A section in the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, adopted by Congress in November 1984, which sets out compliance requirements for underground tanks installed after the effective date of the law (May 5, 1985) and the date when all of its provisions would become effective.
When it adopted the law, Congress recognized time would be required for Environmental Protection Agency to get new tank regulations in place. For that reason, the law provided that most of its provisions would not become effective for 18 months. But Congress also wanted to make sure that any new tanks installed during this interim period would comply with the basic requirements of the law. So it included an interim prohibition in the act which said that any tanks installed during this period must be capable of preventing releases due to corrosion or structural failure for the operational life of the tanks; must be protected against corrosion, or constructed of noncorrosive material; and must be compatible with the substance stored.
Because of delays in issuing final rules, the interim prohibition remained in effect until December 22, 1988.
