federally and state-recognized tribes before cleanup activities to avoid impacts on tribal interests. Staff also briefed a joint sea-level-rise and groundwater-rise vulnerability screening tool (EnviroSTOR-DTSC collaboration) slated for beta testing in 2026 and rollout in 2027 to identify closed or current cleanup sites at risk of contaminant remobilization.
Board reaction: Board members thanked staff for the program’s outreach and the stalled-case initiative, and asked staff to continue improving transparency — including maps and dashboards — by integrating fiscal and GeoTracker records. Staff said programming and resource limitations are the current constraint but that work is underway to improve data links.
Ending: Fund managers urged owners of older single-wall tanks to take action before the deadline and told the board the fund is shifting from a historic backlog of closed-case payments to an expected near-term surge of new applications and planning grants as owners replace or remove tanks.
