To enhance oversight of the risks associated with fuel oil tanks, TSSA introduced a Fuel Oil Distributor Audit Program in 2020. Under this program, distributors must demonstrate their compliance with O. Reg. 213/01 by meeting the following six primary requirements:
1. Initial and Periodic Inspections
2. Underground Tank Registrations
3. Supply to a Compliant Site
4. Employees’ Certification and Compliance
5. Incident Reporting
6. Identification, Action as Required and Reporting of non-compliances (unacceptable conditions)
TSSA’s audit will require distributors to demonstrate compliance through their processes and records.
Regarding the first requirement listed above “Initial and Periodic Inspections”, if there is no process to verify distributor inspections, TSSA will now do a field verification. If TSSA does a field verification and non-compliances are found, orders will be issued to address the specific non-compliances including the following “as a person who supplies fuel to containers and tank systems, you are hereby ordered to develop a program whereby you can demonstrate that you have taken every precaution that is reasonable to ensure the inspections required by 7(1) of Ontario Regulation 213/01 (Fuel Oil) are accurate”.
For more details on the fuel oil distributor audit program, refer to the following advisories: