On January 14, 2010, the USEPA made effective two amendments to the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule for facilities that have total aboveground oil or fuel storage capacity of 1,320 gallons or more. Facilities now have until November 11, 2011 to develop new or revise existing SPCC Plans to comply with the provisions of the November 2009 and December 2008 amendments. Oil drilling or production facilities or facilities required to have and submit FRPs must comply with the November 10, 2010 deadline. Significant elements of amendments include:
- Removal of previous provisions that excluded farms and oil production facilities from the loading/unloading rack requirements
- Exempted certain produced water containers at oil production facilities
- Provided alternative qualified facilities eligibility criteria for oil production facilities
- Amended integrity testing requirements to allow greater flexibility in the use of industry standards and for containers that store animal fats and vegetable oils (AFVOs)
- Amended the definition of “facility” regarding boundary descriptions
- Amended requirements for facility diagrams, general secondary containment, and security provisions
- Provided a new definition of “loading/unloading rack” to clarify the oil transfer equipment requirements
- Exempted non-transportation-related tank trucks from sized secondary containment requirements
Geotechnology’s Environmental Compliance Team develops SPCC Plans for industrial, manufacturing, food processing and institutional facilities that store oil or fuel. Contact Joe Darmody to learn more about the latest regulatory changes to the SPCC program.
Geotechnology’s Non-Destructive Testing Team, provides tank integrity testing to support facility SPCC programs. Contact Steve Fults to learn about tank integrity testing alternatives for both shop-built and field-erected tanks.
Click here to visit EPA’s webpage to see the SPCC amendments and other regulatory information.