Westchester County Article XXV tank compliance
What Westchester County Article XXV requires of petroleum and chemical bulk storage facilities, how it layers on top of NYSDEC Part 613, and how we keep a site compliant.
Article XXV of the Westchester County Sanitary Code is the county's Hazardous and Toxic Materials regulation. It is enforced by the Westchester County Department of Health (WCDOH), and it governs how petroleum and chemical bulk storage tanks are registered, permitted, contained, tested, and monitored across the county. If you own or operate a fuel or chemical storage system anywhere in Westchester, you answer to WCDOH on top of the state.
That last point is what trips people up. Westchester is a delegated county, so your tanks fall under both the New York State DEC petroleum bulk storage rules (6 NYCRR Part 613) and the county's own Article XXV requirements. The county program is generally stricter and adds a local permit, county-run inspections, and reporting that the state program alone does not. Meeting Part 613 is not the same as being compliant with Westchester County.
We prepare and file the registrations and permit applications, build the testing and monitoring records WCDOH expects to see, and resolve the violations when an inspection turns one up. The goal on every Westchester site is the same: one clean compliance file that satisfies the county and the state at once, so the next inspection is a non-event.
Who WCDOH regulates and where its authority comes from
Article XXV sits in the Westchester County Sanitary Code and is administered by the Westchester County Department of Health. It covers the storage and handling of hazardous and toxic materials in the county, which includes petroleum products and a broad list of regulated chemicals.
New York State delegated the petroleum bulk storage program to a handful of counties, and Westchester is one of them. That delegation is why a Westchester facility deals with the county health department rather than a regional DEC office for day-to-day tank compliance. WCDOH runs the registrations, issues the permits, and sends the inspectors.
The practical takeaway: jurisdiction in Westchester is local first. If you are buying, building, or operating a tank in the county, the Department of Health is the agency you have to satisfy, and Article XXV is the rulebook they enforce.
Registration and county permits
Every regulated storage system in Westchester has to be on file with WCDOH and carry a current county permit. Registration captures the basics of the system - tank count, capacities, contents, construction, age, and location - and the permit is what authorizes you to keep operating it.
Permits are not one-and-done. They renew on the county's schedule, and any material change to the system - adding a tank, swapping product, upsizing, or taking a tank out of service - has to be reported and re-permitted. Installing, modifying, or closing a tank triggers its own county permit before the work starts, not after.
- Facility and tank registration with WCDOH, kept current as the system changes
- A standing operating permit for the storage system, renewed on the county cycle
- Construction or installation permits before any new tank goes in the ground or on the slab
- Modification permits for product changes, capacity changes, or piping work
- Closure permits and notification before a tank is removed or abandoned in place
Secondary containment
Containment is the heart of Article XXV. The county's position is simple: a release should never reach soil or groundwater, so the system has to hold any leak before it leaves the tank or piping. Westchester's groundwater and reservoir protection concerns make this a hard line, not a guideline.
For aboveground tanks that usually means double-wall construction or a tank sitting inside a containment dike or vault sized to hold the tank's volume plus a margin. For underground systems it means double-wall tanks and double-wall (secondarily contained) piping with monitored interstitial space, plus contained sumps at the dispensers and tank top. Single-wall tanks and bare piping do not meet the standard.
- Double-wall tanks, or single-wall tanks inside an adequately sized dike or vault
- Secondarily contained (double-wall) product and vent piping
- Monitored interstitial space between the inner and outer walls
- Contained, liquid-tight sumps at dispensers and tank tops
- Spill buckets at fill ports and working overfill prevention
Testing and tightness verification
Article XXV requires that the parts of the system that can leak are tested on a schedule and that you keep the records. Tightness testing of tanks and piping, leak detection equipment checks, line leak detector verification, and containment-sump integrity testing all fall under the program, and the county wants to see current, passing results on file.
A failed test is not the end of the world, but it is a clock. WCDOH expects prompt notification, repair or replacement, and a passing retest before the system goes back to normal service. The worst outcome is a failed test that sits undocumented until an inspector finds it.
Monitoring, inspections, and recordkeeping
Beyond the equipment, the county program runs on records. Leak detection has to be active and monitored, releases and suspected releases have to be reported, and routine self-inspections have to be logged. WCDOH inspectors come out to verify that the hardware matches the paperwork and that both match the registration.
When an inspection finds a gap - an expired permit, a missing test, a containment defect, an unregistered tank - the county issues findings and expects a corrective response on a timeline. Sites that keep an orderly file pass these visits quickly. Sites that do not end up in resolution, which costs more and takes longer than staying current would have.
- Continuous, monitored leak detection on the tank and piping
- Release and suspected-release reporting to WCDOH within required timeframes
- Logged self-inspections and maintained alarm, test, and delivery records
- Periodic county inspections that reconcile the equipment to the registration
How Article XXV differs from NYSDEC Part 613
Part 613 is the statewide petroleum bulk storage rule. In most of New York, the DEC enforces it directly. In Westchester, the state delegated that authority to WCDOH, which enforces Article XXV as the local equivalent and adds requirements on top.
The difference shows up as a county permit the state program does not require, county inspectors instead of DEC, and a containment and reporting posture that is generally tighter than the state floor. Article XXV also reaches chemical and toxic bulk storage, not just petroleum. Larger petroleum facilities still sit under the federal SPCC rule (40 CFR 112) at the 1,320-gallon aboveground threshold, which is a separate, additive obligation - none of these layers replaces another.
The right way to think about it: Part 613 is the state baseline, Article XXV is the Westchester implementation that goes further, and SPCC is the federal overlay for larger oil sites. Compliance in the county means satisfying all of the layers that apply, in one coherent file.
- Authority: WCDOH locally vs. NYSDEC for most of the state
- Permitting: a county operating permit Part 613 alone does not require
- Scope: petroleum plus chemical and toxic bulk materials under the county code
- Containment and reporting generally stricter than the state minimum
- SPCC (40 CFR 112) remains a separate federal obligation above 1,320 gallons aboveground
Common questions
Do I have to register with the county if I already have a NYSDEC PBS number?
Yes. Westchester is a delegated county, so your tanks are governed by Article XXV and the Westchester County Department of Health, not just the state. A NYSDEC PBS registration does not satisfy the county requirement - you still need to be registered and permitted with WCDOH. We file both so they line up.
What is the difference between Article XXV and NYSDEC Part 613?
Part 613 is the statewide petroleum bulk storage rule. Westchester County enforces its own Article XXV under delegated authority through WCDOH, which adds a county permit, county inspections, and containment and reporting requirements that are generally stricter than the state floor. Article XXV also covers chemical and toxic bulk storage, not only petroleum.
Does Article XXV cover aboveground tanks or only underground?
Both. The county program applies to regulated underground (UST) and aboveground (AST) storage of petroleum and other hazardous materials. Containment, testing, monitoring, and permitting all apply across tank types, with the specific requirements scaled to the system.
What happens if a tightness test fails in Westchester?
A failed test triggers notification to WCDOH, repair or replacement of the failed component, and a passing retest before the system returns to normal service. The mistake to avoid is leaving a failed result undocumented - that is what turns a fixable problem into an enforcement action. We manage the notification, repair scope, and retest end to end.
Do I still need an SPCC plan if I meet Article XXV?
Possibly. SPCC is a separate federal rule under 40 CFR 112 that applies to facilities with more than 1,320 gallons of aboveground oil storage capacity. It is additive to the county and state programs, not replaced by them. If your aboveground capacity crosses that threshold, you need an SPCC plan in addition to your Article XXV compliance.
Can Zambrano handle the WCDOH filings for me?
Yes. We prepare and file the registrations and county permit applications, build the testing and monitoring records the Department of Health expects, design containment and system upgrades where they are needed, and resolve violations when an inspection turns one up. You get one compliance file that satisfies Westchester County and New York State together.
Tanks in Westchester County? Get the county and the state in one file.
Matt handles the WCDOH registration, permits, testing records, and containment so an Article XXV inspection is a non-event. Tell us what you have on site and we will map the path to compliant.