A Brief History of NASAP

Since 1999, a loosely organized group of representatives from state AST regulatory agencies has been sharing technical and program information between states and with the EPA. From 1999 to 2002, the National Governors Association used EPA grant money to hold annual state AST program workshops at the National Institute for Storage Tank Management (NISTM) annual AST conference.

After the grant expired in 2002, the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO) entered into a cooperative agreement with EPA’s Oil Spill Program to support an AST workgroup called “Study of State and Territorial Aboveground Storage Tank Program Activities for the Protection of Waters of the United States.” In 2003, the workgroup adopted the NASAP name and continued working under the cooperative agreement. Between 2003 and 2008, NASAP conducted annual meetings at the NISTM AST conference, was invited to participate in industry and EPA workgroups on national AST standards and regulatory changes, and provided comments on draft industry standards.

After the expiration of the cooperative agreement, NASAP continued informal dialogue between state members and EPA, primarily to share technical information, provide guidance, and comment on EPA rules and guidance documents. In 2018, NASAP divided leadership responsibilities between several active states to begin formalizing the group’s activities.