Federal EPA Required Spill Prevention Plan Documentation
Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) Plan
General Applicability
As of July 17, 2002, any
owner/operator that has aboveground storage capacity
greater than 1320 gallons of an oil or oil product, and
might reasonably be expected to discharge oil into
navigable waterways of the United States must develop an
SPCC Plan as defined within 40 CFR 112.1. The US EPA
considers all facilities within EPA-Region 3, which
includes PA, to be in an area that a spill would impact
a navigable waterway. Which region is your facility?
Visit the EPA Oil Program page to learn more.
The SPCC rule applies to
owners/operators of facilities that drill, produce,
gather, store, process, refine, transfer, distribute, or
consume oil or oil products. An oil product is defined
as any oil form, including but not limited to:
petroleum; fuel oil; sludge; oil refuse; oil mixed with
waste; fats; oils or greases of animal, fish, or marine
mammal origin; vegetable oils; and other oils and
greases, including synthetic oils and mineral oils. Also
refer to the
EPA’s Final SPCC Rule Fact Sheet.
Compliance Dates
-
EPA published a final rule amending the SPCC Rule in the Federal Register
effective February 26, 2007. This action extends the compliance dates for all facilities until
July 1, 2009. A facility that was in operation on or before August 16, 2002 must maintain the facility’s existing plan, amend and implement that Plan, on or before
July 1, 2009. 112.3(a)
-
A facility that came into operation after August 16, 2002 must also prepare and implement an SPCC Plan on or before
July 1, 2009. 112.3(a)
-
A facility that begins operation after
July 1, 2009 must prepare and implement an SPCC Plan prior to beginning operations. 112.3(b)
Major Rule Provisions
|
New SPCC Rule |
Previous SPCC
Rule |
Comment |
|
Threshold
Any facility with > 1,320
gallons aggregate of above-ground storage
capacity.
|
Threshold
Any facility with > 1,320
gallons of above-ground storage capacity
provided no single container has capacity > 660
gallons.
|
Threshold
Only containers with a
capacity of 55 gallons or more are counted
against the threshold.
Permanently closed tanks
do not count against the capacity threshold.
|
|
UST’s
Any underground storage
container is exempt from the SPCC Rule, no
matter the capacity.
|
UST’s
Any facility with 42,000
gallons or less of underground storage capacity
is exempt from the SPCC Rule.
|
UST’s
Completely buried storage
subject to all of the technical requirements of
parts 280 and 281 do not count in the
calculation of the 42,000 underground capacity
thresholds. |
|
Spill History
Spill history of a
facility is no longer required within the SPCC
Plan.
|
Spill History
The
spill history is a required element to the SPCC
Plan.
|
Spill History
An SPCC facility with a
single discharge of more than 1,000 gallons or 2
discharges of more than 42 gallons each within a
12 month period must be reported. |
|
SPCC Plan
Authorization
A Registered Professional
Engineer (PE) must seal an SPCC Plan or it is
not accepted by the USEAP as satisfying the
requirements of the SPCC Rule.
|
SPCC Plan
Authorization
A Registered Professional
Engineer (PE) must seal an SPCC Plan or it is
not accepted by the USEAP as satisfying the
requirements of the SPCC Rule.
|
SPCC Plan
Authorization
PE can now certify the
SPCC Plan without visiting the facility. |
|
Renewals
Required every five (5)
years.
|
Renewals
Required every five (3)
years.
|
Renewals
Amendments only required
reflecting major operational changes to the
facility. |
|
Required
Containment
Secondary containment
capacity required for smallest container within
area.
|
Required
Containment
Secondary containment
designed to hold 110% of capacity.
|
Required
Containment
Double walled AST’s no
longer required to have dike.
An exterior containment
area must be designed to contain a 25 year/24
hour rainfall.
|
|
Delivery Vehicle
Containment
Secondary containment
must be provided for the largest compartment of
a delivery vehicle.
|
Delivery Vehicle
Containment
No counterpart in
previous rule.
|
Delivery Vehicle
Containment
Clarified by the EPA to
be applicable for facilities with a loading
rack. |
|
Integrity Testing
Test ALL AST’s on a
regular basis.
|
Integrity Testing
Only bulk AST’s required
regular testing.
|
Integrity Testing
Clarified by the EPA that
shop built tanks 30,000 gallon capacity or less
will not be required to perform integrity tests
if all four sides are visible |
|
|
Environmental Site Assessments
