Reduction in the Release of Volatile Organic Compounds (Storage and Loading of Volatile Petroleum Liquids) Regulations (SOR/2025-88)

Application

Marginal note:Application — facilities

• 2 (1) Subject to subsection (2), these Regulations apply to any facility that meets any of the following conditions:

  • (a) the sum of the internal volume of all tanks at the facility that are used to store volatile petroleum liquids is greater than or equal to 500 m³;

  • (b) the total volume of volatile petroleum liquid loaded at the facility exceeds 4000 standard m³ in a calendar year;

  • (c) at least one tank at the facility has an internal volume greater than or equal to 5 m³ and is used to store a volatile petroleum liquid with a benzene concentration greater than 20% by weight; or

  • (d) at least one tank at the facility has an internal volume greater than or equal to or greater than 100 m³and is used to store a volatile petroleum liquid with a vapour pressure greater than 76 kPa.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (2) These Regulations do not apply to the following facilities:

  • (a) facilities where volatile petroleum liquids are stored or loaded exclusively for the purposes of retail fuel sales at the facilities;

  • (b) facilities that extract petroleum from an underground geological deposit or reservoir;

  • (c) facilities that perform primary processing of petroleum after its extraction from an underground geological deposit or reservoir to

    • (i) remove water, carbon dioxide, sulphur compounds or contaminants from the petroleum, or

    • (ii) separate the petroleum into gaseous and liquid streams;

  • (d) facilities that store or load petroleum before it undergoes primary processing at a facility referred to in paragraph (c);

  • (e) facilities that separate a petroleum feed into its individual components or fractions, if at least 90% by weight of the petroleum feed entering the facility exists as a vapour at a temperature of 20°C and an absolute pressure of 101.325 kPa;

  • (f) offshore facilities that are located more than three nautical miles from shore;

  • (g) facilities whose property boundary is located more than 100 km from any population centre, if

    • (i) the loading racks at the facility are never used to load volatile petroleum liquids with a benzene concentration greater than 2% by weight,

    • (ii) the sum of the internal volume of all tanks at the facility that are used to store volatile petroleum liquids is less than 10 000 m³,

    • (iii) the total volume of volatile petroleum liquid loaded at the facility does not exceed 30 000 standard m³ in a calendar year, and

    • (iv) the total volume of volatile petroleum liquids loaded at the facility does not exceed 2000 standard m³ in a day;

  • (h) facilities where each tank used to store volatile petroleum liquids and each loading rack used to load volatile petroleum liquids is located more than 300 m from any occupied building, if

    • (i) the tanks at the facility are never used to store, and the loading racks at the facility are never used to load, volatile petroleum liquids with a vapour pressure greater than 76 kPa or a benzene concentration greater than 2% by weight,

    • (ii) the sum of the internal volume of all tanks at the facility that are used to store volatile petroleum liquids is less than 2000 m³,

    • (iii) the total volume of volatile petroleum liquid loaded at the facility does not exceed 25 000 standard m³ in a calendar year, and

    • (iv) the total volume of volatile petroleum liquid loaded at the facility does not exceed 500 standard m³ in a day; and

  • (i) facilities where each tank used to store volatile petroleum liquids and each loading rack used to load volatile petroleum liquids is located more than 60 m from any occupied building, if

    • (i) the tanks at the facility are never used to store, and the loading racks at the facility are never used to load, volatile petroleum liquids with a vapour pressure greater than 76 kPa or a benzene concentration greater than 2% by weight,

    • (ii) the sum of the internal volume of all tanks at the facility that are used to store volatile petroleum liquids is less than 2000 m³,

    • (iii) the total volume of volatile petroleum liquid loaded at the facility does not exceed 20 000 standard m³ in a calendar year,

    • (iv) the total volume of volatile petroleum liquid loaded at the facility does not exceed 500 standard m³ in a day, and

    • (v) the volatile petroleum liquids are stored at the facility in either fixed roof tanks that are each less than 5 m in diameter and 150 m³ in volume or underground tanks of any size.

Marginal note:Upgrading facilities — application

3 For greater certainty, these Regulations apply to facilities that engage in the upgrading — by means involving distillation — of crude oil or bitumen, or of crude oil or bitumen that has been blended with other hydrocarbon compounds.

Marginal note:Distance of occupied building

• 4 (1) For the purposes of these Regulations, the distance between a tank or loading rack and an occupied building is the shortest distance between any part of the tank or loading rack that could be a source of VOC emissions and the perimeter of the occupied building.

• Marginal note:Distance from population centre

  (2) For the purposes of these Regulations, the distance between a facility and a population center is the shortest distance between the property boundary of the facility and the boundary of the population centre.

Marginal note:Non-application — equipment

• 5 (1) These Regulations apply to all tanks and loading racks at a facility other than

  • (a) tanks with an internal volume of less than 5 m³;

  • (b) tanks with an internal volume of less than 50 m³ that are never used to store gasoline or volatile petroleum liquids with a vapour pressure greater than 76 kPa or a benzene concentration greater than 2% by weight.

  • (c) tanks that are attached to or integrated into a vehicle; and

  • (d) tanks and loading racks that are subject to the Regulations Respecting Reduction in the Release of Methane and Certain Volatile Organic Compounds (Upstream Oil and Gas Sector) and are equipped with a vapour control system that meets the requirements of those Regulations or, if those Regulations do not apply as a result of an agreement made under subsection 10(3) of the Act, a vapour control system that meets the requirements of the provisions referred to in that agreement.

• Marginal note:Volume excluded

  (2) If a tank or loading rack is exempted under subsection (1), the internal volume of the tank, or the volume of volatile petroleum liquid loaded with the loading rack, is not to be taken into account when determining, under subsection 2(1), whether these Regulations apply to the facility.

General Provisions

Identification of Equipment and Instruments

Marginal note:Identifier of equipment

• 6 (1) The operator of a facility must ensure that all tanks, loading racks and emissions control equipment at the facility are assigned identifiers.

• Marginal note:Marking on equipment

  (2) The operator must ensure that the identifiers are

  • (a) marked on the tanks, loading racks and, if accessible to the operator, emissions control equipment;

  • (b) recorded in asset management tools or electronic programs that are used to track inventory and maintenance of equipment; and

  • (c) indicated on a site plan such that all tanks, loading racks and emissions control equipment can be identified at any time.

• Marginal note:Identifier and marking of instruments

  (3) The operator must ensure that each instrument used for the purposes of these Regulations is marked with an identifier.

Service Status

Marginal note:Tank

• 7 (1) A tank is

  • (a) considered to be in service during any period in which it is used to store a volatile petroleum liquid;

  • (b) considered to be not in service during any period in which it is not used to store a volatile petroleum liquid and, if it was previously in service, if it meets one of the conditions set out in subsection (2); and

  • (c) considered to be not in service if the tank was emptied of all volatile petroleum liquids before the day on which these Regulations come into force and has not been used to store volatile petroleum liquids since it was emptied.

• Marginal note:Tank — not in service

  (2) A tank that was previously in service is considered to be not in service if

  • (a) the interior of the tank has been cleaned to remove all volatile petroleum liquid, any sludge and any solid petroleum materials and the value of the LEL% inside the tank is less than 10 in the absence of mechanical ventilation; or

  • (b) a liquid other than a volatile petroleum liquid has been introduced into the tank and

    • (i) testing of the liquid inside the tank indicates that it is not a volatile petroleum liquid, and

    • (ii) the value of the LEL% inside the tank is less than 10 in the absence of mechanical ventilation.

Marginal note:Loading rack

8 A loading rack is

• (a) considered to be in service during any period in which it is used to load a volatile petroleum liquid or is used for switch loading; and

• (b) considered to be not in service during any period in which it is not used to load any volatile petroleum liquid and is not used for switch loading.

Marginal note:Vapour control system

9 A vapour control system is

• (a) considered to be in service beginning on the day on which it is first used at a facility; and

• (b) considered to be not in service during any period in which its operation is interrupted in accordance with subsection 56(2).

Marginal note:Intermittent service tanks

• 10 (1) Subject to subsection (2), an operator may use up to three tanks at a single facility as intermittent service tanks. However, none of those tanks may be in service for more than 300 hours per calendar year.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (2) The operator must not use a high benzene tank, or a tank designated as a high volatility liquid tank under paragraph 12(b), as an intermittent service tank.

• Marginal note:Analysis — variation in properties

  (3) For the purposes of subsection (1), if the properties of the liquid contained in a tank vary such that the liquid is considered to be a volatile petroleum liquid at certain times, the operator must ensure that a statistical or engineering analysis is conducted to demonstrate that the tank will be in service for 300 hours or less per calendar year.

• Marginal note:Exempt from requirements

  (4) A tank that is used as an intermittent service tank is exempt from the requirements set out in sections 39 and 40.

Marginal note:Surge tanks

• 11 (1) Subject to subsection (2), an operator may use a tank as a surge tank if it is used only for the temporary storage of liquids transferred from a pipeline or petroleum processing equipment under abnormal operating conditions.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) The operator must not use a high benzene tank as a surge tank.

• Marginal note:Liquids

  (3) The operator must remove any liquid transferred into a tank that is used as a surge tank as soon after the transfer as the circumstances permit.

• Marginal note:Exempt from requirements

  (4) A tank that is used as a surge tank is exempt from the requirements set out in sections 39 and 40.

Designation

Marginal note:Tanks

12 The operator of a facility must designate each tank that is in service at the facility as belonging to one of the following categories:

• (a) high benzene tank, in which case the tank may contain any volatile petroleum liquid;

• (b) high volatility liquid tank, in which case the tank may only contain a volatile petroleum liquid whose benzene concentration does not exceed 20% by weight;

• (c) volatile petroleum liquid tank, in which case the tank may only contain a volatile petroleum liquid whose vapour pressure does not exceed 76 kPa and benzene concentration does not exceed 20% by weight; or

• (d) small volatile petroleum liquid tank, in which case the tank

  • (i) must have an internal volume of less than 150 m³ or, if the tank is in the form of a vertically oriented cylinder capable of accommodating a floating roof, an internal diameter of less than 5 m, and

  • (ii) may only contain a volatile petroleum liquid whose vapour pressure does not exceed 76 kPa and benzene concentration does not exceed 20% by weight.

Marginal note:Loading racks

13 The operator of a facility must designate each loading rack that is used at the facility to load volatile petroleum liquids as belonging to one of the following categories:

• (a) high benzene loading rack, in which case the loading rack may be used to load any volatile petroleum liquid;

• (b) volatile petroleum liquid loading rack, in which case the loading rack may only be used to load a volatile petroleum liquid whose benzene concentration does not exceed 20% by weight;

• (c) low throughput loading rack, in which case the loading rack may only be used to load a volatile petroleum liquid if the benzene concentration does not exceed 20% by weight and if either

  • (i) the loading rack and any fixed roof tank that receives volatile petroleum liquid from the loading rack are located more than 300 m from any occupied building and the following loading factors do not exceed 1:

    • (A) the total loading factor of the facility, and

    • (B) the maximum daily loading factor of the facility, or

  • (ii) the loading rack is located more than 50 km from any population centre and more than 1.5 km from any occupied building and the following loading factors do not exceed 2:

    • (A) the total loading factor of the facility and

    • (B) the maximum daily loading factor of the facility, or

  • (iii) the loading factor of the loading rack does not exceed 0.04; or

• (d) remote loading rack, in which case the loading rack may only be used to load a volatile petroleum liquid if the vapour pressure of that liquid does not exceed 76 kPa, the benzene concentration of that liquid does not exceed 0.5% by weight and the loading rack is located more than 50 km from any population centre and more than 1.5 km from any occupied building.

Marginal note:Designation process

14 An operator must designate the category of a tank or loading rack by recording the designation in the inventory established under section 108 and indicating the category in the records maintained under section 110 or 112, as applicable.

Internal Volume of Tank

Marginal note:Internal volume

• 15 (1) The internal volume of a tank is the sum of the volumes of each space inside the tank that may be occupied by a volatile petroleum liquid.

• Marginal note:Connected tanks

  (2) Two or more tanks connected by a shared space or piping through which vapour may flow and that is not kept closed or isolated under normal operating conditions are considered to be a single tank with an internal volume equal to the sum of the internal volumes of the tanks and the internal volume of the shared space or piping.

• Marginal note:Tank with separate compartments

  (3) If a compartment of a tank is sealed to prevent entry of vapour and liquid from elsewhere in the tank, that compartment is considered to be a separate tank with a separate internal volume.

• Marginal note:Floating roof or variable internal volume

  (4) The internal volume of a tank that is equipped with an internal floating roof or external floating roof or that has a variable internal volume must be calculated at the highest design liquid fill level of the tank.