Amends existing law regarding provisions relating to the funding of the state underground storage tank program and to provide for reporting; to remove a provision that certain training by the department shall be offered at no cost; and to revise a provision regarding fees for department inspections.

The Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ) Underground Storage Tank (UST) Program regulates approximately 3,350 tanks at approximately 1,180 facilities throughout the state. DEQ operates this program in lieu of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to the benefit of Idaho'sregulatedfacilitiesandtheenvironment. Theprogramiscurrentlyfundedbyafederalgrant and state matching funds, however, successive federal grant reductions have made it impossible to maintain the minimum program effort necessary to retain state program authorization (primacy). Furthermore, EPA recently released new UST rules that increase requirements and costs for the agency. The purpose of this legislation is to provide DEQ the authority to begin collecting tank fees to supplement the remaining federal grant dollars and state matching funds. If approved, the UST fee program will be developed through negotiated rulemaking and brought to the legislature for approval. DEQ has requested general fund appropriations to support the UST program while a fee program is developed and implemented. If the proposed fee program is not approved, ongoing general fund appropriations will be necessary to maintain program primacy.