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Spill Prevention Control & Countermeasures

On July 17th, 2002, EPA issued a final rule amending the Oil Pollution Prevention regulation promulgated under the authority of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. This rule addresses requirements for Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) plans and some provisions may also affect Facility Response Plans (FRPs). EPA proposed revisions to the SPCC rule on three occasions, in 1991, 1993, and 1997. The new SPCC rule addresses these revisions and became effective August 16, 2002. The Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule can be found in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 112 (Oil Pollution Prevention).

Nearly two years after the initial proposed rulemkaing was issued, NSSGA assistned negotiate an 18 month extension of the compliance deadlines for members to update their SPCC Plans. EPA announced the extension on Friday, August 7th and published it in the August 11th Federal Register. NSSGA has been working with EPA, through a coalition, for over a year to provide relief for industry on the requirements to upgrade above ground storage tanks. This is a potentially costly revision to the old SPCC rule. Our negotiations with EPA will eventually eliminate many Draconian measures that would have cost our members hundreds of thousands of dollars in physical integrity testing of tanks and unneeded construction of secondary containment structures around mobile equipment and other unnecessary equipment.

If your affected facility was in operation on or before Aug. 16, 2002, you must maintain your Plan, but must amend it, if necessary, to ensure compliance with this part, on or before Aug. 17, 2005, and must implement the amended Plan as soon as possible, but not later than Feb. 18, 2006.

If your affected facility became operational after August 16, 2002, or becomes operational before Feb. 18, 2006, and could reasonably be expected to have a discharge as described in Sec. 112.1(b), you must prepare a Plan on or before Feb. 18, 2006, and fully implement it as soon as possible, but not later than Feb. 18, 2006. If you are the owner or operator of an affected facility that becomes operational after Feb. 18, 2006, and could reasonably be expected to have a discharge as described in Sec. 112.1(b), you must prepare and implement a Plan before you begin operations.

During the first one-year extension EPA will consider whether rulemaking or agency guidance is needed to address specific industry concerns. For more information contact, John Hayden or Una Connolly.

Background of the Oil Pollution Prevention Regulation

The goal of the oil pollution prevention regulation in 40 CFR Part 112 is to prevent oil discharges from reaching navigable waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines. The rule was also written to ensure effective responses to oil discharges. The rule further specifies that proactive, and not passive, measures be used to respond to oil discharges. The oil pollution regulation contains two major types of requirements: prevention requirements (SPCC rule) and facility response plan (FRP) requirements. The prevention requirements in Sections 112.1 through 112.7 were first promulgated in the 1973 SPCC regulation. Required under the rule is an SPCC Plan that contains measures to prevent and control oil spills, including those resulting from human operational error or equipment failures.

General Applicability

The SPCC rule applies to owners or operators of facilities that drill, produce, gather, store, use, process, refine, transfer, distribute, or consume oil and oil products. The changes to the rule clarify applicability to owners or operators that use oil..

Highlights of Final Rule

  • Exempts completely buried storage tanks subject to all of the technical requirements of the UST regulations (40 CFR Parts 280 or 281). These UST’s must be marked on the facility diagram;
  • Establishes a de minimis container size of 55 gallons;
  • Establishes an aboveground storage capacity threshold of 1,320 gallons and removes the 660 gallon threshold;
  • Revises the trigger for submitting information on spills at SPCC regulated facilities to EPA. Facilities are now required to submit SPCC Plans to the Administrator after having 2 discharges (over 42 gallons) in any 12-month period;
  • Allows deviations from most rule provisions when equivalent environmental protection is provided;
  • Provides for a flexible Plan format, but requires a cross-reference showing that all regulatory requirements are met;
  • Clarifies rule applicability to the storage and operational use of oil;
  • A subject facility in operation on or before August 16, 2002 must prepare a revised SPCC Plan by August 17, 2004 and implement it by February 18, 2005;
  • A subject facility that becomes operational after August 16, 2002 through February 18, 2005 must prepare and implement a SPCC Plan no later than February 18, 2005;
  • A subject facility that becomes operational after February 18, 2005 must prepare and implement a Plan before beginning operation;
  • Requires a Professional Engineer (PE) to certify that the Plan has been prepared in accordance with all revised part 112.3(d) requirements;
  • Allows an agent of the PE to visit and examine a facility in place of the PE. The PE still must review the agent’s work and certify the Plan;
  • Certification by a PE is not required for non-technical amendments to the Plan;
  • A copy of the SPCC Plan must be maintained on site if the facility is attended at least 4 hours per day;
  • Requires an owner operator to review and/or revise the SPCC Plan at least every 5 years. Completion of the review process must now be documented;
  • Secondary containment is not required to be impermeable for 72 hours;
  • Adds new requirements for periodic integrity testing of containers and integrity and leak testing of valves and piping. If impractical, then you must explain why and provide a contingency plan;
  • Allows the use of regular and customary business records to serve as a record of tests or inspections, Mandates training only for oil-handling employees, instead of all employees. An owner or operator must schedule and conduct discharge prevention briefings for oil-handling personnel at least once a year;
  • Allows records required by NPDES permit regulations to record stormwater bypass events from diked/containment areas to be used for SPCC purposes in lieu of records specifically prepared for that purpose;
  • Requires testing of aboveground containers for integrity on a regular schedule and when repairs are done. Usual and customary business records may be used for purposes of integrity testing;
  • Requires all buried piping installed on or after August 16, 2002 to have protective wrapping, coating and cathodic protection (or other means of corrosion protection) – for all soil conditions;
  • Clarifies that secondary containment must have sufficient freeboard to contain precipitation;

Questions from industry and Answers from EPA

  1. Is mobile equipment subject to the requirements of the revised SPCC rule? Yes. Mobile equipment that holds more than 55 gallons of oil might be the source of a discharge and is therefore included in the definition of “facility”. (40 CFR 112.2)
  2. Does mobile equipment subject to the rule have to have integrity testing and secondary containment? An explanation as to the impracticality of secondary containment must be included in a general contingency plan for the site. Secondary containment is required for mobile equipment. 40CFR 112.7(d). The certifying PE can attest that secondary containment may be impractical for certain mobile equipment due to space limitation, safety issues, local zoning, or other engineering constraints.
  3. Does the SPCC Plan have to be revised each time a piece of equipment is moved to a new site? No. Section 112.3(c) provides that it is not necessary to amend the Plan each time a piece of equipment is relocated.
  4. Can an in-house Professional Engineer (PE) certify each SPCC plan for the company and/or each location? Yes. To restrict certification by a PE employed by a facility or having a financial interest in it would limit the availability of PEs, possibly leading to delays in Plan certification. (40 CFR 112.3(d))
  5. Must the PE be licensed in the state in which the facility is located? No. It is unnecessary that the PE be registered or licensed in the same state. (40 CFR 112.3(d)) However, if a state has more restrictive requirements, you must be in accordance with state law.
  6. Who is accountable to EPA for differences in interpretation of applicability of certain requirements of the SPCC rule, the certifying PE or the owner/operator that hires or employs the PE? The owner or operator is accountable and liable for errors or exclusions in the SPCC plan. EPA will not question the professional judgment of the PE unless the Plan design or interpretation is “patently outrageous.”
  7. I already have a certified SPCC plan for my facility. Do I have to amend the plan to comply with any new requirements? Yes. For existing facilities that have an approved SPCC plan in place, you have 6 months from August 12, 2002 to amend the plan to conform with the new requirements of the rule, and another 6 months to implement the plan. (40 CFR 112.3(a))
  8. What is an integrity test and what can I use for that test? Integrity testing is a means to measure the strength or structural soundness of the container shell to contain oil and may include leak testing to determine if the container will discharge oil. You must combine visual inspections of the tank will other non-destructive test measures such as hydrostatic testing, radiographic testing, ultrasonic testing or acoustic emissions testing. (40 CFR 112.8(c)(6))
  9. What about smaller tanks where integrity testing seems expensive and impractical? For certain shop-built containers in which internal corrosion poses minimal risk of failure; which are inspected monthly; and which all sides are visible (i.e. the container has no contact with the ground), visual inspection may suffice, subject to good engineering practice. (40 CFR 112.8 (c)(6))
  10. Are vessels subject to EPA’s SPCC requirements? No. Any equipment, or operation of a vessel that is subject to the authority and control of the Department of Transportation or the U.S. Department of the Interior is not subject to this rule. (40 CFR 112.1(d)(1)(iii))
  11. Are oil-filled support or ancillary equipment subject to the SPCC requirements? Oil-filled operational equipment is not considered “bulk storage”, but it is subject only to the general, less restrictive secondary containment requirements of the rule (40CFR 112.7(c)). Generators are not considered to be operational equipment. Portable “gen-sets” are considered to be bulk storage containers if it holds over 55 gallons. However, a PE may certify that it is impractical to provide integrity testing and/or secondary containment. If you own or lease transformers you must work with the utility to determine who has the responsibility for providing secondary containment. A PE may determine if it is impractical to provide containment for the transformers.
  12. Is secondary containment required for outside fuel delivery tanker trucks? The owner/operator of the facility is required to provide secondary containment for those operations that transfer oil products to ASTs (40 CFR 112.7(h)). Deviations from this requirement must be documented in a contingency plan that explains the reasons for nonconformance and provides other measures of equivalent environmental protection. Fuel transfers to underground tanks are not covered by the SPCC requirements.
  13. What are the volume limitations for tanks that are considered “shop built?” Is integrity testing required on these tanks? Tanks that are generally 50,000 gallons or less in volume and can be transported by truck are considered to be shop built tanks. A brittle fracture evaluation is not required on these tanks. However, integrity testing must be completed on these tanks unless the PE certifies that the tank has no internal corrosion. (See Steel Tank Institute’s SP 001 standard).
  14. Are industry standards required in the design or implementation of any requirements of the Plan? Industry standards are to be used only as a guide by the PE. The PE can deviate from the standards if they can document why they are using another method.
  15. Is integrity testing required to be completed by the August 2003 implementation date of the rule? It is up to the professional discretion of the certifying PE to establish the frequency of testing. The frequency and specific approved testing procedures must be included in your Plan. No specific testing frequency is prescribed in the rule.
  16. What constitutes adequate security for tanks? Fencing, or equivalent security measures, is required around the oil handling area of a facility. It is not required to fully fence the entire property. Equivalent measures, certified by a PE, may include locks on valves and fill piping of the tanks. Locks on fuel caps of mobile equipment would suffice as equivalent measures of security. Adequate lighting is also required of the oil handling area.
  17. Do double-walled tanks take the place of SPCC plans? Double-walled tanks do not need additional secondary containment. However, general containment is still required for filling/loading and piping of these tanks. Double-walled tanks do not take the place of a SPCC plan.
  18. Do double-walled tanks take the place of SPCC plans? Double-walled tanks do not need additional secondary containment. However, general containment is still required for filling/loading and piping of these tanks. Double-walled tanks do not take the place of a SPCC plan.

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