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pdfEPA/600/B-20/364 │ July 2023 │ www.epa.gov/research
UST Finder
User Manual
Office of Research and Development
Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response
Land Remediation and Technology Division
i
UST Finder
User Manual
Land Rem ediation and Technology Division
Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response
Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
ii
Notice/Disclaimer
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, through its Office of Research and Development,
funded and conducted the research described herein under an approved Quality Assurance
Project Plan (Quality Assurance Identification Number G-LMMD-0031994-QP-1-1). It has been
subjected to the Agency’s peer and administrative review and has been approved for publication
as an EPA document. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute
endorsement or recommendation for use.
iii
Foreword
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) is charged by Congress with protecting
the Nation's land, air, and water resources. Under a mandate of national environmental laws, the
Agency strives to formulate and implement actions leading to a compatible balance between
human activities and the ability of natural systems to support and nurture life. To meet this
mandate, US EPA's research program is providing data and technical support for solving
environmental problems today and building a science knowledge base necessary to manage our
ecological resources wisely, understand how pollutants affect our health, and prevent or reduce
environmental risks in the future.
The Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response (CESER) within the Office of
Research and Development (ORD) conducts applied, stakeholder-driven research and provides
responsive technical support to help solve the Nation’s environmental challenges. The Center’s
research focuses on innovative approaches to address environmental challenges associated with
the built environment. We develop technologies and decision-support tools to help safeguard
public water systems and groundwater, guide sustainable materials management, remediate sites
from traditional contamination sources and emerging environmental stressors, and address
potential threats from terrorism and natural disasters. CESER collaborates with both public and
private sector partners to foster technologies that improve the effectiveness and reduce the cost
of compliance, while anticipating emerging problems. We provide technical support to EPA
regions and programs, states, tribal nations, and federal partners, and serve as the interagency
liaison for EPA in homeland security research and technology. The Center is a leader in
providing scientific solutions to protect human health and the environment.
Gregory Sayles, Director
Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response
iv
Abstract
This user manual is a companion to EPA’s UST Finder application. It is a step-by-step guide on
how to navigate the UST Finder application as well as methods used and background material.
You can access UST Finder by clicking here or copying and pasting this link into a browser:
https://gispub.epa.gov/ustfinder
v
Table of Contents
Notice/Disclaimer ........................................................................................................................................ iii
Foreword...................................................................................................................................................... iv
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... v
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... ix
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................. x
Acronyms and Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................... xi
1.
Background ........................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1.
2.
3.
Disclaimer of Liability ................................................................................................ 1
Data Dictionary ..................................................................................................................................... 1
2.1.
Underground Storage Tank Facility Attributes ......................................................... 2
2.2.
Underground Storage Tank Attributes ..................................................................... 4
2.3.
Underground Storage Tank Release Attributes ........................................................ 4
UST Finder Layer List ............................................................................................................................. 7
3.1.
Facilities by County Layer ......................................................................................... 8
3.2.
Releases by County Layer ......................................................................................... 8
Click the Legend widget to view the color classes for each feature .......................................................... 8
3.3.
UST Releases Layer ................................................................................................... 9
3.3.1.
Facility and LUST ID ................................................................................................... 9
3.3.2.
Locational Information ............................................................................................. 9
3.3.3.
Reported Date......................................................................................................... 10
3.3.4.
Release Status ......................................................................................................... 10
3.3.5.
Substance Released ................................................................................................ 10
3.3.6.
Estimated Population ............................................................................................. 11
3.3.7.
Estimated Private Domestic Wells .......................................................................... 11
3.3.8.
Land Use ................................................................................................................. 11
3.3.9.
Wellhead and Surface Water Source Water Protection Areas ............................... 12
3.3.10.
100-year Floodplain ................................................................................................ 12
3.3.11.
Tribal information ................................................................................................... 13
3.4.
UST Facilities Layer ................................................................................................. 13
3.4.1.
Facility ID................................................................................................................. 13
3.4.2.
Locational Information ........................................................................................... 13
3.4.3.
Tank Counts ............................................................................................................ 14
vi
3.4.4.
Facility Status .......................................................................................................... 14
3.4.5.
Estimated Population ............................................................................................. 14
3.4.6.
Estimated Private Domestic Wells .......................................................................... 14
3.4.7.
Land Use ................................................................................................................. 14
3.4.8.
Wellhead and Surface Water Source Water Protection Areas ............................... 14
3.4.9.
100-year Floodplain ................................................................................................ 14
3.4.10.
Tank Capacities in Pop-up ....................................................................................... 15
3.5.
3.5.1.
Tank ID .................................................................................................................... 15
3.5.2.
Installation Date...................................................................................................... 15
3.5.3.
Removal Date.......................................................................................................... 15
3.5.4.
Capacity .................................................................................................................. 15
3.5.5.
Substance ................................................................................................................ 16
3.5.6.
Tank Wall Type........................................................................................................ 16
3.6.
4.
5.
6.
UST Table ................................................................................................................ 15
Viewing UST Attributes ........................................................................................... 16
3.6.1.
Viewing USTs information within the UST Facilities Pop-up .................................. 16
3.6.2.
Viewing all USTs at a UST Facility via pop-ups and attribute table ........................ 17
3.6.3.
Viewing all USTs at a facility via the attribute table ............................................... 19
Attribute Tables .................................................................................................................................. 20
4.1.
Export to CSV .......................................................................................................... 20
4.2.
Attribute Filter ........................................................................................................ 21
Widgets ............................................................................................................................................... 22
5.1.
Filter ........................................................................................................................ 22
5.2.
Near Me .................................................................................................................. 24
5.3.
Info Summary.......................................................................................................... 25
5.4.
Area of Interest Report ........................................................................................... 25
5.5.
Time Slider .............................................................................................................. 27
5.6.
Share ....................................................................................................................... 28
5.7.
Select....................................................................................................................... 29
5.8.
Substance Stored Chart .......................................................................................... 29
5.9.
Measurement ......................................................................................................... 29
5.10.
About ...................................................................................................................... 29
Basemaps and Adding External Data .................................................................................................. 30
vii
7.
8.
6.1.
Basemaps ................................................................................................................ 30
6.2.
Add Data ................................................................................................................. 30
6.2.1.
Add Data via Search ................................................................................................ 31
6.2.2.
Add Data via URL .................................................................................................... 31
6.2.3.
Add Data via File ..................................................................................................... 31
UST Finder Source Data ...................................................................................................................... 31
7.1.
Underground Storage Tank Data Sources .............................................................. 31
7.2.
Underground Storage Tank Facilities Data Sources................................................ 32
7.3.
Underground Storage Tank Releases Data Sources................................................ 34
Appendix A .......................................................................................................................................... 36
8.1.
Percentiles .............................................................................................................. 36
8.2.
Environmental Indicators........................................................................................ 36
8.3.
Socioeconomic/health Indicators ........................................................................... 38
8.4.
EJ Indexes ................................................................................................................ 39
8.4.1.
Standard EJ Indexes ................................................................................................ 39
8.4.2.
Supplemental EJ Indexes ........................................................................................ 39
8.5.
Environmental Justice Layers within UST Finder .................................................... 40
8.6.
Symbology............................................................................................................... 41
8.7.
EJ Layer Pop-ups ..................................................................................................... 42
8.8.
EJ Index Filter .......................................................................................................... 43
8.9.
EJ Index Charts ........................................................................................................ 44
viii
List of Figures
Figure 1. UST Finder Layer List
6
Figure 2. Facilities by County layer pop-up
7
Figure 3. Releases by County layer pop-up
7
Figure 4. UST Releases layer pop-up
8
Figure 5. UST Facilities
12
Figure 6. Tank Capacity Bar Chart
13
Figure 7. USTs Layer in the Layer List menu
14
Figure 8. Selecting USTs in the related table
15
Figure 9. Getting information about a UST through the UST Facilities pop-up menu
16
Figure 10. Selecting USTs from the related table
17
Figure 11. View attribute table in the UST menu
17
Figure 12. Attribute table of USTs at a UST Facility
18
Figure 13. Steps for viewing USTs via facilities’ attribute table
18
Figure 14. Attribute table
19
Figure 15. Custom attribute query
20
Figure 16. Compound attribute query
20
Figure 17. Widgets in UST Finder
21
Figure 18. Filter Widget
21
Figure 19. Compounding Filter
22
Figure 20. Custom Filter
22
Figure 21. Near Me Widget
23
Figure 22. Info Summary Widget
24
Figure 23. Area of Interest Report: Draw Polygon
26
Figure 24. Area of Interest Report
27
Figure 25. Time Slider Widget
28
Figure 26. Share Widget
Figure 27. Substance Store Chart Widget
29
Figure 28. Using different basemaps
30
Figure 29. Searching and adding external data via ArcGIS online
31
ix
List of Tables
Table 2.1 Basic Facility Descriptions
1
Table 2.2 UST Attributes
2
Table 2.3 UST Release Attributes
4
Table 3.1 Substance Release Data by State
9
Table 5.1 States with Release Dates
27
Table A.1 List of Environmental Indicators
36-38
x
Acronyms and Abbreviations
EJ
GIS
HUC
LUST
NLCD
PWSID
SDWIS
SPA
SWPA
TOS
TrUSTED
UST
WHPA
Environmental Justice
Geographic Information System
Hydrologic Unit Code
Leaking Underground Storage Tank
National Land Cover Database
Public Water System Identification
Safe Drinking Water Information System
Surface Water Protection Area
Source Water Protection Area
Temporarily Out of Service
Tribal Underground Storage Tanks Database
Underground Storage Tank
Wellhead Protection Area
xi
1. Background
UST Finder is an online mapping tool providing access to localized information on the attributes
and locations of leaking underground storage tanks (LUSTs), underground storage tank (UST)
facilities, and underground storage tanks. UST Finder integrates static, state sourced and EPA
sourced tribal data as of 2018-2021. This state and EPA (tribal sites) sourced data was
standardized to create a national profile of the 2018-2021 UST and LUST universe by EPA's
Office of Underground Storage Tanks, Office of Research and Development, and the Association
of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials.
UST Finder and associated data are publicly available and free to use. Located on EPA’s
GeoPlatform, it incorporates UST data into a user-friendly GIS environment where stakeholders,
decision-makers, and emergency responders can easily access UST information on a computer,
tablet or smartphone.
1.1. Disclaimer of Liability
U.S. EPA has published this information as a convenience to the user. Although U.S. EPA
has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information posted through this
application, users should not rely on information relating to environmental laws and
regulations posted on this application. Data users are solely responsible for ensuring that
they are in compliance with all relevant environmental laws and regulations. More
specifically, with respect to the application and its documentation and any data or other
information obtained through the application, neither the U.S. Government nor any of its
employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, including the warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assumes any legal liability or
responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, data
apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe
privately owned rights. The data are collected from various sources, including those from
outside the federal government, and may be modified over time without notice to improve
spatial and attribute accuracy. U.S. EPA disclaims responsibility for the spatial accuracy
and attribution of GIS features and makes no warranty concerning the same.
Execution of the application, user downloading of data, and any modification to the user’s
system configuration files must be conducted at the user's own risk. This data may not be
completely free of errors and may not be applicable for all purposes. In no event will the U.S.
EPA be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of the
use of the application, user-downloaded data, and/or associated documentation.
2. Data Dictionary
Below are the attribute descriptions of underground storage tank facilities, underground storage
tanks, and leaking underground storage tanks.
2.1. Underground Storage Tank Facility Attributes
Table 2.1: UST Facility Attributes
UST Facility Attributes
Description
1, 3
Facility ID,
Name1, 3
Address1, 3
City1, 3
County1, 3
State1, 3
Zip Code1, 3
Latitude1,2, 3
Longitude1,2, 3
Coordinate Source2
Address Match Type2
Open USTs1, 2, 3
Closed USTs1, 2, 3
Temporarily Out of Service USTs1 ,2,
Concatenated state abbreviation and facility ID
Facility name
Facility address
Facility city
Facility county
Facility state
Facility zip code
Facility latitude
Facility longitude
The source of the facility’s coordinates. Either ‘State’ sourced
or ‘Geocode’.
The geocoded address type. For more information click here.
For either state or geocoded coordinate sources, if the facility
was outside of its state boundary, it is labeled ‘Fail’ and no
coordinates are mapped.
Count of open USTs
Count of closed USTs
Count of temporarily out of service USTs
3
Estimated Population within Estimated 2010 census derived population within 1,500 ft of a
1500ft*2 facility. ArcGIS’s Tabulate Intersection tool was used to
calculate 1,500 ft facility buffers to census block population.
Estimated Private Domestic Wells Estimated private domestic wells within 1,500 ft of a facility.
within 1500ft*2 ArcGIS’s Tabulate Intersection tool was used to calculate
1500ft facility buffers to EPA estimated private domestic wells.
For more information and to access national well estimates
visit EPA’s Well Map.
Within 100-year Floodplain*2 Denotes (‘Yes’/’No’) whether a facility is within the EPA
estimated 100-year floodplain for the conterminous United
States. For more information click here.
Land Use*2 The majority land use type within 300 ft of a facility. Land use
data is derived from the 2016 National Land Cover Database.
Facility land use are identified as developed (open, low,
medium, high intensity) or ‘non-developed’ (encompassing the
remaining land use classes).
Within Source Water Protection*2 Identifies a facility within a federally delineated surface water,
Area (SWPA) source water protection area (‘Yes’ or ‘No’). SPA’s are areas of
2
interest for the protection of surface water sources of drinking
water.
By identifying areas significant to drinking water source
protection while obscuring the exact locations of intake
facilities, this information gives a wide range of planners,
policy makers, and practitioners the information needed to
target and prioritize areas for protection.
SWPA Public Water System and Concatenated PWSID (ID that uniquely identifies a Public
Facility ID (PWSID)*2 Water System) and Facility ID (Water system facility ID that,
when used with the PWSID, uniquely identifies a water system
facility. Note: Facilities from different water systems may have
the same Facility ID. There may be repeat Facility ID values).
2
SPA Water Type* Code that indicates the source of the water.
SW Surface water
GU Ground water under the influence of surface water
SPA Facility Type*2 Code that indicates the type of water system facility.
IG Infiltration Gallery
IN Intake
RS Reservoir
SP Spring
WL Well
SPA HUC12*2 HUC (Hydrologic Unit Code) determination made with EPA
WATERS Web Services and NHDPlus.
Within Groundwater Wellhead Identifies a facility within a federally delineated wellhead,
Protection Area (WHPA)* 2 source water protection area (‘Yes’ or ‘No’). WHPA’s are areas
of interest for the protection of groundwater sources of
drinking water.
By identifying areas significant to drinking water source
protection while obscuring the exact locations of intake
facilities, this information gives a wide range of planners,
policy makers, and practitioners the information needed to
target and prioritize areas for protection.
WHPA Public Water System and Concatenated PWSID (ID that uniquely identifies a Public
Facility ID*2 Water System) and Facility ID (Water system facility ID that,
when used with the PWSID, uniquely identifies a water system
facility. Note: Facilities from different water systems may have
the same Facility ID. There may be repeat Facility ID values).
2
WHPA Water Type* Code that indicates the source of the water.
GW Ground water
WHPA Facility Type*2 Code that indicates the type of water system facility.
SP Spring
WL Well
WHPA HUC12*2 HUC (Hydrologic Unit Code) determination made with EPA
WATERS Web Services and NHDPlus.
3
Facility Status1, 3 ‘Open UST(s)’ identifies facilities with at least one open or
temporarily out of service UST. ‘Closed UST(s)’ identifies
facilities with only closed UST(s).
Date of Last Inspection3 Last inspection date (for tribal sites only)
EPA Region2 EPA region
Tribe3 Tribe name (for tribal sites only)
1
State sourced information
EPA generated information
3
EPA TrUSTD data (tribal data)
* These fields are only considered for facilities whose coordinates are state sourced or facilities with address
match type ‘StreetAddress’, ‘StreetInt’, ‘Subaddress’, or ‘PointAddress’.
2
2.2. Underground Storage Tank Attributes
UST attributes are included for all 50 states and DC.
Table 2.2: UST Attributes
USTs Attributes
Description
State1, 3 UST State
Facility ID1, 3 Facility ID that can be related to the UST facilities layer
Tank ID1, 3 Unique UST ID (typically in the following format: “Facility
ID”&”_”&”Tank Number”)
Tank Status1, 3 Tank Status
Installation Date1, 3 Date of UST installation
Removal Date1, 3 Date of UST removal
Capacity1, 3 Tank capacity in gallons
Substances1, 3 Substance stored (may be multiple entries representing fuel
types in multiple compartments).
Tank Wall Type1, 3 Tank wall type (either single or double)
1
3
State sourced information
EPA TrUSTD data (tribal data)
2.3. Underground Storage Tank Release Attributes
Table 2.3: UST Release Attributes
4
UST Releases Attributes
Facility ID1, 3
LUST ID1, 3
Name1, 3
Address1, 3
City1, 3
County1, 3
Zip Code1, 3
State1, 3
Latitude1, 2, 3
Longitude1, 2, 3
Coordinate Source2
Address Match Type2
Reported Date1, 3
Status1, 3
Substance1, 3
Estimated Population within
1500ft*2
Estimated Private Domestic
Wells within 1500ft*2
Land Use*2
Within Source Water Protection
Area (SPA)* 2
SPA Public Water System and
Facility ID (PWSID)*2
Description
Concatenated state abbreviation and facility ID
Concatenated state abbreviation and LUST ID
Release name
Release address
Release city
Release county
Release zip code
Release state
Release latitude
Release longitude
The source of the release's coordinates. Either ‘State’ sourced or
‘Geocode’.
The geocoded address type. For more information click here. For
either state or geocoded coordinate sources, if the facility was
outside of its state boundary, it is labeled ‘Fail’ and no coordinates
are mapped.
The date the release reported or discovered
The status of the release (as of date of data collection). Either
"Open" or "No Further Action" or "Unknown".
The substance released
Estimated 2010 census derived population within 1,500 ft of a
release. ArcGIS’s Tabulate Intersection tool was used to calculate
1,500 ft release buffers to census block population.
Estimated private domestic wells within 1500ft of a release.
ArcGIS’s Tabulate Intersection tool was used to calculate 1500 ft
release buffers to EPA estimated private domestic wells. For more
information and to access national well estimates visit EPA’s
Private Domestic Well Map.
The majority land use type within 300 ft of a release. Land use data
is derived from the 2016 National Land Cover Database. Release
land use are identified as ‘developed’ (open, low, medium, high
intensity) or ‘non-developed’ (encompassing the remaining land
use classes).
Identifies a facility within a federally delineated surface water,
source water protection area (‘Yes’ or ‘No’). SPA’s are areas of
interest for the protection of surface water sources of drinking
water. By identifying areas significant to drinking water source
protection while obscuring the exact locations of intake facilities,
this information gives a wide range of planners, policy makers, and
practitioners the information needed to target and prioritize areas
for protection.
Concatenated PWSID (ID that uniquely identifies a Public Water
System) and Facility ID (Water system facility ID that, when used
with the PWSID, uniquely identifies a water system facility. Note:
5
SPA Water Type*2
SPA Facility Type*2
SPA HUC12*2
Within Groundwater Wellhead
Protection Area (WHPA)* 2
WHPA Public Water System and
Facility ID*2
WHPA Water Type*2
WHPA Facility Type*2
WHPA HUC12*2
Within Estimated 100-year
Floodplain*2
Facilities from different water systems may have the same Facility
ID. There may be repeat Facility ID values).
Code that indicates the source of the water.
SW Surface water
GU Ground water under the influence of surface water
Code that indicates the type of water system facility.
IG Infiltration Gallery
IN Intake
RS Reservoir
SP Spring
WL Well
HUC (Hydrologic Unit Code) determination made with EPA
WATERS Web Services and NHDPlus.
Identifies a facility within a federally delineated wellhead, source
water protection area (‘Yes’ or ‘No’). WHPA’s are areas of interest
for the protection of groundwater sources of drinking water.
By identifying areas significant to drinking water source protection
while obscuring the exact locations of intake facilities, this
information gives a wide range of planners, policy makers, and
practitioners the information needed to target and prioritize areas
for protection.
Code that indicates the source of the water.
GW Ground water
SW Surface water
GU Ground water under the influence of surface water
Code that indicates the source of the water.
GW Ground water
SW Surface water
GU Ground water under the influence of surface water
Code that indicates the type of water system facility.
IG Infiltration Gallery
IN Intake
RS Reservoir
SP Spring
WL Well
HUC (Hydrologic Unit Code) determination made with EPA
WATERS Web Services and NHDPlus.
Denotes (“Yes”/”No”) whether a release is within the EPA
estimated 100-year floodplain for the conterminous United States.
For more information click here.
For tribal sites only, whether the site was closed with residual
contamination (“Yes”/”No”).
Closed with Residual
Contamination (Tribal Lands
Only) 3
EPA Region2 EPA region
NFA Letter (Tribal Lands Only) 3 Hyperlink to no further action letter—only available for some tribal
sites.
Tribe3 Tribe name
6
1
State sourced information
EPA generated information
3
EPA TrUSTD data (tribal data)
* These fields are only considered for facilities whose coordinates are state sourced or facilities with address
match type ‘StreetAddress’, ‘StreetInt’, ‘Subaddress’, or ‘PointAddress’.
2
3. UST Finder Layer List
Figure 1. UST Finder’s Layer List
Layers can be turned on and off from the layer list
window. Some layers are scale dependent, meaning they
cannot be activated until you either zoom in or out. If a
layer’s name is in grey, it means the layer is not available
at that scale.
Below is a description of the layers available in UST
Finder.
7
You can manually change the scale at which
layers become visible by clicking the ellipsis
next to the layer name and manually “Set
Visibility Range”.
3.1. Facilities by County Layer
The Facilities by County layer is
an aggregation of facilities and
tanks at the county level. Each
county contains information on the
number of facilities (both facilities
that no longer have active USTs
and facilities with USTs actively in
use), the number of open USTs,
closed USTs, and temporarily out
of service (TOS) USTs. Click a
county to view a pop-up with this
county level information.
Figure 2. Facilities by County layer pop-up
3.2. Releases by County Layer
The Releases by County layer is
an aggregation of releases at the
county level. Each county
contains information on the total
number of releases and the
number of releases by status—
both open and no further action/
closed. Click a county to view a
pop-up with this county level
information.
Figure 3. Releases by County layer pop-up
Click the Legend widget to view the color classes for each feature
8
3.3. UST Releases Layer
The Releases layer is visible
when zoomed in from the
county level aggregations.
Releases are color classified as
active (red points), no further
action (pink points) or
unknown (grey points).
In addition to the locations of
releases, each release has
associated data. Associated
data can be viewed in pop-ups
or the feature’s attribute table,
discussed later.
Figure 4. UST Releases layer pop-up
3.3.1. Facility and LUST ID
Some attributes are state sourced, and others are EPA generated. In most instances the Facility
ID and LUST ID (the numbers after the state abbreviation) are the state issued IDs. These IDs
reference individual state databases—where potentially more information about LUST sites can
be found.
3.3.2. Locational Information
If coordinates (Latitude and Longitude) were provided by the state, they were used to map the
LUST site. If no coordinates were provided, EPA geocoded the state sourced Address. The
Coordinate Source field identifies whether the coordinates were state sourced or geocoded. If
geocoded, the Address Match Type identifies how the address was matched (i.e. by postal zip
code, point address, street name, etc.).
9
The amount of time permitted before providing notification as well
as the reportable quantity threshold vary by implementing agency.
The reportable quantity of releases is not available in UST finder
nor the source, type, or extent of release.
3.3.3. Reported Date
The Reported Date field is either the date the release was
discovered or reported to the state. Note that these dates are
not available for all states and releases.
The year in which states started
collecting LUST data—and thus
available in UST Finder—varies
by state. In general, most
states started cataloging
releases by 1989.
3.3.4. Release Status
There are three release Status types: Open, No Further Action, and Unknown. It should be noted
that individual states set their own criteria for what defines an open or closed release. An open
release generally means the LUST site has not been remediated and is undergoing assessment,
treatment and/or monitoring. For Kentucky, all the releases statuses are unknown.
3.3.5. Substance Released
The Substance field contains the substance associated at the UST release site. A site can have
one or many substances released. The substance naming convention is not standardized between
states. Table 3.1 lists the 17 states with substance release information.
Table 3.1: Substance Release Data by State
State Number of sites with
substances released
Arizona 8,547
Arkansas 1,337
DC 1,432
Illinois 21,789
Kansas 6,057
Louisiana 1,084
Maine 3,101
Michigan 17,300
Minnesota 1,664
Nebraska 8,381
Nevada 1,706
Oklahoma 4,072
Pennsylvania 7,623
10
South Carolina
South Dakota
Vermont
Washington
9,443
2,984
2,182
2,863
The remaining descriptions or UST Release attributes are EPA generated.
3.3.6. Estimated Population
The Estimated Population within 1500 ft field provides an
estimate of the number of people living within 1,500 ft of
a release. The 2010 Census blocks were used for the
population data. 1,500-foot buffers were generated for each
release and populations were estimated by the percent
buffer intersection to each overlapping census block. These
calculations were only performed for releases with
coordinates provided by states or geocoded address match
types of ‘StreetAddress’, ‘StreetInt’, ‘Subaddress’, or
‘PointAddress’.
Why 1,500 feet?
In the event of a petroleum release
from an UST, the length of the
plume can vary depending on a
number of factors including
substance, geography, soil media,
and amount released. Although
based on limited survey data, a
plume length study indicated that
the maximum observed extent of
benzene generally is on the order
of 1500 ft. Depending upon given
site conditions, UST plumes can be
longer.
3.3.7. Estimated Private Domestic Wells
The Estimated Private Domestic Wells within 1500 ft field
provides estimates of the housing units using private
domestic wells as their primary source of water. These well
estimates were developed by the EPA. The data provide
improved estimates of the dependence and spatial
distribution of housing units reliant on private domestic by census block. In order to capture the
potential vulnerability of private drinking water wells to leaking underground storage tanks, UST
Finder calculated 1,500 ft buffers for each release and tabulated the intersection of wells at the
census block level.
3.3.8. Land Use
The Land Use type around release sites is calculated using data from the National Land Cover
Database (NLCD). Knowing the land use type near release sites can suggest whether a site is in
an urban or rural area, for example. Assigning development types (either developed-low,
medium or high intensity) to releases sites can suggest the number of people, building, and level
of development nearby. This can help inform, for example, remediation strategies. In-situ
bioventing or biosparging may not be an appropriate remediation strategy in high intensity
developed area due to the risk of vapor intrusion to nearby buildings. Land Use was calculated
by assigning the majority land use type to a 300 ft buffer around release sites. If the majority
land use type was not a “developed” land use type, “non-developed” was assigned.
11
3.3.9. Wellhead and Surface Water Source Water Protection Areas
The UST Release layer also provides information on whether a release site is Within a Source
Water Protection Area (SPA) or Within a Groundwater Wellhead Protection Area (WHPA).
This information is generated by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water and
provides source water protection areas for surface water source facilities as well as wellhead
protection areas for groundwater sources. The sources for this GIS analysis are the Safe Drinking
Water Information System (SDWIS) Federal Data Warehouse and the National Hydrography
Dataset Version 2.1 (NHDPlus) (https://www.epa.gov/waterdata/nhdplus-national-data).
The EPA Source Water Protection Area (SPA) dataset provides spatially referenced source water
protection areas for public drinking water system (PWS) source facilities located in the United
States. Source facility location data were obtained from the Safe Drinking Water Information
System/Federal Version (SDWIS/Fed) and include active surface water facilities (e.g., intakes,
reservoirs, infiltration galleries, and springs) with a Water Type description of ‘surface water’
(SW) or ‘ground water under the influence of surface water’ (GU). Ground water facilities (e.g.,
wells) with valid locations (lat/long coordinates) and a Water Type description of ground water
are also included as Wellhead Protection Areas (WHPAs). Surface water (SPA) delineations in
the CONUS, Hawaii, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico are composed of National
Hydrography Dataset Plus version 2.1 catchments located 24-hour time of travel upstream of all
valid surface water source facility locations, while ground water protection areas (WHPAs) are
composed of NHDPlus V 2.1 catchments that intersect wells. SPA and WHPA delineations in
Alaska represent a 1-mile buffer radius due to limited availability of NHDPlus catchments in
Alaska.
While these protection areas and locations of public drinking water intakes are not public
information, UST Finder obscures the exact boundaries/locations by providing binary operators
to identify whether or not a release is within a source water protection or ground water protection
area, with either a “Yes” or “No”. By identifying areas significant to drinking water source
protection while obscuring the exact locations of intake facilities, this dataset gives a wide range
of planners, policy makers, and practitioners the information needed to target and prioritize areas
for protection in proximity to UST releases.
The WHPA and SPA Public Water System and Facility ID is the concatenated PWSID and
FACILITY_ID which uniquely identifies a water system facility in one field.
3.3.10.
100-year Floodplain
The Within 100-year Floodplain field provides information on whether a UST release is within
an estimated flood inundation area. The data used for identifying these zones is a flood
inundation model that estimates FEMA’s Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) for the
conterminous United States. Because of the high cost of FEMA flood modeling, only 60% of the
conterminous United States have 100-year floodplains mapped. To fill in these “gaps” the US
EPA developed this product to support research and online mapping activities related to the
EnviroAtlas. The model hit rate for the CONUS was 0.79 compared to the FIRM, indicating that
the model captured 79% of the 100-year floodplain identified by FEMA. Releases are identified
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to be within the estimated 100-year floodplain by either a “Yes” or “No”. For more information
on this product or to download, visit the service here.
3.3.11.
Tribal information
UST Finder has certain data elements that are only applicable to tribal sites. These fields are
sourced from EPA’s Tribal Underground Storage Tanks Database (TrUSTD). For the Release
layer, these fields include closed with Closed with Residual Contamination, NFA (no further
action) Letter, and Tribe. NFA letters are only available for some sites in EPA regions 5,6, and 9
and are hyperlinks to pdf documents. The Facility layer contains Date of Last Inspection and
Tribe.
3.4. UST Facilities Layer
The UST Facilities
layer provides
information on facilities
that currently have (as
of 2018-2020) at least
one open or temporarily
out of service (TOS)
UST (shown in blue in
Figure 5) as well as
historical facilities—
facilities that have no
active or TOS USTs
(shown in light blue in
Figure 5).
Figure 5. UST Facilities
In addition to the
locations of releases, each release has associated data. Associated data can be viewed in pop-ups
or the feature’s attribute table.
3.4.1. Facility ID
Some attributes are state sourced, and others are EPA generated. In most instances the Facility
ID (the numbers after the state abbreviation) are state issued IDs. These IDs reference individual
state database—where potentially more information about facilities can be found.
3.4.2. Locational Information
If coordinates (Latitude and Longitude) were provided by the state, they were used to map the
facility. If no coordinates were provided, the EPA geocoded the state sourced Address. The
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Coordinate Source field identifies whether the coordinates were state sourced or geocoded. If
geocoded, the Address Match Type identifies how the address was matched (i.e. by postal zip
code, point address, street name, etc.).
3.4.3. Tank Counts
The Open USTs, Closed USTs, and Temporarily out of Service USTs fields list the number of
individual tanks, by status, at the facilities location as of 2018-2020. For most states, these
counts were calculated from the Underground Storage Tank table.
3.4.4. Facility Status
The Facility Status field identifies whether a facility currently has one or more open or TOS
tanks, or whether it is a legacy facility—one with only closed tanks.
The following attributes are similar to the UST Releases dataset. See the linked releases
descriptions for more information
3.4.5. Estimated Population
See the Estimated Population within 1500 ft description here.
3.4.6. Estimated Private Domestic Wells
See the Estimated Private Domestic Wells within 1500 ft description here.
3.4.7. Land Use
See the Land Use description here.
3.4.8. Wellhead and Surface Water Source Water Protection Areas
See the Wellhead and Surface Water Source Water Protection Area description here.
3.4.9. 100-year Floodplain
See the estimated 100-year Floodplain description here.
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3.4.10.
Tank Capacities in Pop-up
For most facilities, within the pop-up window, there
is a bar chart of tank capacities for each tank at a
given facility. This chart provides the capacity for
every open, closed, and TOS tank at a facility.
Hover over a bar to see the tank number associated
with the tank capacity.
Figure 6. Tank Capacity Bar Chart
3.5. UST Table
The UST table is non-spatial data containing information on
USTs for all 50 states and Washington D.C. UST information is
contained in a stand-alone table. This table is related to each
facility in a 1-many relationship, meaning for most facility, one
or many tanks are linked by a common Facility ID. UST
attributes can be found in the USTs attribute table or through
the facilities pop-up window, discussed later.
3.5.1. Tank ID
The UST Tank ID is the unique tank ID number. Typically, the
Tank ID is the concatenated Facility ID and tank number.
3.5.2. Installation Date
The UST Installation Date is the date the UST was installed, if
provided by the corresponding state agency.
Figure 7. USTs layer in the
Layer List menu
3.5.3. Removal Date
If the UST was removed from the ground, a Removal Date is given, if this information was
provided by the corresponding state agency.
3.5.4. Capacity
In gallons, the Capacity of the tank. If the tank contained compartments, the compartment
capacity was summed together to get a total tank capacity.
For California, individual tank compartments are treated as an individual tank. You can discern
whether a California entry is a non-compartmentalized tank or compartment by the Tank ID.
They CA Tank ID syntax is “CA”&[Facility ID]&”_”&”A Stand-alone Tank” or “One in a
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Compartment Unit”&”_”&[number of compartments].
Note that some state use 99, 999, 9999, 99999, etc. as null placeholders for tank capacities. If a
tank’s capacity is a series of nines, it may be spurious.
3.5.5. Substance
If available in state databases, the Substance stored in the UST is listed. Every state has a
different substance classification system. For example, one state may use the term “gasoline” to
encompass different ethanol blends, premium and standard, leaded (historic) and unleaded, etc.;
while another state list the unique types of gasoline (i.e., E15). Given the disparity in defining
substance types between states, one should be careful comparing the substances stored from state
to state.
Not all USTs are federally regulated. Tanks containing home heating oil consumed on site, for
example, is not a federally regulated tank. The goal of UST Finder was to catalog federally
regulated tanks (for more information on UST laws and regulations visit here). When possible,
non-regulated tanks were not included. If for example a state classified a tank as non-federally
regulated, that tank was not included; or if a tank was identified to contain home heating oil and
was consumed on site, that tank was not included. However, there are states and instances where
the regulated, non-regulated distinction could not be made, and non-federally regulated tanks
may have been included in UST Finder.
Some substance entries contain more than one substance. For the most part, this is due to either
listing the substances in multiple individual compartments or listing the substances previously
stored in the tanks.
3.5.6. Tank Wall Type
The Tank Wall Type identifies whether the tank is “Single” walled or “Double” walled.
3.6. Viewing UST Attributes
Mentioned previously, the UST table is related to the facilities table. This section will discuss
several ways to view UST attributes associated with an UST Facility.
3.6.1. Viewing USTs information within the UST Facilities Pop-up
For every facility with related UST data, you can view the UST information via the UST
Facilities’ pop-up.
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Step 1: Click a UST Facility to enable the pop-up and scroll to the bottom of the pop-up and
select Related tables → USTs
Figure 8. Selecting USTs in the related table
Step 2: From the Related Records menu, you can see the individual tanks at a facility. Figure 9
shows there are eight USTs at this facility. By default, the tanks are listed by their unique tank
ID, but they can also be listed by other attributes (below it was switched to UST “status”) by
selecting the down arrow. Click an UST to get more information about the individual tank.
Figure 9. Getting information about a UST through the UST Facilities pop-up menu
3.6.2. Viewing all USTs at a UST Facility via pop-ups and attribute table
You can view all USTs at a given UST Facility by opening a facility pop-up and then viewing
the tanks at that facility in the attribute table.
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Step 1: Click a UST Facility to enable the pop-up and scroll to the bottom of the pop-up and
select Related tables → USTs
Figure 10. Selecting USTs from the related
table
Step 2: Click the ellipses in the UST window and select View in Attribute Table (Figure 11),
which will expand the attribute table of all USTs at the facility (Figure 12).
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Figure 11. View attribute table in the UST menu
Figure12. Attribute table of USTs at a UST Facility
3.6.3. Viewing all USTs at a facility via the attribute table
You can see all USTs at a given UST Facility(ies) by opening the facility attribute table.
Select the attribute table symbol (1), select a facility from the attribute table (2), select Options
(3), select Show related records (4), and select USTs (5)—see Figure 13.
Figure 13. Steps for viewing USTs via facilities' attribute table
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4. Attribute Tables
For the Facilities, Releases, and USTs layers, there is an associated attribute table. Select the
attribute table icon
on the right side of UST Finder to view the
attribute
Figure14. Attribute table
table. At the top of the attribute table, select the layer you want to view the attributes of—either
Facilities, Releases, or USTs. Note that the attribute table only shows the features within the
current map extent (excluding the UST table). The bottom left of the table shows the number of
facilities or releases within the map extent and in the attribute table. By default, the “Filter by
map extent” button is turned on. Deselecting this button returns all features (not just the ones
within the map extent) to the attribute table. You can select an individual release or facility by
clicking to the left of a row. When a row is selected you can Zoom to the site’s location on the
map.
The Options button allows the user to Export fields to CSV and filter the attribute table.
4.1. Export to CSV
Within the options menu in the attribute table you can Export fields to CSV. If a row(s) is
selected just that row(s) will be exported, otherwise all fields in the table will be exported.
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4.2. Attribute Filter
The
Options→Filter feature allows the user to customize a query within the
attribute table. From the Filter menu select
Add expression to customize a
query. In figure 15 below a customized query is created for the UST database where tanks
between 10000 and 50000 gallon capacities will be queried.
Figure 15. Custom Attribute query
Compound queries can also be performed where you can choose whether the criteria for all or
any of the multiple expressions are met. Figure 16 shows a query that will return all USTs
between 10,000 and 50,000 gallon capacity and USTs with a tank status of “Open”. Click OK to
return the queried results.
Figure16. Compound attribute query
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5. Widgets
UST Finder contains widgets containing different functionality. Figure 17 shows the six widgets
discussed in this section—Filter, Near Me, Area of Interest Report, Time Slider, Share, Select,
Substance Stored Chart, Measurement, and About.
Figure 17. Widgets in UST Finder
5.1. Filter
Section 4.2 describes ways to filter UST data
via the attribute table. You can also filter data
using the Filter widget. The Filter widget is
divided into two section: Facilities (blue) and
Releases (red). The facilities section only filters
the facilities layer and the release section only
filters the release layer. The filter labels
indicate what is being filters, for example, the
State filter will only return facilities for a user
defined state. Figure 18 shows the facilities
filtered by State, in this case, Delaware. The
filter tool can also be used to view federally
recognized tribal sites only by toggling ‘Tribal
Lands’. Note that the Filter widget not only
filters the locations on the map, but also the
attribute table.
Figure 18. Filter Widget
You can also create multiple, compounding filters. If more than one filter is used, note that all
statements in the argument are considered true. For example, in Figure 19, the filter returned
UST releases that are within a source water protection area (surface water) and were reported on
or after 1/1/2010.
22
You can create a custom filter within
the Filter widget by clicking the
black and white button at the bottom
right corner (filter and pencil icon,
seen in Figure 19). In the custom
filter window select the layer you
wish to perform the filter on and
click + Add
express…. Figure 20 illustrates a
custom filter on the facilities layer
where only facilities that contain the
word School is shown in the map
(and attribute table).
Figure 19. Compounding Filter
Figure 20. Custom Filter
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5.2. Near Me
The Near Me widget provides users a way of identifying releases and/or facilities within a user
defined distance of a location—such as where you are or where you live. When you open the
Near Me widget there are several ways to set a location to identify releases and/or facilities
nearby.
• If you are using a GPS enabled device, you can click the Find my location button
•
Enter an address or place in the Find address or place bar
•
Or click a location on the map
Afer a location is defined the user then sets a search radius using either the slider (increments of
1 mile) or the Show results within (Miles) box. Figure 21 identifies 7 facilities and 7 releases
within .75 miles from Woodstock Park.
Figure 21. Near Me Widget
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You can get more information about the nearby facilities and releases and the distance from the
defined location by clicking on Facilities or Releases. To clear the results simply close out of the
Near Me widget.
5.3. Info Summary
The Info Summary widget quickly tabulates the number of facilities and/or releases within a map
frame. In Figure 22, the facilities and releases were previously filtered to sites within Rhode
Island. The Info Summary widget tells us how many facilities and releases are in Rhode Island
and their counts by status.
Figure 22. Info Summary Widget
5.4. Area of Interest Report
The Area of Interest Report Widget generates a PDF report of facilities and/or releases within a
user defined area. First an area of interest must be identified. This can be done three ways—
Place name, Draw, or Shapefile:
•
Place name—enter a place or address and define a buffer distance
25
•
Draw—you can define an area using a point, polyline, extent, circle, polygon, or selection
•
Shapefile—Upload a zipped shapefile
Figure 23 depicts an area of interest defined by the Draw→Polygon tool. In this example the
area of interest are facilities and releases near a river.
Figure 23. Area of Interest Report: Draw Polygon
After an area is defined, select Report. In the Report window you can either download
the intersecting facilities and releases to a CSV file or you can select the print icon
to
generate a PDF report and map of facilities and releases within the area of interest.
Note that if any filters are applied, the Area of Interest Report tool will only report filtered
sites.
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Figure 24. Area of Interest Report
5.5. Time Slider
The Time Slider tool only works on the Releases layer. It filters releases temporally—by
release date. There are 39 states and the District of Columbia where this feature is available,
listed in Table 5.1.
Table 5.1 States with Release Dates
States with Release Dates
Alabama
Iowa
Arizona
Kansas
Arkansas
Louisiana
Colorado
Maine
Connecticut
Maryland
D.C.
Massachusetts
Florida
Michigan
Georgia
Minnesota
Idaho
Mississippi
Illinois
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
27
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin
With the Time Slider widget open, the slider can be moved to find sites where releases occurred
at a given year or occurred within a range of years. In Figure 25, the time slider is set to show
sites on the map that were reported between 1998 and 2008.
Figure 25. Time Slider widget
5.6. Share
You can easily share UST Finder using the Share widget. You can share a custom extent within
UST Finder using the Share a link to this app link or you can embed the application using the
Embed this app in a website code (Figure 26). The link options and Embed options allows users
to tailor what is shared via the customize link.
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Figure 26. Share widget
5.7. Select
Individual or multiple Releases and/or UST Facilities can be selected from the map using the
select tool. Sections will be shown in the attribute tables.
5.8. Substance Stored Chart
The Substance Stored Chart widget graphs the
related UST information of a facility as a pie chart.
With the widget open, select an UST Facility and a
pie chart will appear. Green sections of the pie
represent active tanks while grey represent closed
tanks. The size of the pie represents the capacity of
the tanks (hover mouse over pie to get the capacity
in gallons). Also displayed is the contents of the
tanks.
5.9. Measurement
Use this widget to measure distances and areas on
the map.
5.10.
About
This widget contains more information about UST
29
Figure 27. Substance Stored Chart widget
Finder.
6. Basemaps and Adding External Data
You can customize UST Finder by changing basemaps and adding
external data. These options can be found at the top right of UST
Finder.
6.1. Basemaps
There are a variety of basemaps to choose from in the basemap gallery,
including aerial imagery, seen in Figure 27.
Figure 28. Using different basemaps
6.2. Add Data
You can add external data to UST Finder by using either the Search, URL, or File options within
the Add Data widget.
30
6.2.1. Add Data via Search
Within the Add Data Search tab data can be added through ArcGIS Online, My content, or My
Organization. There are thousands of datasets available in ArcGIS Online. Just search using
keywords and select Add to add the layer to UST Finder. In Figure 28, wildfires were searched
for via ArcGIS Online. Current Wildfire Perimeters were then added to UST Finder.
Figure 29. Searching and adding external data via ArcGIS online
6.2.2. Add Data via URL
If you know the URL of a web service you can enter the URL and select ADD.
6.2.3. Add Data via File
A zipped shapefile, CSV, KML, GPX, or Geo JSON can be uploaded into UST Finder.
7. UST Finder Source Data
UST Finder is a national collection of USTs, UST Facilities, and LUSTs from state sources.
Below are the agencies names where data was collected for the three data layers.
7.1. Underground Storage Tank Data Sources
Alabama Department of Environmental Management's Groundwater Branch, Alaska's
Department of Environmental Conservation's Prevention Preparedness and Response Program,
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality's Underground Storage Tank Program, Arkansas
31
Department of Environmental Quality's Regulated Storage Tanks Division, California State
Water Resource Control Board, Colorado Department of Labor and Employment's Division of
Oil and Public Safety, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection,
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control's Underground Storage
Tank Compliance Program, Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Permitting and
Compliance Assistance Program, Georgia Environmental Protection Division's Underground
Storage Tank Management Program, Hawaii Department of Health's Solid and Hazardous Waste
Branch, Illinois State Fire Marshal's Division of Petroleum and Chemical Safety, Indiana
Department of Environmental Management's UST Branch, Iowa Department of Natural
Resources' Underground Storage Tanks Section, Kansas Department of Health and
Environment's Storage Tank Section, Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet's Underground
Storage Tank Branch, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's Underground Storage
Tank Program, Maine Department of Environmental Protection's Underground Storage Tank
Program, Maryland Department of the Environment's Oil Control Program, Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection's Underground Storage Tank Program, Michigan
Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs' Storage Tank Division, Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency's Underground Storage Tank Program, Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality's Underground Storage Tank Program, Missouri Department of Natural
Resources’ Environmental Remediation Program, Montana Department of Environmental
Quality's Underground Storage Tank Leak Prevention Program, Nebraska State Fire Marshal's
Fuels Safety Division, Nevada Division of Environmental Protection's Underground Storage
Tank Program, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services' Underground Storage
Tank Program, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Site Remediation
Program, New York Department of Environmental Conservation's Chemical Bulk Storage
Program, North Carolina Environmental Quality's Underground Storage Tank Section, North
Dakota Department of Environmental Quality's Underground Storage Tank Program, Ohio
Department of Commerce's Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations, Oklahoma
Corporation Commission's Petroleum Storage Tank Division, Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality's Underground Storage Tank Program, Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection's Division of Storage Tanks, Rhode Island Department of
Environmental Management's Underground Storage Tank Management Program, South Carolina
Department of Health and Environmental Control's Underground Storage Tanks Program,
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Division of Underground Storage
Tanks, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Utah Department of Environmental
Quality's Underground Storage Tanks Branch, Vermont Department of Environmental
Conservation's Waste Management and Prevention Division, Virginia Department of
Environmental Quality's Underground Storage Tanks Program, Washington Department of
Ecology's Underground Storage Tank Program, District of Columbia Department of Energy and
Environment’s Underground Storage Tank Program, West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection's Underground Storage Tank Section, Wisconsin Department of
Agriculture's Trade and Consumer Protection's Bureau of Weights and Measures, Wyoming
Department of Environmental Quality's Storage Tank Program, EPA’s Tribal Underground
Storage Tanks Database (TrUSTD)
7.2. Underground Storage Tank Facilities Data Sources
Alabama Department of Environmental Management's Groundwater Branch, Alaska's
32
Department of Environmental Conservation's Prevention Preparedness and Response Program,
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality's Underground Storage Tank Program, Arkansas
Department of Environmental Quality's Regulated Storage Tanks Division, California
Environmental Protection Agency's California Environmental Reporting System, Colorado
Department of Labor and Employment's Division of Oil and Public Safety, Connecticut
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Delaware Department of Natural
Resources and Environmental Control's Underground Storage Tank Compliance Program,
Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Permitting and Compliance Assistance
Program, Georgia Environmental Protection Division's Underground Storage Tank Management
Program, Hawaii Department of Health's Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch, Idaho Department
of Environmental Quality's Waste Management and Remediation Division, Illinois State Fire
Marshal's Division of Petroleum and Chemical Safety, Indiana Department of Environmental
Management's UST Branch, Iowa Department of Natural Resources' Underground Storage Tanks
Section, Kansas Department of Health and Environment's Storage Tank Section, Kentucky
Energy and Environment Cabinet's Underground Storage Tank Branch, Louisiana Department of
Environmental Quality's Underground Storage Tank Program, Maine Department of
Environmental Protection's Underground Storage Tank Program, Maryland Department of the
Environment's Oil Control Program, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection's
Underground Storage Tank Program, Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs'
Storage Tank Division, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Underground Storage Tank
Program, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality's Underground Storage Tank
Program, Missouri Department of Natural Resources’' Environmental Remediation Program,
Montana Department of Environmental Quality's Underground Storage Tank Leak Prevention
Program, Nebraska State Fire Marshal's Fuels Safety Division, Nevada Division of
Environmental Protection's Underground Storage Tank Program, New Hampshire Department of
Environmental Services' Underground Storage Tank Program, New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection's Site Remediation Program, New Mexico Environment Department's
Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau, New York Department of Environmental Conservation's
Chemical Bulk Storage Program, North Carolina Environmental Quality's Underground Storage
Tank Section, North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality's Underground Storage Tank
Program, Ohio Department of Commerce's Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations,
Oklahoma Corporation Commission's Petroleum Storage Tank Division, Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality's Underground Storage Tank Program, Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection's Division of Storage Tanks, Rhode Island Department of
Environmental Management's Underground Storage Tank Management Program, South Carolina
Department of Health and Environmental Control's Underground Storage Tanks Program,
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Division of Underground Storage
Tanks, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Utah Department of Environmental
Quality's Underground Storage Tanks Branch, Vermont Department of Environmental
Conservation's Waste Management and Prevention Division, Virginia Department of
Environmental Quality's Underground Storage Tanks Program, Washington Department of
Ecology's Underground Storage Tank Program, District of Columbia Department of Energy and
Environment’s Underground Storage Tank Program, West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection's Underground Storage Tank Section, Wisconsin Department of
Agriculture's Trade and Consumer Protection's Bureau of Weights and Measures, Wyoming
Department of Environmental Quality's Storage Tank Program, EPA’s Tribal Underground
33
Storage Tanks Database (TrUSTD)
7.3. Underground Storage Tank Releases Data Sources
Alabama Department of Environmental Management, Alaska Department of Environmental
Conservation's Division of Spill Prevention and Response, Arizona Department of
Environmental Quality, Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality's Office of Land
Resources, California Environmental Protection Agency State Water Resources Control Board,
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment's Division of Oil and Public Safety,
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Delaware Department of
Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Florida Department of Environmental
Protection's Division of Waste Management, Georgia Department of Natural Resources'
Environmental protection Division, State of Hawaii's Department of Health-Solid and Hazardous
Waste Branch, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Illinois Environmental Protection
Agency's Bureau of Land Databases, Indiana Department of Environmental Management UST
Branch, Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Public Safety State Fire Marshal Office,
Kansas Department of Health and Environment's Storage Tank Section, Kentucky Energy and
Environment Cabinet-Division of Waste Management-Underground Storage Tank Branch,
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's Underground Storage Tank Program, Maine
Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management,
Maryland Department of the Environment-Land and Materials Administration-Oil Control
Program, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Waste Site
Cleanup, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy's Leaking
Underground Storage Tanks Program, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Petroleum
Remediation Program, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality's Underground Storage
Tanks Program, Missouri Department of Natural Resources' Environmental Remediation
Program, Montana Department of Environmental Quality's Waste Management and Remediation
Division, Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, Nevada Division of Environmental
Protection, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services' Waste Division, New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Remediation Management, New Mexico
Environment Department's Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau, New York Department of
Environmental Conservation, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality's Was
Management Division, North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Waste
Management, Ohio Department of Commerce's Division of State Fire Marshal, Oklahoma
Corporation Commission's Petroleum Storage Tank Division, Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality’s Tanks Program, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection's Storage Tank Cleanup Program, Rhode Island Department of Environmental
Management's Office of Waste Management, South Carolina Department of Health and
Environmental Control, South Dakota Department of Environmental and Natural Resources'
Ground Water Quality Program, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's
Division of Underground Storage Tanks, Texas Commission of Environmental Quality, Utah
Department of Environmental Quality's Underground Storage Tank Branch, Vermont
Department of Environmental Conservation, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's
Division of Land Protection and Revitalization, Washington Department of Ecology's Toxics
Cleanup Program, Washington D.C. Department of Energy and Environment, West Virginia
Department of Environmental Protection's Tanks Unit, Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources' Remediation and Redevelopment Program, Wyoming Department of Environmental
34
Quality's Storage Tank program, Tribal Underground Storage Tanks Database (TrUSTD)
35
8. Appendix A
In July 2023, UST Finder data were populated with EJScreen v. 2.2 data. For every active
underground storage tank facility and every open leaking underground storage tank location,
there is information on associated community:
•
•
•
Environmental Indicators
Socioeconomic/health Indicators
EJ Indexes
For more information on EPA’s EJScreen, visit https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen.
8.1. Percentiles
These three elements are all reported in percentiles—by state percentiles and US percentiles.
Percentiles are a way of reporting information in a standardized unit, reported from 0 to 100. A
50th percentile denotes that half of the data is above and half of the data is below the 50th
percentile, for example. US percentiles use the entire EJScreen dataset to rank the percentiles
while State percentiles are ranked state-by-state. If using state percentiles, the denominator is
determined by the number of block groups within any given state, so comparisons between UST
facilities or LUSTs need to be restricted to state analysis. For example, if using state percentiles
do not compare an UST facility in Iowa to an UST Facility in New Hampshire—comparisons
between states should be done with US percentiles.
8.2. Environmental Indicators
There are 13 environmental indicators in EJScreen. Below is a table of these indicators, key
medium effected, data year, and source.
Key
Medium
Air
Air
Indicator
Details
Source
Data
Year
EPA, Office of Air and
Radiation (OAR) fusion of 2019
model and monitor data
Particulate
matter 2.5
PM2.5 levels in air,
µg/m3 annual avg.
Ozone
Annual average of top
ten maximum daily 8EPA, OAR fusion of model
hour ozone air
2019
and monitor data
concentrations in parts
per billion
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Key
Medium
Indicator
Details
Source
Data
Year
Air
Diesel
particulate
matter
Diesel particulate matter EPA Hazardous Air
level in air, µg/m3
Pollutants
2019
Air
Air toxics
cancer risk
Lifetime cancer risk from EPA Hazardous Air
inhalation of air toxics Pollutants
2019
Air
Air toxics
respiratory
hazard index
Ratio of exposure
concentration to health- EPA Hazardous Air
based reference
Pollutants
concentration
2019
Air
Calculated from 2021
Risk-Screening
RSEI modeled toxicityEnvironmental Indicators
Toxic Releases weighted concentrations
(RSEI) Geographic
2021
to Air
in air of TRI listed
Microdata results for the
chemicals.
air pathway, retrieved
5/16/2023
Count of vehicles
(AADT, avg. annual
daily traffic) at major
Traffic proximity
Air/other
roads within 500
and volume
meters, divided by
distance in meters (not
km)
Dust/
lead
paint
Waste/
air/
water
Calculated from 2020 U.S.
Department of
2020
Transportation traffic data,
retrieved 1/19/2023
Lead paint
Percent of housing units Calculated based on
built pre-1960, as
Census/American
2017indicator of potential
Community Survey (ACS) 2021
lead paint exposure
data, retrieved 2023
Superfund
proximity
Count of proposed or
listed NPL - also known
as superfund - sites
Calculated from EPA
within 5 km (or nearest CERCLIS database,
one beyond 5 km), each retrieved 11/23/2022
divided by distance in
kilometers
37
2022
Key
Medium
Indicator
Details
Source
Data
Year
Waste/
air/
water
Count of RMP (potential
chemical accident
Risk
management plan)
Calculated from EPA RMP
management
facilities within 5 km (or database, retrieved
2022
plan (RMP)
nearest one beyond 5 10/22/2022
facility proximity
km), each divided by
distance in kilometers
Waste/
air/
water
Count of hazardous
waste facilities (TSDFs
Hazardous
and LQGs) within 5 km
waste proximity (or nearest beyond 5
km), each divided by
distance in kilometers
Waste/
air/
water
Underground
storage tanks
(UST) and
leaking UST
(LUST)
Count of LUSTs
(multiplied by a factor of
7.7) and the number of Calculated from EPA UST
2022
USTs within a 1,500Finder, retrieved 2/2/2023
foot buffered block
group
Wastewater
discharge
RSEI modeled toxic
concentrations at
stream segments within
500 meters, divided by
distance in kilometers
(km)
Water
TSDF data calculated
from EPA RCRAInfo
database, retrieved
2/9/2023
2022
Calculated from RSEI
modeled toxic
concentrations to stream 2020
reach segments, created
11/23/2022
8.3. Socioeconomic/health Indicators
There are 5 socioeconomic indicators and 1 health indictor displayed in the EJScreen dataset
within UST Finder. These indicators form the basis for both the demographic index and the
supplemental demographic index:
1. People of color:
• The percent of individuals in a block group who list their racial status as a race
other than white alone and/or list their ethnicity as Hispanic or Latino. That is, all
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
people other than non-Hispanic white-alone individuals. The word "alone" in this
case indicates that the person is of a single race, not multiracial.
Low-income:
• The percent of a block group's population in households where the household
income is less than or equal to twice the federal "poverty level."
Unemployment rate:
• The percent of a block group's population that did not have a job at all during the
reporting period, made at least one specific active effort to find a job during the
prior 4 weeks, and were available for work (unless temporarily ill).
Limited English speaking:
• Percent of people in a block group living in limited English speaking households.
A household in which all members age 14 years and over speak a non-English
language and also speak English less than "very well" (have difficulty with
English) is limited English speaking.
Less than high school education:
• Percent of people age 25 or older in a block group whose education is short of a
high school diploma.
Low Life Expectancy:
• Average life expectancy data developed as a collaboration between NCHS, the
National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems, and
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This data is available at the tract level; the
same tract value is then assigned to all sub block groups.
Source: U.S. Small-area Life Expectancy Estimates Project (USALEE)
8.4. EJ Indexes
8.4.1. Standard EJ Indexes
There are thirteen EJ indexes in EJScreen reflecting the 13 environmental indicators, combined with
socioeconomic information. The EJ index highlights block groups with the highest intersection of lowincome populations, people of color, and a given environmental indicator. To calculate a single EJ index
for one block group, EJScreen multiplies the environmental indicator by socioeconomic information. This
socioeconomic information includes percent low-income and percent people of color (as the
demographic index). This is the formula for the index:
EJ Index = (Environmental Indicator Percentile for Block Group) X (Demographic Index for Block Group)
8.4.2. Supplemental EJ Indexes
There are thirteen supplemental indexes in EJScreen reflecting the 13 environmental indicators,
combined with socioeconomic information. The supplemental index highlights block groups with the
highest intersection of five socioeconomic factors and a given environmental indicator. To calculate a
single supplemental index for one block group, EJScreen multiplies the environmental indicator by
socioeconomic information. This socioeconomic information includes percent low-income, percent
linguistically isolated, percent less than high school education, percent unemployed, and low life
expectancy (as the supplemental demographic index). This is the formula for the index:
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Supplemental Index = (Environmental Indicator Percentile for Block Group) X (Supplemental
Demographic Index for Block Group)
8.5. Environmental Justice Layers within UST Finder
All 8 EJ layers can be found within the “EJ” widget
bottom of UST Finder:
towards the end of the widget band at the
Figure 30 EJ Layer widget and window within UST Finder
When using the EJ layers, make sure to turn off the Non-EJ Layers to avoid overlapping features.
With the EJ Layer window open, there are 8 features and 1 table:
40
Figure 4 EJ Layers
The first 4 (UST Facilities) layers and last 4 (Releases) layers contain the same UST and LUST
information but contain different EJ info depending on state %tiles or national %tiles and
supplemental and standard EJ Indexes. Select the layer that best reflects how you want the
percentiles ranked (state or national) and how you want the Indexes calculated (standard or
supplemental).
8.6. Symbology
All 8 layers are symbolized by the number of EJ Indexes over the 80th %tile—between 0 and 13.
For early applications of EJScreen, EPA identified the 80th percentile filter as that initial starting
point. In other words, an area with any of the 13 EJ Indexes at or above the 80th percentile
nationally should be considered as a potential candidate for further review. Further review may
include considering other factors and other sources of information such as health-based
information, local knowledge, proximity and exposure to environmental hazards, susceptible
populations, unique exposure pathways, and other federal, regional, state, and local data
(EJScreen).
As a visual way to quickly identify facilities or releases within communities that meet at least 1
41
EJ Index above the 80th %tile, all 8 layers are symbolized into 2 categories:
1. 0 EJ Indexes above the 80th %tile
2. 1-13 Indexes above the 80th %tile
The latter category is symbolized by a darker blue and darker red for facilities and releases,
respectively. Below shows this binary symbology:
Figure 5 EJ Index symbology
8.7. EJ Layer Pop-ups
Click on a point on the map to open the pop-up window. within this window, scroll down to view
EJ information:
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Figure 6 EJ Layer pop-up by EJ "category"
8.8. EJ Index Filter
A second filter widget is added, the EJ Index Filter
, allowing the user to query each of the
8 EJ layers by the number of EJ Indexes at or above the 80 %tile. The Filter is divided into 8—
representing one filter per EJ Layer. When filtering, make sure you have the associated layer
43
turned on matching the associated filter. For example, the image below shows the Releases (State
%tile | Supplemental EJ Index) layer turned on and the Releases (State %tile | Supplemental EJ
Index) filter is being used.
Figure 7 Filtering layers by # of EJ Indexes at or above the 80th %tile
8.9. EJ Index Charts
Use the EJ Index Charts to visually assess all EJ Index %tiles at an individual facility/releases or
the average of all indexes for a defined geography. Turn on one of the 8 EJ layers and select the
“I” widget
.
Within the “I” window, click the layer name that is currently selected in the Environmental
Justice Layer menu
44
Figure 8 Select the EJ Index Chart layer matching the layer turned on in the Environmental Justice Layers window
Click “Use spatial filter to limit features”. And select whether you want to calculate average indexes for
all the features within your current map extent or features intersecting a user defined area.
45
Make a selection and select “Apply”:
46
“Chart Results” will appear. Hover over the bars for the 13 indexes to see the EJ Index %tiles for the
facility/release(s).
Figure 9 Chart Results - EJ Index %tiles
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| File Type | application/pdf |
| File Title | EPA Report Template |
| Author | Yeardley, Roger |
| File Modified | 2023-07-17 |
| File Created | 2023-07-17 |