Spill Prevention Control Countermeasure SPCC Inspection Guidance

1. 1 Spill Prevention Control & Countermeasure (SPCC) Inspection Guidance Garth Connor Multi-Media Inspector US EPA Region 3 Website: www.epa.gov/oilspill

2. 2 SPCC: These regulations are frequently overlooked by private & public facilities. The SPCC regulations are flunked more frequently than any other EPA regulation. Why? The regulations are not new. The first National Contingency Plan was developed and published in 1968 in response to a massive oil spill from the oil tanker Torrey Canyon off the coast of England in 1967. More than 37 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the water, causing massive environmental damage.

3. 3 Massive Oil Spills Lead to Stricter Regulations In 1973, EPA issued the Oil Pollution Prevention regulation, which is codified at 40 CFR Part 112, to address the oil spill prevention provisions contained in the Clean Water Act of 1972. The regulation forms the basis of EPA's oil spill prevention, control, and countermeasures, or SPCC, program, which seeks to prevent oil spills from certain aboveground and underground storage tanks.

4. 4 Definitions(40 CFR 112.2) "Oil" means oil of any kind, an any form, including: heating oils, motor fuels, lubricating oils, cutting oils, quenching oils, hydraulic oils, transformer oils and cooking oils. There is no distinction between intra-facility use and re-sale, or industrial, commercial, agricultural, residential, public or private entities. "Navigable Waters" of the US includes, but is not limited to, harbors, lakes, rivers, brooks, and wetlands.

5. 5 Spill Prevention Control & Countermeasure Regulations Unlike the UST regulations, there are very few exemptions. Exxon Valdez – (March, 1989). Helped create the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and further strengthen the oil spill law. Oil spills in fresh or salt water. EPA & the Coast Guard are both involved.

6. 6 Which facilities need to have an SPCC Plan? (40 CFR 112.1(d)) Facilities that store oil above ground in any size tank(s) with a total aggregate volume over 1,320 gallons; OR Facilities that store oil below ground in any size tank(s) with a total aggregate volume of 42,000 gallons; AND Facilities that could be reasonably be expected to discharge oil to a "navigable water of US" or "adjoining shorelines" considering a worst case scenario.

7. 7 What is the purpose of the SPCC Plan? To develop procedures and methods to prevent the discharge of oil from a facility into the navigable waters or adjoining shorelines. To provide adequate secondary containment, such as berms and dikes, around oil storage at the facility.

8. 8 At a minimum, your SPCC Plan should include: Facility layout and drainage patterns; List of all oil storage tanks, etc; Quantities of oil that could be released, with predicted path of flow and flow rate; Procedures for receiving oil from supplier, transfer of oil within the facility, end point uses of oil, and waste oil disposal;

9. 9 At a minimum, your SPCC Plan should include: (continued) Effects of a spill at the facility, fire hazards, employee evacuation, customer/neighbor considerations, press relations; Capacity of secondary containment devices (required); cleanup procedures, use of in-house staff versus contractors (union considerations);

10. 10 At a minimum, your SPCC Plan should include: (continued) Notification list - name and phone numbers of in-house management, remote management, fire and police; municipal, state and federal agencies requiring notification; facility security for prevention of internal sabotage, external vandalism; employee training for spill prevention, oil handling, and spill clean-up (if applicable); and

11. 11 Where is an SPCC Plan filed? A copy of the plan must be maintained at any facility manned at least 8 hours per day; (40 CFR 112.3 (e)) For remote locations, a copy of the plan should be filed at the nearest field office; Copies of the plan should be posted in plain view at all oil storage locations; A copy does not have to be filed with EPA unless it is a condition of a permit; The plan must be available during normal business hours for EPA inspector review.

12. 12 Requirements of Oil Spill Prevention Regulations The plan has to be certified by a registered Professional Engineer; (40 CFR 112.3 (d)) The plan has to be amended if there are any changes in facility design, construction, operation or maintenance which materially affects the facility's potential for the discharge of oil; The plan has to amended if the facility has two or more spills in twelve months or a spill of 1,000 gallons; and The plan has to be reviewed at least once every three years.

13. 13 Facility Response Plans Facilities with over 1,000,000 gallons of oil normally have to create an FRP. worse-case scenarios – a complete rupture of the largest tank. Spill drills must be conducted by onsite staff.

14. 14 Common Violations No Plan at all. 40 CFR 112.3 (a) or (b) Failure to prepare and implement SPCC plan, specifically failed to include all elements of a complete plan as required by SPCC regulations. 40 CFR 112.3 (c) Plan not PE certified. 40 CFR 112.3 (d) Plan not reviewed/updated every three years. 40 CFR 112.5 (b) Plan does not include all oil on facility, i.e., transformers, hydraulic systems, emergency generators, drum storage, etc. 40 CFR 112.7 (e)(2)

15. 15 Common Violations (continued) Plan does not accurately identify, from each oil storage location, the detailed path spilled oil would take to reach a waterway, i.e., drainage may flow in different directions, to different receptors, especially in urban locations. Drains not traced out. 40 CFR 112.7 (e)(1) Staff do not conduct regular walk-through inspections of oil tanks. 40 CFR 112.7 (e)(8)

16. 16 Common Violations (continued) Small, scattered ASTs are not adequately protected from tampering/vandalism. 40 CFR 112.7 (e)(9)

17. 17 Owner of spilled/released material is responsible for: Removing the material from the "environment" (public property). Cleaning of highways, storm drains, bridge abutments, etc. Removing the material from private property, such as boat hulls, parking lots, etc. Paying for natural resource damages (lost parking receipts at public beaches; lost revenues from fishing licenses: replacing killed fish, shellfish and waterfowl, etc.)

18. 18 Owner of spilled/released material is responsible for: (continued) Paying for lost livelihood wages of fisherman and shell fisherman, devaluation of property for sale. Private suits. Civil penalty for spilling into a water of the US. Criminal penalty for not notifying federal authorities. State agencies and contractors have no responsibility to notify for you.

19. 19 Penalties for Violations The penalty for failure to have an SPCC plan can be up to $32,500 per day of violation. If an administrative action is filed, the penalty can be up to $137,500. There is no limit if a federal judicial case is filed.

20. 20 Moral of the Story It is a lot cheaper to prevent a release than to clean one up.