If your building still operates with a boiler that runs on oil, or if you have an active storage tank that holds oil, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation requires that your building keep an active permit, which is due for renewal every five years, for each and every active tank. The Bulk Storage Certificate is required for any size tank and depending on the size of your specific tank, there will be varying filing fees.

The breakdown for the filing fees is fairly simple once you know the size of your tank. Below, are the fees that are required, as of June, 2015.

0 – 1,110 gallons: $0 – No Fee Required
1,001 – 2,000 gallons: $100/facility
2,001 – 4,999 gallons: $300/facility
5,000- 399,999 gallons: $500/facility

To view the current status of your Bulk Petroleum Certificate, you can follow through to the website at [this link]. Note that if your permit has expired, you can renew the Certificate, but will need to pay for the term that may have been missed, if you have not had a valid registration since before the last time that it was supposed to be filed (for example, if the permit was supposed to have been renewed in both 2010 and 2015, but neither period was filed, fees for both periods will need to be sent to DEC).

If a property remains in violation of not having a valid Bulk Storage Certificate for a long enough time, there could be huge fine levied against the building, so it is in the interest of all parties to ensure that your Bulk Storage Certificate is kept current and up to date. If you have since changed ownership of the property, management of the property, the grade of oil used, size of the tank, closed your oil tank (for instance, if you have converted your boiler to gas and closed the oil tank) or changed the information in any way, you can update your Certificate for free, showing that is “Closed”.

To view the filing instructions and a sample blank application, click on and download the below PDF files.