Acceptable Separation Distance Standards for Residential Propane Tanks

Maria Chelo Manlagnit De Venecia
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Propane is the third most widely used fuel in the United States by number of households, after electricity and natural gas. Residential households primarily use propane for space heating, water heating, and cooking (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2015). The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) safety regulations establish standards for the acceptable separation distance (ASD) between HUD-assisted projects and hazardous operations that include the storage of substances that have the potential to cause an explosion or fire. Currently, the ASD from an aboveground tank ranges from 125 to 139 feet. The proposed rule would reduce the ASD of aboveground tanks to 10 feet if the capacity of the tank is 250 gallons or less and if the storage tank complies with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Code 58 concerning liquefied petroleum gas (LP-gas) (NFPA, 2017).