UST Compliance Update As of December 1998, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the number of the active regulated USTs in the U.S. dropped from 2 million to 892,000. In December 1998, federal regulations became effective requiring corrosion protection, leak detection and monitoring systems for all regulated USTs. At that time, The EPA estimated that about 50 percent of the regulated USTs were compliant with the new regulations. The July 2000 edition of the magazine "Environmental Protection" lists 25 states have provided statistics concerning the percentage of regulated underground storage tanks (USTs) within their borders that are known to be out of compliance with the federal EPA's 12/22/98 UST regulations regarding corrosion protection, leak detection and monitoring systems. The states providing feedback are as follows: State Percent of USTs Not in Complience 1. Alabama 17% 2. Alaska 17% 3. Arkansas 51% 4. Arizona 35% 5. Florida 3% 6. Hawaii 20% 7 Iowa 4% 8. Kansas 18% 9 . Maryland 9% 10. Massachusetts Up to 10% 11. Minnesota 10% 12. Missouri 15% 13. Montana 22.5% 14. Nebraska 22% 15. New Mexico 11% 16. North Dakota 5% 17. Oklahoma 0.01% 18. Oregon 0% 19. Pennsylvania 17.%9 20 Rhode Island 1.4% 21 South Carolina 4.15 22 Tennessee 19.7% 23. Washington 10% 24. West Virginia 40% 25. Wisconsin 10.9% Over 370,000 leaking USTs have been reported to the EPA over the past decade with over half of these reported releases impacting groundwater. Cleanup costs for a leaking UST average approximately $125,000 as long as groundwater has not been impacted. Cleanup costs will increase substantially once groundwater is contaminated. Legal Disclaimer: This report has been prepared from original sources and data we believe to be reliable, but we make no representation as to its accuracy, timeliness or completeness. This report is published solely for information purposes and is not to be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Please consult with your investment professional, tax advisors or legal counsel before relaying on this material.