Cost Recovery in Colorado. Julia Fraser, P.G. State Lead Coordinator

Transcription

1 Cost Recovery in Colorado Julia Fraser, P.G. State Lead Coordinator

2 Overview Colorado s Remediation Program OPS State Lead Program Cost Recovery Efforts

3 OPS Remediation Program

4 State Lead Program To be accepted into the State Lead program, the responsible party (RP) and the site involved must meet the following criteria: Established eligibility to the Petroleum Storage Tank Fund (PSTF) and must have met the required $10,000 deductible, if applicable; Eligibility determination must have identified a low or zero percent reduction on reimbursements; Not own more than three regulated petroleum storage tank (PST) facilities; Must maintain compliance with all PST regulations, and; Cannot currently be in the midst of completing the terms of a Settlement Agreement or Notice of Violation.

5 Acceptance into SL Program RP must first make a formal request in writing for admission into the SL Program. If accepted, the RP must sign an Investigation and Remediation Agreement. OPS assigns and pays a State Contractor directly. RP must pay any incurred costs that would not be reimbursed by the PSTF including their % reductions.

6 Ideal Situation Remediation activities are being implemented Clean-ups are progressing without delays due to Funding issues Closures are being issued RPs with percent reductions are paying their % reductions

7 So What Happened? OPS focused on remediation, human health and the environment and closure. As a result: Sites were closed when there were balances due. RPs were not honoring their obligations to pay their % reductions. No consequences for non-payment. No enforcement orders were being issued.

8 So what did we do? In 2014, OPS put a team together to centralize cost recovery efforts to: Consolidate all invoices and payments into a master spreadsheet for better tracking Create a legally binding agreement between the State and the RP Contact RPs that had not made payments in years Initiate consequences for non-payment Construct a process for collections Prevent No Further Action letters being issued prior to accounts paid in full.

9 Who do we need to Cost Recover from? Several releases had zero percent reductions = no cost recovery EPA Ability to Pay Models = no cost recovery Sites with percent reductions = ~$792,019 to be cost recovered

10 Letters were sent

11 Reactions from RPs We started contacting people and their reactions were I turned it over to the State, why do I owe money? This release is your fault. I haven t heard from you in years, and you want me to pay what? (The State does not write-off debt) I received an NFA letter; why do I owe you money? I don t own the property anymore, this isn t my problem anymore..

12 Final Request for Payment If initial request is ignored then a Final Request Letter for Payment is issued. Payment must be paid in full or a payment plan must be negotiated. Potential of removal from SL Program.

13 Removal from the Program Non-payment: Removed from SL Program RP must submit a Correction Action Plan within 60 days Any future reimbursement warrants will be reduced to cost recover the past due amount

14 Enforcement Once removed from SL Program If the CAP is not implemented the RP will receive Notice of Violation or Enforcement Order Potential judicial enforcement (Attorney General)

15 Vendor Offset State Vendor Offset: Vendor Offset is a Subsystem of the Federal Government and is a tool that claiming agencies may use to collect debts owed to the State. In the case of the Petroleum Storage Tank Fund Vendors are applicants to the Fund. Reimbursement payments (e.g. tax refunds, lottery winnings) may be intercepted until debt is paid in full.

16 Collections If OPS can not collect the debt inhouse Submit for recovery with the Colorado Central Collection Services (CCS) for cost recovery efforts.

17 Bankruptcies If an RP has stated bankruptcy is occurring All collection activity must cease until bankruptcy process is finished. Need to determine if debt is dischargeable or nondischargeable in bankruptcy. If discharged, collections will cancel the debt; if not discharged, collection efforts will resume.

18 Our Results

19 Results

20 Cost Recovery Process

21 In Summary 52 sites required cost recovery. Solution was to centralize our cost recover efforts and create more effective processes. We have successfully reduced the amount owed to the State Fund. We will continue our efforts to make process improvements.

22 Cost Recovery in Colorado Julia Fraser, P.G. State Lead Coordinator