Administrative Rules of Montana
Department 17 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Chapter 17.56 - UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS PETROLEUM AND CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES
Subchapter 17.56.8 - Financial Responsibility
Rule 17.56.803 - DEFINITION OF TERMS
Current through Register Vol. 6, March 22, 2024
For the purposes of this subchapter, the following terms have the meanings given in this rule:
(1) "Accidental release" means any sudden or nonsudden release of petroleum arising from an operating underground storage tank that results in a need for corrective action and/or compensation for bodily injury or property damage neither expected nor intended by the tank owner or operator.
(2) "Bodily injury" has the meaning given to this term by applicable state law; however, this term does not include those liabilities which, consistent with standard insurance industry practices, are excluded from coverage in liability insurance policies for bodily injury.
(3) "Chief financial officer" means the individual with overall authority and responsibility for collection, disbursement, and use of funds by an entity. In the case of local government owners and operators, chief financial officer means the individual with overall authority and responsibility for collection, disbursement, and use of funds by the local government.
(4) "Controlling interest" means direct ownership of at least 50% of the voting stock of another entity.
(5) "Director" means the director of the department.
(6) "Financial reporting year" means the latest consecutive 12-month period for which any of the following reports used to support a financial test is prepared and may comprise a fiscal or a calendar year period:
(7) "Legal defense cost" means any expense that an owner or operator or provider of financial assurance incurs in defending against claims or actions brought,
(8) "Local government" shall have the meaning given this term by applicable state law and, for purposes of this subchapter only, includes Indian tribes. The term is generally intended to include:
(9) "Occurrence" includes an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to conditions, which results in a release from an underground storage tank.
(10) "Owner or operator", when the owner or operator are separate parties, means the party that is obtaining or has obtained financial assurances.
(11) "Petroleum marketing facilities" includes all facilities at which petroleum is produced or refined and all facilities from which petroleum is sold or transferred to other petroleum marketers or to the public.
(12) "Property damage" shall have the meaning given this term by the applicable law of this state. This term shall not include those liabilities which, consistent with standard insurance industry practices, are excluded from coverage in liability insurance policies for property damage. However, such exclusions for property damage shall not include corrective action associated with releases from tanks which are covered by the policy.
(13) "Provider of financial assurance" means an entity that provides financial assurance to an owner or operator of an underground storage tank through one of the mechanisms listed in ARM 17.56.807 through 17.56.811, 17.56.815 through 17.56.817, and 17.56.820, including a guarantor, insurer, risk retention group, surety, issuer of a letter of credit, issuer of a state-required mechanism, or a state.
(14) "Substantial business relationship" means the extent of a business relationship necessary under applicable state law to make a guarantee contract issued incident to that relationship valid and enforceable. A guarantee contract is issued "incident to that relationship" if it arises from and depends on existing economic transactions between the guarantor and the owner or operator.
(15) "Substantial governmental relationship" means the extent of a governmental relationship necessary under applicable state law to make an added guarantee contract issued incident to that relationship valid and enforceable. A guarantee contract is issued "incident to that relationship" if it arises from a clear commonality of interest in the event of an UST release such as coterminous boundaries, overlapping constituencies, common groundwater aquifer, or other relationship other than monetary compensation that provides a motivation for the guarantor to provide a guarantee.
(16) "Tangible net worth" means the tangible assets that remain after deducting liabilities; such assets do not include intangibles such as goodwill and rights to patents or royalties. For purposes of this definition, "assets" means all existing and all probable future economic benefits obtained or controlled by a particular entity as a result of past transactions.
(17) "Termination" means only those changes that could result in a gap in coverage as where the insured has not obtained substitute coverage or has obtained substitute coverage with a different retroactive date than the retroactive date of the original policy.
(18) "Underground storage tank" or "UST" means any one or combination of tanks (including underground pipes connected thereto) that is used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances, and the volume of which (including the volume of underground pipes connected thereto) is 10% or more beneath the surface of the ground. This term does not include any:
(19) "UST system" or "tank system" means an underground storage tank as defined in this subchapter, connected underground piping, underground ancillary equipment, and containment system, if any.
AUTH: 75-11-505, MCA; IMP: 75-11-505, MCA