Underground Storage Tanks

Old abandoned gas stations can be eyesores and blight communities. The 2002 Brownfields Law gives EPA, states, cities, entrepreneurs, and community leaders an opportunity and new tools to clean up and return to productive reuse many of the nation's 200,000 abandoned gas stations and lightly contaminated petroleum sites. Throughout the year, we will continue to implement the new Brownfields Law; promote the use of new brownfields tools like ready for reuse determinations; and encourage states, tribes, and other partners to look for opportunities to clean up and return abandoned gas stations to productive residential, commercial, recreational, or public use.

Check back to this web page throughout the year to obtain the latest information on OUST's efforts on these issues.

20th Anniversary Highlights:

• OUST's 20th anniversary report "Building on the Past to Protect the Future"
• LUSTLine 20th Anniversary issue (PDF) (About PDF)
• Information Sheet on Reuse of Abandoned Gas Station Sites
• FY04 Petroleum Brownfields Grants
  • Administrator Mike Leavitt Announces Largest Round Ever of Brownfields Revitalization Grants
  • 42 States, Puerto Rico, Five Tribes Share Record $75.4 Million in Brownfields Grants

Basic Information on Recycling Abandoned Gas Stations:

• Cleaning Up and Reusing Abandoned Gas Station Sites
• EPA Grants for Petroleum Brownfields Properties
• USTfields Initiative
• Partnership Initiative For Reusing Petroleum Brownfields (PDF) (November 2003.) (4 pp, 12K, About PDF)
• Final FY05 "Proposal Guidelines for Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grants." (PDF) (EPA-500-F-04-253, September 2004) (74 pp, 1.8MB, About PDF)
• Remarks by Cliff Rothenstein, Director, OUST (presented at the Wildlife Habitat Council's "Restoring Greenspace Conference", Merrillville, Indiana, September 16, 2003)

Top of page