California Environmental Reporting System (CERS)

Question: Must a person possess a current inspector certification issued by the International Code Council (ICC) to review and accept submitted underground storage tank (UST) data elements in the California Environmental Reporting System (CERS)?

Answer: Yes, any person reviewing and accepting submitted UST data elements in CERS or a local reporting portal must possess a current inspector certification issued by the ICC. The applicable code sections are provided below.

Non ICC certified staff can perform an initial processing/review of a UST submittal in CERS and could set the submittal status to ‘under review’. Final review could be conducted at a later date by ICC certified staff who could then set the submittal status to ‘accepted’ if the submittal is found to be acceptable. Note that submittal status can also be changed after the fact, so if a submittal is ‘accepted’ and later found to be deficient, the status could be set to ‘not accepted’. Also, non ICC staff can set the submittal status to 'not accepted' for "backlog" submittals when there is a newer submittal for the ICC certified staff to review. In that case, a comment stating that the submittal was not accepted do to a newer submittal being available should be noted.

Background information:

California Health & Safety Code, section 25288(a) specifies an inspection is to determine whether the tank system complies with the applicable requirements of this chapter and the regulations adopted by the board pursuant to section 25299.3. This includes the design and construction standards of sections 25290.1, 25290.2, 25291, or 25292, whichever is applicable, whether the owner or operator has monitored and tested the tank system as required by the permit, and whether the tank system is in a safe operating condition. The State Water Resources Control Board has determined that reviewing and approving submitted UST information is an element of part of performing UST compliance and inspection.

California Health and Safety Code, section 25284.1 requires UST owners, operators, installers, service technicians, and inspectors to satisfy minimum industry-established training criteria. To demonstrate compliance with the minimum industry-established training criteria, California Code of Regulations, Title 23, Section 2715(j) specifies that UST inspectors shall possess a current International Code Council (ICC) California UST Inspector certificate. To obtain this certificate, inspectors must pass the ICC California UST Inspector exam. All UST compliance and inspection activities must be conducted by a certified inspector.