(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the storage of regulated substances in underground tanks except in such a manner so as to conform to and comply with any provisions of this chapter or any of the rules, regulations, and orders established under this chapter. The owner or operator of any underground storage tank for petroleum shall maintain proof that all petroleum stored in such tank after July 1, 1988, was subjected to the environmental fee imposed in subsection (a) of Code Section 12-13-10.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section, it shall be a violation of this chapter to:

(1) Cause or permit the release of a regulated substance from an underground storage tank into the environment; or

(2) Install an underground storage tank that does not meet the minimum standards pursuant to this chapter or the rules promulgated pursuant to this chapter.

(c) Any real property owner adjoining a leaking underground storage tank site who refuses to allow either the owner or operator or the division, through its agents or contractors, access for purposes of providing corrective action for any pollution that may have migrated onto the adjoining real property from the leaking underground storage tank site shall be responsible for the remediation and cleanup of that pollution plume should it migrate off that real property onto the real property of another.