United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of
Emergency Management
(5104A)
EPA-550-F-06-006
December 2006
www.epa.gov/emergencies
Off
Hoiv to Report Oil Discharges to the National Response Center and EPA
If a facility or vessel discharges oil to navigable waters or adjoining shorelines, waters of the contiguous
zone, or in connection with activities under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act or Deepwater Port Act of
1974, or which may affect natural resources under exclusive U.S. authority, the owner/operator is required to
follow certain federal reporting requirements. These requirements are found in two EPA regulations - 40
CFR part 110, Discharge of Oil regulation, and 40 CFR part 1 12, Oil Pollution Prevention regulation. The
Discharge of Oil regulation provides the framework for determining whether an oil discharge to inland and
coastal waters or adjoining shorelines should be reported to the National Response Center. The Oil
Pollution Prevention regulation, part of which is commonly referred to as the "SPCC rule," identifies certain
types of discharges from regulated facilities that also need to be reported to EPA. Although these reporting
requirements were not changed by EPA's recent modifications of the SPCC rule, this Fact Sheet will help
facilities with the Reportable Discharge History criterion associated with the qualified facility option and the
oil-filled operational equipment option offered in the recent SPCC modifications.
Who is subject to the Discharge of Oil
regulation?
Any person in charge of a vessel or of an onshore
or offshore facility is subject to the reporting
requirements of the Discharge of Oil regulation if it
discharges a harmful quantity of oil to U.S.
navigable waters, adjoining shorelines, or the
contiguous zone, or in connection with activities
under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act or
Deepwater Port Act of 1974, or which may affect
natural resources under exclusive U.S. authority.
What is a "harmful quantity" of
discharged oil?
A harmful quantity is any quantity of discharged oil
that violates state water quality standards, causes a
film or sheen on the water's surface, or leaves
sludge or emulsion beneath the surface. For this
reason, the Discharge of Oil regulation is commonly
known as the "sheen" rule. Note that a floating
sheen alone is not the only quantity that triggers the
reporting requirements (e.g., sludge or emulsion
deposited below the surface of the water may also
be reportable).
Under this regulation, reporting oil discharges does
not depend on the specific amount of oil discharged,
but instead can be triggered by the presence of a
visible sheen created by the discharged oil or the
other criteria described above.
To whom do I report an oil discharge?
A facility should report discharges to the National
Response Center (NRC) at 1-800-424-8802 or 1-
202-426-2675. The NRC is the federal
government's centralized reporting center, which is
staffed 24 hours per day by U.S. Coast Guard
personnel.
If reporting directly to NRC is not practicable,
reports also can be made to the EPA regional office
or the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office
(MSO) in the area where the incident occurred.
When must I report to NRC?
Any person in charge of a vessel or an onshore or
offshore facility must notify NRC immediately after
he or she has knowledge of the discharge.
What information do I need to report?
NRC will ask a caller to provide as much information
about the incident as possible including:
• Name, organization, and telephone number
• Name and address of the party responsible
for the incident
• Date and time of the incident
• Location of the incident
• Source and cause of the discharge
• Types of material(s) discharged
• Quantity of materials discharged
• Danger or threat posed by the discharge
Oil Discharge Reporting Fact Sheet
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• Number and types of injuries (if any)
• Weather conditions at the incident location
• Other information to help emergency
personnel respond to the incident
How are reports to NRC handled?
NRC relays information to an EPA or U.S. Coast
Guard On Scene Coordinator (OSC), depending on
the location of the incident. After receiving a report,
the OSC evaluates the situation and decides if
federal emergency response action is necessary.
If I report a discharge to NRC, do I
also report to EPA?
If a facility is regulated under the SPCC rule and
has a reportable discharge according to EPA
regulations (see below), it must be reported to both
NRC and EPA.
What are the oil discharge reporting
requirements in the SPCC rule?
Any facility owner/operator who is subject to the
SPCC rule must comply with the reporting
requirements found in §112.4.
A discharge must be reported to the EPA Regional
Administrator (RA) when there is a discharge of:
• More than 1,000 U.S. gallons of oil in a
single discharge to navigable waters or
adjoining shorelines
• More than 42 U.S. gallons of oil in each of
two discharges to navigable waters or
adjoining shorelines occurring within any
twelve-month period
When determining the applicability of this SPCC
reporting requirement, the gallon amount(s)
specified (either 1,000 or 42) refers to the amount of
oil that actually reaches navigable waters or
adjoining shorelines, not the total amount of oil
spilled.
What do I need to submit to EPA?
The owner/operator must provide the following:
• Name and location of the facility
• Owner/operator name
• Maximum storage/handling capacity of the
facility and normal daily throughput
• Corrective actions and countermeasures
taken, including descriptions of equipment
repairs and replacements
• Adequate description of the facility,
including maps, flow diagrams, and
topographical maps, as necessary
• Cause of the discharge to navigable waters,
including a failure analysis
• Failure analysis of the system where the
discharge occurred
• Additional preventive measures taken or
planned to take to minimize discharge
reoccurrence
• Other information the RA may reasonably
require
An owner/operator must also send a copy of this
information to the agency or agencies in charge of
oil pollution control activities in the state in which the
facility is located.
What happens after a facility submits
this information to EPA?
The EPA Regional Administrator will review the
information submitted by the facility and may require
a facility to submit and amend its SPCC Plan.
Facilities and equipment that qualified for the new
streamlined requirements may lose eligibility for
those options as determined by the Regional
Administrator. A state agency may also make
recommendations to EPA for a facility to amend its
Plan to prevent or control oil discharges.
For More Information
Review the Discharge of Oil regulation (40 CFR
part 110)
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/
Review the Oil Pollution Prevention regulation (40
CFR part 112)
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/
Visit the EPA Office of Emergency Management
Web site
www.epa.gov/emergencies
Call the Superfund, TRI, EPCRA, RMP, and Oil
Information Center
(800) 424-9346 or (703) 412-9810
TDD (800) 553-7672 or (703) 412-3323
www.epa.gov/superfund/resources/infocenter
To Report an Oil or Chemical Discharge
Contact the National Response Center
(800) 424-8802 or (202) 267-2675
TDD (202) 267-4477
http://www.nrc.uscg.mil/index.html
Oil Discharge Reporting Fact Sheet
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