California’s Water Resources Control Board approved expanding the state’s limit for underground storage of biodiesel blends from the existing B5 limitation up to B20 in a resolution adopted in early May. A 25-year-old California law requires that any chemicals to be stored in underground tanks be tested and independently certified as being compatible with the tank materials, and requires an approved leak detection method. No underground storage of any biodiesel blend was allowed in California prior to the revised ASTM specifications adopted late last year that allow up to B5 blends in petroleum-based diesel. The three-year variance allows underground storage of blends up to B20 in double-walled tanks and piping that currently meet requirements for petroleum-based fuels. It is hoped that the Underwriters Laboratory will have approved testing protocols and the required tests completed before the end of the three year period.
“I was not happy to see it wasn’t B100,” said Joe Gershen, vice president of sales and marketing for Tellurian Biodiesel Inc. “But B anything is better than nothing.” Gershen added that B20 is probably the most commonly used blend in California, and “going from nothing to B5 to B20 is going in the right direction.” He added that the California Biodiesel Alliance, which Tellurian CEO Eric Bowen chairs, has been meeting with the water board which has increased the member’s comfort level with biodiesel. “We’re forging a new relationship with regulators in California,” Gershen said.