MO-28945_48148_G_ELIG_20230323_Denial

March 23, 2023
CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED 7019 1120 0001 4908 1776
Ms. Kathy Holthouser P.O. Box 389 Mount Mourne, NC 28115 RE: Commercial State Trust Fund Eligibility Application
Buttery & Beanery - Facility ID # 00-0-0000024532 1653 Mecklenburg Highway Mooresville, Iredell County, North Carolina 28115 Incident # 48148
Dear Ms. Holthouser: This letter is to acknowledge receipt of and respond to your second request for an eligibility determination for access to the North Carolina Leaking Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Funds for the above-referenced property. Review of your second application by the Underground Storage Tank (UST)
Section of the Division of Waste Management is now complete. As per the first eligibility application received May 10, 2022, information supplied to the State Trust Fund
indicated a release was discovered during UST removal activities on November 22-23, 2021. The release was reported to the Mooresville Regional Office by submittal of a UST Form-61on December 3, 2021. Based on the information submitted, including the date the UST system was removed, you are considered
to have been the owner of the UST system as per the definition set forth in the North Carolina General Statute (N.C.G.S.)143.215.94A(9)(a). The leaking Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Act of 1988 does not allow reimbursement if an owner or operator has failed to pay any annual tank operating fees prior to the discovery of a release [N.C.G. S. 143.215.94E(g)(3) and North Carolina Administrative Code 15A 2P.0401(b)}. The Department records show that at the time the release was reported, December 3, 2021, fees had not been paid for the following coverage periods:
• April 1, 2021 through March 31, 2022
• April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023

Despite the recent payment of back fees received by the Permits and Inspections Branch, that payment does not absolve you for unpaid tank fees prior to the time of release discovery. Had the tank fees been paid before release discovery then eligibility could have been granted. Therefore, access to the Commercial Fund for this site remains denied as per [N.C.G. S. 143.215.94E(g)(3) and North Carolina Administrative Code 15A 2P.0401(b)}. If you wish to appeal this determination, you are entitled to a hearing. Your request for a hearing must be in the form of a written petition, complying with the requirements of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes of North Carolina. The petition must be filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings, 6714 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-6714. The petition must be received and filed by the Office of Administrative Hearings within sixty (60) days of this decision on your application.
In addition to filing the original written petition with the Office of Administrative Hearings, a copy of the petition must be served on this office as follows:
Bill Lane, Deputy Secretary for Policy and Legal Affairs/General Counsel Department of Environmental Quality
1601 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1601 Should you have any questions concerning this matter, please do not hesitate to call me at [phone] or Kristie Oseguera at [phone] or email at [e-mail] . Sincerely,
Wayne Randolph, CPM Trust Fund Branch Head UST Section-Division of Waste Management
NC Department of Environmental Quality

KMO: 48148_Buttery & Beanery, 1653 Mecklenburg Highway, Mooresville, NC 28115 cc: Catawba Valley Engineering & Testing, Mr. Nathan Simmons via email at [e-mail] Mooresville Regional Office, Mr. Ron Taraban via email at [e-mail] Mooresville Regional Office, Mr. Ryan Bond via email at [e-mail] STF