The guide provides framework for moving sites to closure procedures.

Jun 18, 2025

ASTM International’s environmental assessment, risk management and corrective action committee (E50) has approved a new standard that will be used to secure regulatory oversight for moving sites to closure (MStC) at petroleum underground storage tank (UST) sites requiring corrective actions.

The new standard (E3488) provides a framework based on the latest science and best management practices for regulators, owners, and cleanup consultants to complete the cleanup of petroleum releases from underground storage tanks.

According to ASTM member Thomas Schruben, over 500,000 UST releases have been cleaned up but approximately 55,000 releases remain in some stage of cleanup. Many of these sites have been proven to be difficult to complete using current approaches. MStC is intended to help these remaining cleanups be completed. MStC provides:

• A framework for analyzing the threats to human and ecological receptors posed by petroleum UST releases;
• Alternative criteria for identifying low threat releases whose cleanups can be moved to regulatory closure;
• A process for evaluating cleanups that are no longer making progress and improving their effectiveness, and;
• Best practices for overcoming non-technical barriers to completing cleanups such as non-responsive owners, staff shortages, and denial of site access.

Interested parties are invited to participate in the task group that developed E3488.

“The task group is turning its attention to outreach and training to help implementing agencies and the environmental consulting community adapt and adopt the MStC framework into their underground storage tank cleanup programs,” says Schruben, physical scientist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Underground Storage Tanks. “We are working with ASTM’s training team to build programs that meet the needs of individual implementing agencies.”

“MStC encourages the adoption of sustainable cleanups and protection of human and ecological receptors from petroleum releases,” says Schruben. “MStC also supports the EPA’s Pillar One—Clean Air, Land, and Water for Every American program.”

ASTM welcomes participation in the development of its standards. Become a member at www.astm.org/JOIN.

This effort directly relates to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #6 on clean water and sanitation.

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