The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) on May 23, 2024, issued draft Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for Petrol Depots.
The following has been state namely: -
• It shall be applicable for petrol depots having facilities for storing, handling, distribution, transportation, loading, or unloading of petrol and that are liable to take approval/license from the Chief Controller of Explosive for storage of petrol.
• It states that before commissioning petrol depots shall provide baseline monitoring data of ambient air, soil, and groundwater quality covering relevant pollutant parameters.
• It states that any major leakage/spillage occurring inside the petrol depot or around the petrol depot during transportation/ supply of petrol/ any other activity related to the concerned petrol depot shall be reported by the petrol depot to the concerned SPCB/PCC, PESO, Oil Industry Safety Directorate, and District Administration under intimation to CPCB within 24 hours of occurrence.
• It states that petrol depots shall install hydrocarbon sensors along with an alarm system at the leakage-prone locations to detect any leakage at the earliest.
• It states that petrol depots shall install spill prevention equipment that will prevent the release of products to the environment when the transfer is attached from the fill pipe and overfill prevention equipment that will prevent overfilling of the petrol storage tanks as per the extent and overfill prevention equipment that will prevent overfilling of the petrol storage tanks.
• It states that all the underground petrol storage tanks shall provide a secondary containment system to prevent the leak from escaping into the environment.
• It states that an Equipment Integrity Test (EIT) shall be conducted to evaluate if an underground petrol storage tank can cause any leakage to the environment and to evaluate if it can provide containment as required.
• It states that new and upcoming petrol depots shall be located at least 100 m away from the surface water bodies including lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, wetlands, canals, and creeks, and human habitation.
The Objections or suggestions, if any, with respect to these draft SOPs shall be taken into consideration by May 29, 2024, and may be sent to the Chief Environment Officer.
[Notification no. – Maniman/Mupaa-1/2024-25/750]
