The Underground Storage Tank (UST) Fund helps UST owners and operators pay for cleanups of contamination from petroleum USTs.  The UST Fund is supported by a motor fuel tax and an environmental impact fee.

Depending upon, among other things, who will clean up the leaking UST contamination and who has owned or operated the USTs, the UST Fund may be used to clean up brownfield sites.

If a prospective purchaser, such as a developer or municipality, wants to access the UST Fund, the following items should be considered as part of the decision making process:

• Only the UST owner or operator can access the UST Fund.
• An UST release must have occurred and a Leaking UST incident must have been reported to IEMA prior to an owner or operator applying to the UST Fund.
• The OSFM determines the eligibility for the UST Fund and the associated deductible.  The OSFM also accepts tank registrations and issues permits for UST removal.  Deductible amounts can be $10,000, $15,000, $50,000 or $100,000, depending on the date the tanks were registered with the OSFM and when IEMA was notified of the confirmed release.
• Potential buyers are encouraged to find out if the USTs are registered and when they were registered.  If the tanks have been registered by the owner or operator (and are still on the premises when a new owner or operator purchases the property), the tank registration may be transferred to the new owner or operator.  The registration date from the previous owner(s) would be used to determine the deductible amount.
• In the event the tanks have already been removed, Public Act 94-0274 allows the new property owner to become the UST owner, become liable for the release, and access the UST Fund. For more information, see the New Owner Fact Sheet.
• USTs removed from service prior to January 2, 1974, are not eligible for payment from the UST Fund because they are unregisterable as determined by OSFM.
• Not all products contained in USTs are eligible for payment from the UST Fund.  For example, owners and operators of leaking USTs containing hazardous substances cannot be paid by the UST Fund for corrective action activities.  Please refer to Section 57.9(a)(3) of the Environmental Protection Act for a list of eligible substances.
• The Illinois EPA encourages you to inquire whether the UST Fund may be used to pay cleanup costs at the property before you apply for a Municipal Brownfields Redevelopment Grant, thereby reserving the grant monies for those who cannot access the UST Fund.  One advantage to using the UST Fund is that eligible parties may access up to $1,500,000 to perform corrective action (for instance, excavating soil and hauling it off-site to a licensed landfill) vs. the Municipal Brownfields Redevelopment Grant, which offers up to a maximum of $240,000 for site investigation and cleanup (for instance, performing soil borings to determine the extent of contamination and cleanup activities).  One disadvantage of accessing the UST Fund may be a high deductible amount ($100,000 in some instances).
• If you are eligible to access the UST Fund, budgets (required of sites proceeding under 35 Illinois Administrative Code 732 and 734) and billing submissions will be reviewed by the Illinois EPA.  The fund pays an owner or operator for eligible costs that have been incurred.