Navigating EPA’s Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) rule

One of the cornerstones of EPA’s strategy to prevent oil spills from reaching our nation’s waters is the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCC) rule. SPCC requires regulated facilities to prepare and implement spill prevention and control measures. This ensures that facilities have containment and other countermeasures in place to prevent oil spills from reaching navigable waters or adjoining shorelines.

Scope

Facilities covered under the SPCC Standard at 40 CFR 112 include those that:

• Are considered a non-transportation-related facility;
• Are engaged in drilling, producing, gathering, storing, processing, refining, transferring, distributing, using, or consuming oil;
• Could be reasonably expected to discharge oil in quantities that may be harmful into navigable waters or adjoining shorelines;
• Have a total aggregate capacity of either:
  • Aboveground oil storage greater than 1,320 in containers 55 gallons or greater; or
  • Completely buried storage tanks greater than 42,000 gallons in containers 55 gallons or greater.

Note: When counting the number of gallons of aboveground storage, do not count containers with a capacity less than 55 gallons, permanently closed containers, storage containers used exclusively in wastewater treatment, hot mix asphalt or hot-mix asphalt containers, pesticide application equipment and related mix containers, residential heating oil containers, or milk and milk product containers. When counting the number of gallons of completely buried storage tanks, do not count completely buried tanks subject to all of the technical requirements of 40 CFR 280 or 281, underground oil storage tanks that supply emergency diesel generators at a nuclear power station, permanently closed containers, and single-family residential heating oil containers.

Summary of requirements

An SPCC-covered facility must:

• Determine which SPCC plan the facility must complete — Tier I SPCC plan, Tier II SPCC plan, or full SPCC plan;
• Prepare and implement a certified and management-approved SPCC plan in accordance with good engineering practices;
• Include in the SPCC plan Attachment C-II, Certification of the Applicability of the Substantial Harm Criteria, found at 40 CFR 112 Appendix C;
• Review and evaluate of the SPCC plan at least once every five years and amend the plan within six months of the review;
• Amend the SPCC plan within six months of a change in the facility design, construction, operation, or maintenance that materially affects its potential for a discharge;
• Prevent oil spills, by, among other things:
  • Using suitable containers designed for contents they store,
  • Providing overfill prevention (if required),
  • Providing secondary containment,
  • Periodically inspecting and testing piping and containers;
  • Training oil-handling personnel; and
  • Securing and controlling access to oil handling, processing, and storage areas;
• Report to EPA oil discharges over reportable amounts if they reach navigable waters or adjoining shorelines; and
• Review and consider whether the Facility Response Plan (FRP) requirements at 40 CFR 112 Subpart D are applicable to your facility.