1.3 Scope This new publication is designed to help petroleum facilities identify the types of issues that may need to be addressed in a groundwater protection plan. This document provides only general guidelines and is not intended as a comprehensive checklist or standard. API recognizes that each facility is unique. Many facilities have groundwater protection and remediation plans that suit their own circumstances but which may not address every issue covered in these guidelines, consequently, a plan may still be appropriate under facility-specific circumstances. For those facilities, this document may serve as a useful tool to review and evaluate their existing plans to ensure their currency. Other facilities may have extensive engineering controls and operating practices already in place. For those, this document may provide a useful framework for integrating existing company practices into a comprehensive site-specific groundwater protection plan. This document emphasizes the same areas that constitute the cornerstones of the groundwater protection plans implemented by individual API members. Those groundwater protection plans are based on the following elements: a. Assessment of the specific site to identify potential threats to groundwater. b. Prevention of releases from existing facilities. c. Detection of any releases that could occur despite preventive efforts.