(a) “Active site” means a site of an underground storage tank where an owner can be identified and where the tank is available for use in the management and handling of motor fuels, including tanks currently in service, tanks temporarily closed and tanks temporarily out of service.

(b) “Bonded distributor” means any person holding a distributor’s permit issued under either Section 27-55-7 or Section 27-55-507.

(c) “Commission” means the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality.

(d) “Contamination” means the presence or discharge of regulated substances in or on the land or in the waters of the state.

(e) “Department” means the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.

(f) “Director” means the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.

(g) “Groundwater” means water located beneath the land surface located wholly or partially within the boundaries of the state.

(h) “Motor fuels” means gasoline and aviation gasoline as defined in Section 27-55-5 and special fuel as defined in Section 27-55-505, except for those “motor fuels” used in electric power generating plants for the commercial production of electricity.

(i) “Operator” means any person in control of, or having responsibility for, the daily operation of an underground storage tank.

(j) “Owner of an underground storage tank” means:

(i) In the case of an underground storage tank in use on November 8, 1984, or brought into use after that date, any person who owns an underground storage tank used for the storage, use or dispensing of regulated substances; and

(ii) In the case of an underground storage tank in use before November 8, 1984, but no longer in use on that date, any person who owned such tank immediately before the discontinuation of its use.

(k) “Person” means an individual, trust, firm, joint-stock company, federal agency, corporation, state municipality, commission, political subdivision of a state, any interstate body, a consortium, a joint venture, a commercial entity or the United States government.

(l) “Regulated substance” means:

(i) Any substance defined in Section 101(14) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, Public Law No. 96-510, as amended and extended (but not including any substance regulated as a hazardous waste under Section 17-17-1 et seq., Mississippi Code of 1972); and

(ii) Petroleum, including crude oil or any fraction thereof, which is liquid at standard conditions of temperature and pressure (sixty (60) degrees Fahrenheit and fourteen and seven-tenths (14-7/10) pounds per square inch absolute).

(m) “Release” means any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching or disposing from an underground storage tank into groundwater, surface water or subsurface soils.

(n) “Response action” means any activity, including evaluation, planning, design, engineering, construction and ancillary services, which is carried out in response to any discharge, release or threatened release of motor fuels.

(o) “Response action contractor” means a person who has been approved by the commission and is carrying out any response action, including a person retained or hired by such person to provide services relating to a response action.

(p) “Retailer” means any person other than a bonded distributor who sells motor fuel as defined in this section.

(q) “Substantial compliance” means that an owner or operator of an underground storage tank has registered that tank with the department, and has made a good-faith effort to comply with the law; and the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

(r) “Third-party claim” means any civil action brought or asserted by any person against any owner of any underground storage tank for damages to person or property which damages are the direct result of a release of motor fuels from an underground storage tank.

(s) “Underground storage tank” means any one (1) or combination of containers including tanks, vessels, enclosures or structures together with appurtenances thereto used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances, and the volume of which, including the volume of the underground pipes connected thereto, is ten percent (10%) or more beneath the surface of the ground. Such term does not include any:

(i) Farm or residential tanks of one thousand one hundred (1,100) gallons or less capacity used for storing motor fuel for noncommercial purposes;

(ii) Tanks used for storing heating oil for consumptive use on the premises where stored;

(iii) Septic tanks;

(iv) Pipeline facilities (including gathering lines regulated under:

1. The Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968, Public Law No. 90-481, 49 USCS 1671-1684, as amended and extended,

2. The Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979, Public Law No. 96-129, 49 USCS 2001 et seq., as amended and extended, or

3. An intrastate pipeline facility regulated under state laws comparable to the provisions of law in Clause 1 or 2 of this subparagraph);

(v) Surface impoundments, pits, ponds or lagoons;

(vi) Storm water or wastewater collection systems;

(vii) Flow-through process tanks;

(viii) Liquid traps or associated gathering lines directly related to oil or gas production and gathering operation;

(ix) Storage tanks situated in an underground area such as a basement, cellar, mine working, drift, shaft or tunnel if the storage tank is situated upon or above the surface of the floor;

(x) Other tanks exempted by the Administrator of the federal Environmental Protection Agency; and

(xi) Piping connected to any of the above exemptions.

(t) “User” means any person who purchases or acquires motor fuels as defined in this section for consumption.