Below is a repost of something I wrote up a few years ago - still applies! :)
George Carlin once asked, “Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?” While I cannot answer his question, I can answer the question, “Why can’t we take the fuel/water mix we pumped from the gas station sumps and tanks to the injection well down the road?”
This is something I’ve run into multiple times – someone unknowingly pushing to take their gas station waste to a facility not permitted to accept it, simply due to the fact that the lines between regulatory agencies have been misunderstood. What these folks are missing is that gas station wastes are not under the regulatory umbrella of the oil and gas industry but rather the TCEQ and EPA, which means that the injection well down the road may not be suitable or permitted to accept their waste.
The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), the oldest Texas regulatory agency, regulates the oil and gas industry, which includes exploration, development, and production of oil and gas (Source 1). Contrary to its name, RRC “no longer has any jurisdiction or authority over railroads in Texas, a duty which was transferred to other agencies, with the last of the rail functions transferred to the Texas Department of Transportation in 2005” (Source 2). While there have been attempts to change the agency’s now-misleading name, legislation has not been successful (are they trying to make it as confusing as possible?!).
To understand why gas station wastes are not regulated by the RRC, we must first understand the different phases of oil and gas production that are under the realm of RRC regulations. Described below are the three general phases:
(1) Upstream: The earliest phase includes exploration and production (E&P), which encompasses the search, exploration, drilling, and extraction phases and primarily focuses on locating and extracting commodities from the Earth.
(2) Midstream: The middle phase includes the storage and transportation of the oil and natural gas through pipelines.
(3) Downstream: The final phase “involves refineries that process the oil into usable products, such as gasoline. In other words, finished products are created from the crude oil and natural gas. The products are sent to distributors and retail outlets, such as energy providers and gas stations" (Source 3).
At this point, it’s obvious that gas stations do not fall into any of these three phases. In fact, when you dig around into TCEQ guidance documents regarding typical TCEQ-regulated, non-industrial generators, gas stations/service stations are almost always listed as an example (Source 4). Gas station wastes are simply not regulated by the RRC but rather the TCEQ and EPA.
This is vital to understand – gas station wastes are not RRC-regulated wastes and therefore cannot be sent to disposal sites permitted only under RRC regulations. If a gas station does send its waste to a RRC-regulated disposal facility that does not have any RCRA permits or registrations, this would be considered unauthorized disposal by the TCEQ and EPA, which carries hefty penalties and fines. Yikes!
If you are managing wastes generated from a gas station, it’s important to do your research regarding any potential disposal or recycling facilities. Usually, this can be done rather quickly by searching TCEQ’s Central Registry website (https://www15.tceq.texas.gov/crpub/index.cfm?fuseaction=regent.RNSearch) to see if the facility is RCRA-permitted/registered to accept the waste. You can also do a Google search of the site, which oftentimes reveals interesting information about the reputability of the facility. But whatever you do, NEVER take a facility’s word that they are permitted to accept your waste!! I’ve seen it happen where a facility claimed they could accept oily water from a gas station, but after digging around, I found that they were only RRC-permitted and did not have any RCRA registrations or permits. By doing my own research, I dodged a bullet.
This gave me a chuckle while researching a disposal facility - not only was this facility not permitted to accept waste water from a gas station (as they so claimed), but apparently it was run like the Wild West!
Another red flag: If you are given super-duper cheap disposal/recycling pricing by the barrel, then it's probably not a RCRA-permitted disposal/recycling facility. Generally, RCRA-permitted disposal/recycling facilities will charge by the gallon. RRC-regulated disposal facilities usually will charge by the barrel, and most times, it's much cheaper than RCRA-regulated facilities. Not saying that is true in every single circumstance, but it is generally the case. While the low-priced rates may seem enticing, it should serve as a sign to stop and reevaluate.
In summary, gas station waste should be managed under EPA regulations, not RRC regulations. From absorbents to oily water to fuel, these gas station-generated wastes must be appropriately classified and sent to an EPA-authorized disposal/recycling facility. So if you are managing any waste generated from a gas station and someone tells you, "Yeah, my buddy down the road can take your fuel/water mix from the sumps for $0.05/barrel," be wary, and do your due diligence!
SOURCES