Reduces emissions of air pollutants from petroleum bulk storage facilities by requiring that no person shall own or operate a facility containing an above-ground tank that does not have a shell color and roof color of either white or beige/cream; provides that such color requirements shall apply to every tank at a facility regardless of whether the tank is in active use for storage; defines terms.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6177A
SPONSOR: Septimo TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
reducing emissions of air pollutants from petroleum bulk storage facili-
ties
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To reduce air pollution emitted by petroleum bulk storage facilities.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:.
Section 1 provides definitions, and amends the environmental conserva-
tion law by adding a new section 17-1016 to require petroleum bulk stor-
age facilities to paint their tanks white or beige/cream.
Section 2 sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Petroleum bulk storage facilities around New York State contribute
significantly to hazardous air pollution. Many of these facilities are
near residential communities, including a number of low income and
minority communities.
Petroleum bulk storage tanks emit hazardous air pollutants(1), including
benzene, a known human carcinogen,(2) through evaporation loss. Evapo-
ration loss occurs when molecules from a stored liquid form a vapor in
the space above the liquid and escape into the atmosphere.(3) The rate
of evaporation loss increases in the presence of two factors: heat and
vapor pressure.(4)
This bill serves to reduce heat in petroleum bulk storage tanks and will
reduce the evaporation loss of harmful pollutants.
The external paint color of a petroleum bulk storage tank significantly
affects the temperature of the tank's metal.(5) Dark-colored paints have
high absorptivity rates and cause metal tanks to retain heat from
sunlight whereas white, light-colored, and reflective paints with low
absorptivity rates reduce tank heating by minimizing sunlight absorp-
tion.(6) Studies have shown a nearly 300% decrease in evaporation losses
where tanks are painted with a minimally absorptive paint color.(7)
This bill will require all above-ground petroleum storage tanks be
painted white or beige to minimize sunlight absorption and, ultimately,
the emission of hazardous air pollutants. This is a low-cost and
straightforward way to protect the health and safety of New Yorkers by
addressing a significant contributor to hazardous air pollutants.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2020: S9083 - Died in Rules
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1st, 2024.
1 "Hazardous air pollutants" as used herein includes the chemicals list-
ed in the "Clean Air Act", 42 U.S.C.S. § 7412(b) (1).
2 Center for Disease Control and Prevention, "Facts about Benzene",
NATIONAL CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH, April 4, 2018.
3 TI-3 Petroleum Committee, Air Pollution Control Association, Control
of Atmospheric Emissions From Petroleum Storage Tanks, 21 J. AIR
POLLUTION CONTROL ASS'N 260, 260 (1971); see also Office of the Federal
Register, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants:
Miscellaneous Coating Manufacturing Residual Risk and Technology Review,
84 F.R. 46419, 46627 (2019).
4 TI-3 Petroleum Committee, supra note 1 at 260.
5 Farzaneh-Gord, Nabati, Saadat-Targhi, Rasekh & Niazmand, Selecting
best painting colour for crude oil storage tanks' exterior surface, 23
INT'L J. OIL, GAS & COAL TECH at Abstract (2020).
6 Tavakoli & Baktash, Numerical Analysis for Effect of Envelop Color of
Oil Tank Storage with Floating Roof, 2 INT'L J. MODERN ENG. RES. 3773,
3781 (2012). This study compared two paint colors: one with an absorp-
tivity rate of 0.9, the other with an absorptivity rate of 0.1. id.;
see also FarzanehGord, supra note 4.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6177--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 10, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SEPTIMO, FORREST, SIMON -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Environmental Conservation -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
reducing emissions of air pollutants from petroleum bulk storage
facilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a
2 new section 17-1016 to read as follows:
3 § 17-1016. Reduction of air pollution from petroleum bulk storage facil-
4 ities.
5 1. For purposes of this section, the terms below shall have the
6 following meaning:
7 a. "Shell color" shall mean the color and shade combination of the
8 paint on the sides or shell of a tank.
9 b. "Roof color" shall mean the color and shade combination of the
10 paint on the roof of a tank.
11 c. "Tank" shall have the meaning set forth in section 17-1003 of this
12 title except that for purposes of this section "tank" means an above-
13 ground tank and does not include associated pipes, lines, fixtures or
14 other ancillary equipment.
15 2. Tank coloring. a. No person shall own or operate a facility
16 containing a tank that does not meet the color requirements of this
17 subdivision. Such color requirements shall apply to every tank at a
18 facility regardless of whether the tank is in active use for storage.
19 b. A tank shall have a shell color and roof color of either white or
20 beige/cream.
21 § 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2024.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02989-02-1
