Terms used in this chapter mean: (1) "Abandoned site," any release site on which none of the tanks have been used for the intentional storage of petroleum after April 1, 1988; (2) "Asset value," with respect to valuation of amounts on deposit in or credited to any account or fund, the amount of cash on deposit in or credited to the account or fund plus the lesser of the cost or the face amount of any investments or other obligations on deposit in or credited to the account or fund; (3) "Backfill area," the space containing the tank system and supporting material bounded by the ground surface, the sides and bottom of the pit, and the trenches into which the product lines for the tank system were placed at the time of installation; (4) "Corrective action," a necessary and reasonable action taken pursuant to an approved plan to minimize, contain, eliminate, remediate, mitigate or clean up, or monitor a release, including remedial emergency measures as defined in the regulated substance cleanup act, but does not include any action taken in excess of minimum environmental standards established by the department; (5) "Covered party," a responsible person, an employee of a responsible person, or any person having legal custody of a responsible person's real property; (6) "Deductible," the ten thousand dollars, or lesser amount established by the secretary of the department, as an exclusion from reimbursable costs incurred in a corrective action; (7) "Department," the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources; (8) "Director," the director of the petroleum release compensation fund; (9) "Petroleum marketer," any person licensed by the Department of Revenue to sell motor fuels, special fuels, or distillates of petroleum within the state; (10) "Fund," the petroleum release compensation fund; (11) "Occurrence," any release which is discovered and identified within a twelve-month period and known to have originated from a release site; (12) "Operator," any person in control of, or having responsibility for, the operation of a tank; (13) "Owner," any person who holds title to, controls, or possesses any interest in a tank. However, the term does not include a person who holds an interest in a tank solely for financial security, unless, through foreclosure or other related actions, the holder of a security interest has taken possession or control of the tank; (14) "Person," any individual, partnership, association, public or private corporation, or other legal entity, including the United States government, an interstate commission or other body, the state, or any agency, board, bureau, office, department, or political subdivision of the state; (15) "Petroleum," gasoline, alcohol blended fuels, diesel fuels, aviation gasoline, jet fuel, fuel oil, kerosene, and burner oil. Products that are specifically excluded from this definition include naphtha, lubricating oils, motor oil, automatic transmission fluid, waste oil, crude oil, oil sludge, oil refuse, and alcohols other than those that have been denatured with gasoline and stored to be used as blended fuel grade ethanol; (16) "Reimburse," any payment made by the fund to a covered party, the covered party's assignee, or a service provider for work performed or materials supplied, as part of a corrective action or third-party claim; (17) "Release," any unintentional spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching, or disposing of petroleum from a tank into the environment occurring in South Dakota, but does not include discharges or designed venting allowed under adopted rules or under federal or state law or discharges arising out of war, invasion, act of a foreign enemy, hostilities, revolution, earthquake, flood, or other catastrophic disaster occurring due to nature; (18) "Release site," one continuous property, not separated or divided by a public road or other commonly held boundary, on which the tank or tanks that are the source of the release are located as determined at the time of discovery of the release or as modified based upon subsequent assessment; (19) "Responsible person," any person who is an owner or operator of a tank at any time during or after a release; (20) "Service provider," any person providing a service to accomplish a corrective action, including consultants, environmental consultants, engineers, environmental engineers, contractors, excavators, landfill operators, materialmen, and any other person providing goods or services to a covered party pursuant to a written agreement; (21) "Tank," any one or a combination of containers, vessels, and enclosures, including structures and appurtenances connected to them, that is, or has been, used to contain or dispense petroleum that is either stationary or attached to a motor vehicle. Any vessel or container, in order to be covered by this chapter, shall be used primarily or exclusively to contain petroleum. However, the term does not include any pipeline facilities, including gathering lines, regulated under the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968, 49 U.S.C. chapter 24, or the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979, 49 U.S.C. chapter 29, as in effect on January 1, 1988, or any tank farms if title to the petroleum has not passed to a distributor licensed in South Dakota; (22) "Tank pulling," the removal and disposal of backfill material and a tank, excluding the contents of the tank, and the removal and replacement of the surface above the backfill area; and (23) "Upgrade," any improvement to a release site, including improvements to its fixtures, surface characteristics, and drainage when compared with the site prior to the corrective action, made before, during, or after a corrective action.