EPA Revises SPCC Requirements

03/09/2007

US EPA has revised requirements under the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule. The revisions provide an option allowing the owners or operators of facilities with aboveground storage tank (AST) capacities of 10,000 or less to certify their SPCC plans in lieu of review and certification by a professional engineer.

To qualify, a facility must not have had either (1) a single discharge of oil to navigable waters exceeding 1,000 U.S. gallons or (2) two discharges of oil to navigable waters exceeding 42 U.S. gallons within any 12-month period in the three years prior to the SPCC plan certification.

US EPA also issued a proposed rule to extend the SPCC compliance date to July 1, 2009 for owners and operators of all facilities (with the exception of farms) to amend and implement an existing SPCC plan or to prepare a new plan. The current deadline is October 31, 2007.

For additional information on the SPCC requirements, please visit www.epa.gov/oilspill.