United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Region 5
Emergency Response Branch
Oil Plannning and Response Section
EPA905-K-97-002
December 1997
SPILL PREVENTION,
CONTROL AND
COUNTERMEASURE (SPCC)
REGULATIONS
40CFR112
U.S. Environmental Protection
Region 5, Library (PL-12J)
77 West Jackson Boulevard, 12th Floor
Chicago. IL 60604-3590
Facility Owner/Operator's Guide to Oil Pollution Prevention
-------
OIL POLLUTION PREVENTION
The Environmental Protection Agency's
Oil Pollution Prevention Regulation was published
in the Federal Register on December 11,1973 and
was promulgated under Section 311(j)(l)(C) of
the Clean Water Act. The regulation is identified
as Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 112
(40 CFR 112). It was amended by the Oil Pollu-
tion Act of 1990 and requires facilities that are
subject to the regulation to prepare and implement
a plan to prevent any discharge of oil into navigable
waters or adjoining shorelines of the United States.
The plan is referred to as a Spill Prevention, Con-
trol, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan.
PURPOSE
To prevent discharge of oil into navigable
waters or adjoining shorelines of the United States.
The main thrust of the SPCC regulations is PRE-
VENTION as opposed to after-the-fact reactive
measures commonly described in Spill Contin-
gency Plans.
WHO IS REGULATED BY
THE SPCC REGULATIONS?
There are three criteria a facility must meet
to be regulated by the SPCC regulations. These
criteria are: 1) the facility must be non-transpor-
tation-related, 2) the facility must have an
aboveground storage capacity greater than 660
gallons in a single container or an aggregate stor-
age capacity greater than 1,320 gallons or a total
underground storage capacity greater than 42,000
gallons, and 3) there must be a reasonable expec-
tation of a discharge to navigable waters or adjoin-
ing shorelines of the United States.
WHO PREPARES THE SPCC
PLAN?
An SPCC Plan may be written by the
owner or operator of the facility or their autho-
rized environmental consultant, engineer or sci-
entist, but it must be certified by a registered Pro-
fessional Engineer. By certifying the SPCC Plan,
the Professional Engineer, having examined the
facility, shall attest that the SPCC Plan has been
prepared in accordance with good engineering
practices.
-------
1. What is a non-transportation-related facility?
Oil Drilling
Power Plants
These facilities (including all equipment and appurtenances) may
include but are not limited to:
Fixed onshore and offshore oil well drilling facilities;
Mobile onshore and offshore oil well drilling platforms, barges,
trucks or other mobile facilities;
Fixed onshore and offshore oil production structures, plat-
forms, derricks and rigs;
Mobile onshore and offshore oil production facilities;
Oil refining or storage facilities;
Industrial, commercial, agricultural, or public facilities which use,
store, drill for, produce, gather, process, refine or consume oil or
oil products;
Waste treatment facilities;
Loading areas/racks, transfer hoses, loading arms and other
equipment which are appurtenant to a non-transportation-related
facility;
Highway vehicles and railroad cars used to transport oil
exclusively within the confines of a non-transportation-related
facility; and
Pipeline systems used to transport oil exclusively within the
confines of a non-transportation-related facility.
Oil Production
Construction
Gas Stations
Marinas
Farms
Industrial Sites
-------
2. What is considered as Oil Storage Capacity?
Oil storage includes all containers storing oil at a facility. The CAPACITY of the containers
(maximum volume) must be considered and NOT the actual amount of product stored in the
container (operational volume). Oil storage containers include, but are not limited to, tanks,
containers, pails, drums, quart containers, transformers, oil-filled equipment, and mobile or
portable totes. A facility may be subject to SPCC regulations if they have at least one of the
following oil storage capacities:
If a facility has one aboveground oil storage container greater than
660 gallons; or
If a facility has a total aboveground oil storage capacity greater than
1,320 gallons; or
If a facility has a total underground oil storage capacity of greater than
42,000 gallons
Under the SPCC regulations, oil is defined as "oil of any kind or in any form, including but
not limited to petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse and oil mixed with wastes other than
dredged spoil and oily mixtures." This also includes non-petroleum oils, animal, and vegetable
oils.
-------
3. How do I determine if my facility could reasonably discharge oil
into or upon navigable waters or adjoining shorelines
of the United States?
This determination is based upon a consideration of the geographical and locational aspects of
the facility. The location of the facility must be considered in relation to streams, ponds and
ditches (perennial or intermittent), storm or sanitary sewers, wetlands, mudflats, sandflats, or
farm drain tiles. The distance to navigable waters, volume of material stored, worse case
weather conditions, drainage patterns, land contours, soil conditions, etc., must also be taken
into account. Further, according to the regulations, this determination shall NOT include con-
sideration of man-made features such as dikes, equipment or other structures which may serve
to restrain, hinder, contain or prevent an oil discharge.
DID YOU KNOW?
A spill of only one
gallon of oil can
contaminate a million
gallons of water.
-------
What do I have to do now?
Facilities which meet the three items
listed on the previous pages (non-transporta-
tion-related, have sufficient storage capacity,
and could reasonably discharge to navigable
waters or adjoining shorelines of the United
States), must comply with the SPCC regula-
tions. The SPCC regulations require the fa-
cility owner/operator to prepare an SPCC
Plan for their facility within 6 months of be-
coming operational and to implement the
SPCC Plan within 12 months of the start of
facility operations. This Plan must be well-
thought out and prepared in accordance with
good engineering practices.
No matter who ends up preparing your
SPCC Plan, remember that ultimately it is the
owner/operator who is responsible for com-
plying with the regulations. A copy of the
regulations and an information packet is avail-
able from U.S. EPA, Region 5, by returning
the information request card in this booklet.
Although each SPCC Plan is unique
to the facility, there are certain elements that
must be included in order for the SPCC Plan
to comply with the provisions of 40 CFR
112. Three areas which should be addressed
in the Plan are: 1) operating procedures imple-
mented by the facility to prevent oil spills; 2)
control measures installed to prevent a spill
from entering navigable waters or adjoining
shorelines; and 3) countermeasures to con-
tain, cleanup, and mitigate the effects of an
oil spill that impacts navigable waters or ad-
joining shorelines of the U.S. Some other
important elements of an SPCC Plan include,
but are not limited to, the following:
Professional Engineer (PE) certification
Plan must follow the sequence of 40 CFR 1
Spill predictions
Facility drainage
Facility inspections
Site security
Three-year Plan review
Management approval
Oil spill history
Secondary containment or diversionary struc
Loading/Unloading rack area for tank car ai
tank trucks
Training and spill briefings
-------
Who should I contact if I want more information?
If you have questions regarding the U.S. EPA, Region 5 Oil Prevention
Program, please call or write:
Section Chief, Oil Planning and Response Section (SE-5J)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5
77 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, Illinois 60604
(312)353-8200
To visit the Oil Prevention Program's national newsletter, "The Oil
Program Update," check our website at www.epa.gov/oilspill.
As always, to report an oil or chemical spill, call the
National Response Center at (800) 424-8802.
U.S. Environmental Prq?«ciion ^ena
Region 5, library (PL-12J)
77 West Jackson Boulevard, 12tft tft*
7 Chicago. It 60604-3590 f! '**
------- |