(a) To assure protection of the water resources of the state, the secretary shall compile an inventory of all aboveground storage tanks. The secretary shall prescribe a registration form for this purpose.

(b) Each owner or operator of an aboveground storage tank shall complete and submit to the secretary the registration form by July 1, 2015. The owner or operator of any aboveground storage tank placed into service on or after the effective date of this section shall complete and submit a registration form to the secretary prior to storing fluids therein. Tank registrations previously submitted to the secretary pursuant to this article shall constitute registration pursuant to this section.

(c) At a minimum, the registration form shall identify the ownership of the tank, tank location, date of installation if known, type of construction, capacity and age of the tank, the type of fluid stored therein, and the circumstances under which the registration must be updated.

If the registered tank is regulated under any existing state or federal regulatory program, the owner of the tank shall be required to provide the identifying number of any license, registration or permit issued for the tank.

(d) The secretary shall charge a registration fee of $40 per tank for all ASTs in service prior to July 1, 2015. The registration fee for ASTs placed into service on or after July 1, 2015, shall be $20 per tank. Registration fees for ASTs in service prior to July 1, 2015, shall be deposited such that half the amount is placed into the AST Administrative Fund and half the amount into the Protect Our Water Fund. Registration fees for ASTs placed into service on or after July 1, 2015, shall be deposited wholly into the AST Administrative Fund.

(1) The secretary shall propose emergency or legislative rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to set out the process and procedure for registration fee assessment and collection.

(2) In recognition of the need to expeditiously capitalize the AST Administrative Fund and the Protect Our Water Fund, the secretary may charge the fees provided for in this subsection by sending invoices for the same to the owners or operators of ASTs prior to the promulgation of the rules contemplated in subdivision (1) of this subsection.

(e) After July 1, 2015, it shall be unlawful for any owner or operator to operate or use an aboveground storage tank that has not been properly registered or for which any applicable registration fee has not been paid.