United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Region 10
Oil Spill Prevention. Control, and Countermeasure
(SPCC) Program: Information for Farmers
This fact sheet will assist you, as a farmer, in understanding your obligations under the Oil
Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Program (SPCC).
What is SPCC?
The goal of the SPCC program is to prevent oil
spills into waters of the United States and adjoining
shorelines. Oil spills can cause injuries to people and
damage to the environment. A key element of this
program calls for farmers and other facilities to have
an oil spill prevention plan, called an SPCC Plan.
These Plans can help farmers prevent oil spills which
can damage water resources needed for farming
operations.
What is considered a farm
under SPCC?
Under SPCC, a farm is: "a facility on a tract of land
devoted to the production of crops or raising of
animals, including fish, which produced and sold, or
normally would have produced and sold, $1,000 or
more of agricultural products during a year."
Is my farm covered by SPCC?
SPCC applies to a farm which:
• Stores, transfers, uses, or consumes oil or oil
products, such as diesel fuel, gasoline, lube oil,
hydraulic oil, adjuvant oil, crop oil, vegetable oil,
or animal fat; and
• Stores more than 1,320 US gallons in
aboveground containers or more than 42,000 US
gallons in completely buried containers; and
• Could reasonably be expected to discharge oil to
waters of the US or adjoining shorelines, such
as interstate waters, intrastate lakes, rivers, and
streams.
If your farm meets all of these criteria, then your
farm is covered by SPCC
TIPS:
Count only containers of oil that have a storage
capacity of 55 US gallons and above.
Adjacent or non-adjacent parcels, either leased
or owned, may be considered separate facilities
for SPCC purposes. Containers on separate
parcels (that the farmer identifies as separate
facilities based on how they are operated) do
not need to be added together in determining
whether the 1,320-gallon applicability
threshold is met.
-------
Oil Spill Prevention, Control, and Counter-measure (SPCC) Program: Information for Farmers
If my farm is covered by SPCC, what should I do?
The SPCC program requires you to prepare and
implement an SPCC Plan. If you already have
a Plan, maintain it. If you do not have a Plan,
you should prepare and implement one. Many
farmers will need to have their Plan certified by a
Professional Engineer ("PE"). However, you may be
eligible to self-certify your amended Plan if:
• Your farm has a total oil storage capacity
between 1,320 and 10,000 gallons in
aboveground containers, and the farm has a
good spill history (as described in the SPCC
rule), you may prepare and self-certify your own
Plan. (However, if you decide to use certain
alternate measures allowed by the federal SPCC
Rule, you will need a PE.)
• Your farm has storage capacity of more than
10,000 gallons, or has had an oil spill you may
need to prepare an SPCC Plan certified by
aPE.
TIP: If you are eligible to self certify your Plan,
and no aboveground container at your farm is
greater than 5,000 gallons in capacity, then you
may use the Plan template that is available to
download from EPA's Web site at
www. epa.gov/oem/content/spcc/tierltemp. htm
When should I prepare and
implement a Plan?
Farms in operation on or before August 16,2002,
must maintain or amend their existing Plan
by November 10,2011. Any farm that started
operation after August 16,2002, but before
November 10,2011, must prepare and use a Plan
on or before November 10,2011.
NOTE: If your farm was in operation before
August 16, 2002, and you do not already
have a Plan, you must prepare a Plan now.
Do not wait until November 10,2011
What information will I need to
prepare an SPCC Plan for my farm?
'
• A list of the oil containers at the farm by
parcel (including the contents and location of
each container);
A brief description of the procedures that
you will use to prevent oil spills. For example,
steps you use to transfer fuel from a storage
tank to your farm vehicles that reduce the
possibility of a fuel spill;
A brief description of the measures you
installed to prevent oil from reaching water (see
next section);
A brief description of the measures you will use
to contain and cleanup an oil spill to water; and
A list of emergency contacts and first
responders.
-------
Oil Spill Prevention, Control, and Counter-measure (SPCC) Program: Information for Farmers
What spill prevention measures should I
implement and include in my SPCC Plan?
• Use containers suitable for the oil stored. For
example, use a container designed for flam-
mable liquids to store gasoline;
• Identify contractors or other local personnel
who can help you clean up an oil spill;
• Provide overfill prevention for your oil stor-
age containers. You could use a high-level
alarm, or audible vent, or establish a procedure
to fill containers;
• Provide effective, sized secondary contain-
ment for bulk storage containers, such as a
dike or a remote impoundment. The contain-
ment must be able to hold the full capacity of
the container plus possible rainfall. The dike
may be constructed of earth or concrete. A
double-walled tank may also suffice;
• Provide effective, general secondary con-
tainment to address the most likely discharge
where you transfer oil to and from contain-
ers and for mobile refuelers, such as fuel nurse
tanks mounted on trucks or trailers. For ex-
ample, you may use sorbent materials, drip
pans or curbing for these areas; and
• Periodically inspect and test pipes and con-
tainers. You should visually inspect aboveg-
round pipes and inspect aboveground con-
tainers following industry standards. You
must "leak test" buried pipes when they are
installed or repaired. EPA recommends you
keep a written record of your inspections.
How and when do I maintain
my SPCC Plan?
Amend and update your SPCC Plan when
changes are made to the farm, for example, if you
add new storage containers (e.g. tanks) that are
55 gallons or larger, or if you purchase or lease
parcels with containers that are 55 gallons or
larger.
You must review your Plan every five years to
make sure it includes any changes in oil storage at
your farm.
What should I do if I have an
oil spill?
• Activate your SPCC Plan procedures to
prevent the oil spill from reaching a creek or
river.
Implement spill cleanup and mitigation
procedures outlined in your Plan.
Notify the National Response Center
(NRC) at 800-424-8802 if you have an oil
discharge to waters or adjoining shorelines.
If the amount of oil spilled to water is more
that 42 gallons on two different occasions
within a 12-month period or more than 1,000
gallons to water in a single spill event, then
notify the EPA Region 10 office in writing at
1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, ETPA-081
Seattle, WA 98101-3140.
For More Information
Read the SPCC rule and additional resources:
^S www.epa.gov/emergencies/spcc
^S http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/cleanup.nsf/sites/oilprogram
Call or send an e-mail to the EPA Ag Compliance Assistance Center: (888) 663-2155
^S www.epa.gov/agriculture/agctr.html
Call the Superfund,TRI, EPCRA, RMP, and Oil Information Center:
8 (800) 424-9346 or (703) 412-9810 TDD (800) 553-7672 or (703) 412-3323
^S www.epa.gov/superfund/contacts/infocenter/index.htm
-------
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Region 10
1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, ETPA-081
Seattle, Washington 98101-3140
May 2011
Oil Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure
(SPCC) Program — Information for Farmers
Oil Spill Prevention Plans can help farmers prevent oil spills
which can damage water resources needed for farming operations
Learn More on the Web
Read the SPCC rule and additional resources:
www.epa.gov/emergencies/spcc
Superfund,TRI, EPCRA, RMP, and Oil Information Center:
www.epa.gov/superfund/contacts/infocenter/index.htm
Prevention Plan Templates
www.epa.gov/oem/content/spcc/tierltemp.htm
------- |