Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Rule: An update

The Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Rule has evolved since December 11, 1973 when it was first introduced under the authority of §311(j) (1)(C) of the Clean Water Act (CWA).   The SPCC rule has been significantly revised by the US EPA in 1991, 1993, 1997, 2002, 2006, 2007, and 2008. The timeline as to when these revisions become effective are a major aspect of this update.   The SPCC rule applies to owners or operators of non-transportation-related facilities that drill, produce, store, process, refine, transfer, distribute, use, or consume oil or oil products; and could reasonably be expected to discharge oil to U.S. navigable waters or adjoining shorelines.  A facility is subject to the rule if they have an aboveground oil storage capacity greater than 1,320 U.S. gallons, or completely buried oil storage capacity greater than 42,000 U.S. gallons.  Over the course of the 26 years of the SPCC rule’s evolution, many exemptions have developed.  A more detailed look at the exemptions and regulations can be found at http://www.epa.gov/oilspill/.

 Important Dates:

August 16, 2002           Facilities in operation before August 16, 2002, must maintain an SPCC Plan in accordance with SPCC regulations.

November 26, 2008     The Federal Register published EPA’s final rule to revise the definition of “navigable waters” in the SPCC rule.

December 5, 2008       The Federal Register published EPA’s final rule to amend the SPCC rule.  An itemized summary follows.

May 1, 2009                Last day for Comments on whether a further delay of the effective date is necessary or prudent (established by April 1, 2009 rule).

July 1, 2009                 New facilities beginning operation after July 1, 2009 have six months after the start of operations to prepare and implement an SPCC plan.

 

Summary of the December 5, 2008 finalized rule

 

·        Hot-mix asphalt (HMA) has been exempted from SPCC requirements.

·        Pesticide application equipment and related mix containers have been exempted from SPCC requirements.

·        Residential heating oil containers (those used solely at single-family residences) have been exempted from SPCC requirements.

·        The definition of “facility” has been modified.

·        The facility diagram requirement has been revised.

·        The definition of “loading/unloading rack” has been established.

·        Subsets, Tier I and Tier II, of qualified facilities have been established and further clarified.

·        General Secondary containment requirements have been clarified.

·        The sized secondary containment exemption for mobile refuelers has been extended.

·        Security requirements have been amended.

·        Bulk storage container integrity testing requirements have been amended.

·        Several amendments have been added in relation to production facilities.

 

This article was authored by Rachel Shanteau, Acacia Environmental Group LLC. For more information on the author see here.