During severe flood events, such as those occurring from Hurricane Irene and Super-Storm Sandy, many coastal and low elevation inland areas were subjected to high water conditions. As a result, a number of outdoor above-ground home heating oil tanks were dislodged and, in some cases, caused property damage.
In response to the combined effects of these events, the Oil Heat Institute of Long Island (OHILI) and the National Oilheat Research Alliance (NORA), in collaboration with local government agencies and oil heat industry experts, have developed this Recommended Practice (RP) in an effort to mitigate these problems in future flood events.
The research, testing and approval of this RP went through the National Fire Protection (NFPA) 31 Technical Committee and was balloted successfully for publication as a reference document.
This RP should be used as guidance when installing new tanks or upgrading existing installations.