RCW 70.149.030 Definitions. (Expires July 1, 2030.)

The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Accidental release" means a sudden or nonsudden release of heating oil, occurring after July 23, 1995, from operating a heating oil tank that results in bodily injury, property damage, or a need for corrective action, neither expected nor intended by the owner or operator.

(2) "Bodily injury" means bodily injury, sickness, or disease sustained by a person, including death at any time, resulting from the injury, sickness, or disease.

(3)(a) "Corrective action" means those actions reasonably required to be undertaken by the insured to remove, treat, neutralize, contain, or clean up an accidental release in order to comply with a statute, ordinance, rule, regulation, directive, order, or similar legal requirement, in effect at the time of an accidental release, of the United States, the state of Washington, or a political subdivision of the United States or the state of Washington. "Corrective action" includes, where agreed to in writing, in advance by the insurer, action to remove, treat, neutralize, contain, or clean up an accidental release to avert, reduce, or eliminate the liability of the insured for corrective action, bodily injury, or property damage. "Corrective action" also includes actions reasonably necessary to monitor, assess, and evaluate an accidental release.

(b) "Corrective action" does not include:

(i) Replacement or repair of heating oil tanks or other receptacles; or

(ii) Replacement or repair of piping, connections, and valves of tanks or other receptacles.

(4) "Defense costs" include the costs of legal representation, expert fees, and related costs and expenses incurred in defending against claims or actions brought by or on behalf of:

(a) The United States, the state of Washington, or a political subdivision of the United States or state of Washington to require corrective action or to recover costs of corrective action; or

(b) A third party for bodily injury or property damage caused by an accidental release.

(5) "Director" means the director of the Washington state pollution liability insurance agency or the director's appointed representative.

(6) "Environmental covenant" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 64.70.020.

(7) "Facility" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 70.105D.020.

(8) "Heating oil" means any petroleum product used for space heating in oil-fired furnaces, heaters, and boilers, including stove oil, diesel fuel, or kerosene. "Heating oil" does not include petroleum products used as fuels in motor vehicles, marine vessels, trains, buses, aircraft, or any off-highway equipment not used for space heating, or for industrial processing or the generation of electrical energy.

(9) "Heating oil tank" means a tank and its connecting pipes, whether above or below ground, or in a basement, with pipes connected to the tank for space heating of human living or working space on the premises where the tank is located. "Heating oil tank" does not include a decommissioned or abandoned heating oil tank, or a tank used solely for industrial process heating purposes or generation of electrical energy.

(10) "Independent remedial action" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 70.105D.020.

(11) "Occurrence" means an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to conditions, that results in a release from a heating oil tank.

(12) "Owner or operator" means a person in control of, or having responsibility for, the daily operation of a petroleum storage tank system.

(13) "Petroleum" means any petroleum-based substance including crude oil or any fraction that is liquid at standard conditions of temperature and pressure. The term "petroleum" includes, but is not limited to, petroleum and petroleum-based substances comprised of a complex blend of hydrocarbons, such as motor fuels, jet fuels, distillate fuel oils, residual fuel oils, lubricants, petroleum solvents, used oils, and heating oils. The term "petroleum" does not include propane, asphalt, or any other petroleum product that is not liquid at standard conditions of temperature and pressure. Standard conditions of temperature and pressure are at sixty degrees Fahrenheit and 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute.

(14) "Petroleum storage tank system" means a storage tank system that contains petroleum or a mixture of petroleum with de minimis quantities of other substances. The systems include those containing motor fuels, jet fuels, distillate fuel oils, residual fuel oils, lubricants, petroleum solvents, used oils, and heating oils. "Petroleum storage tank system" does not include any storage tank system regulated under chapter 70.105 RCW.

(15) "Pollution liability insurance agency" means the Washington state pollution liability insurance agency.

(16) "Property damage" means:

(a) Physical injury to, destruction of, or contamination of tangible property, including the loss of use of the property resulting from the injury, destruction, or contamination; or

(b) Loss of use of tangible property that has not been physically injured, destroyed, or contaminated but has been evacuated, withdrawn from use, or rendered inaccessible because of an accidental release.

(17) "Release" means a spill, leak, emission, escape, or leaching into the environment.

(18) "Remedial action" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 70.105D.020.

(19) "Remedial action costs" means reasonable costs that are attributable to or associated with a remedial action.

(20) "Tank" means a stationary device, designed to contain an accumulation of heating oil, that is constructed primarily of nonearthen materials such as concrete, steel, fiberglass, or plastic that provides structural support.

(21) "Third-party liability" means the liability of a heating oil tank owner to another person due to property damage or personal injury that results from a leak or spill.

[ 2017 c 23 § 3; 1995 c 20 § 3.]