Liquid fertilizer tanks are tightly regulated by the federal government. Federal environmental, health, safety, and security regulations can be daunting to comply with. Many proprietors of liquid fertilizer tanks (i.e. farmers) become frustrated when complying with them on their own.

Fortunately, there are sources out there that help farmers with these regulations. One of them, ResponsibleAg Inc., is a non-profit organization founded last year that promotes the public welfare by assisting farms and agricultural businesses in complying with these rules. Any business that stores, handles, or sells fertilizer products can enroll in the ResponsibleAg Certification Program. The program lasts several years and is designed to help businesses with government regulations on ammonium nitrate fertilizer and anhydrous ammonia fertilizer.

There are about 9,000 facilities (farms, warehouses, factories, etc.) that can enroll in the program in the United States, although a third of them handle the primary focus of the program; that is, handling ammonium nitrate fertilizer and anhydrous ammonia fertilizer.

Participants of the program must fulfill a checklist of about 320 questions and regulations. Formed by industry regulatory experts, the checklist is evaluated by program-accredited auditors.

Under the program, participants must undergo a base audit with the option of choosing supplemental areas as well. The base audit happens once every three years with up to 17 areas of a facility examined by the auditors. The auditor sends his or her evaluations to ResponsibleAg via a secure portal within 24 hours of the inspection. If the facility doesn’t “pass” the initial audit, it will receive a list of issues it must fix.

The certification will not be granted until the facility corrects the cited issues.

Above ground storage tank inspections provide necessary measures to protect the contents of field erected tanks found on farms, for example. Among the regulations places on these tanks is that tanks with capacities above 1,100 gallons must have corrosion protection built into the floors. Other regulations maintain that these tanks must be built in order to withstand earthquakes and other disasters.

For more information about the program, feel free to leave a comment or question at the bottom.