Oil Spill Prevention 

Background

See Clean Water Act —  General.

Part 112 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (40 CFR 112) implements the oil spill prevention provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972. The oil spill prevention regulations have existed since 1973, but, at inception, included only a portion of the current Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) Plan requirements. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 expanded these rules, and they became the SPCC requirements. EPA modified these regulations in 2002 and 2006, clarifying some key areas of concern. SPCC is a federal program.

Key Concepts

Oil

The CWA regulates oil of any kind and any form, including petroleum, synthetic, animal, and vegetable oils. This definition includes heating oils, motor fuels, lubricating oils, hydraulic oils, mineral oils, waste oils, cutting oils, quenching oils, transformer oils, edible oils, solvents, gasoline, and oil-based paints. Campuses should contact their regional EPA office for specific guidance.

Oil-Filled Operating Equipment

EPA considers any equipment that includes a storage container in which the oil exists solely to support the function of the equipment “operating equipment.” Examples include hydraulic, lubricating, coolant, and electrical equipment. SPCC regulations provide an alternative that reduces regulatory requirements for this kind of equipment.

Bulk Storage of Oil

EPA considers any oil storage other than oil-filled operating equipment to be “bulk storage of oil.” Fuel reservoirs supporting emergency generators and boilers meet this definition. Storage of any oil as an energy source or as a manufacturing input probably meets this definition.

Navigable Waters of the United States

For the purposes of 40 CFR 112, the term “navigable waters” includes

• all waters used in commerce, including groundwater;
• all interstate waters, including wetlands, mudflats, and sand-flats; and
• all other waters, such as lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, and sloughs.

EPA policy states, “The majority of facilities in the U.S. have the potential to discharge to navigable waters.” However, the Supreme Court decision in Rapanos v United States (2006) requires the Army Corps of Engineers and EPA to determine whether there is a “significant nexus” between a navigable waterway and an area a spill might affect.

In June of 2007, EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers released provisional interpretive guidance regarding the “significant nexus” question. According to this guidance, the agencies will assert jurisdiction over traditional navigable waters, wetlands adjacent thereto, and relatively permanent tributaries thereof. The agencies will generally not assert jurisdiction over swales and ditches that lack routine water flow. Finally, the agencies will apply the “significant nexus” requirement and make a case-by-case, fact-specific analysis on impermanent tributaries and other wetlands.

Substantial Harm Criteria

This is a set of conditions that separates major and minor oil pollution threats. Meeting these criteria incurs a substantial additional planning burden. The criteria are:

• transferring oil over water and a storage capacity greater than 42,000 gallons, or
• 1 million gallons of oil storage, and any of the following:
  • insufficient secondary containment to contain the largest container, or
  • a spill could cause substantial harm to fish, wildlife, and sensitive environments, or
  • a spill could cause a disruption to a public water supply, or
  • the facility has spilled more than 10,000 gallons of oil in the past 5 years.

Qualified Facility

A facility that stores fewer than 10,000 gallons of oil above ground may qualify for reduced requirements under SPCC regulation. To qualify, the facility must have a record of avoiding oil spills to navigable waters for the past 3 years.

Does this apply to my campus?

SPCC requirements apply to non–transportation-related facilities that might discharge oil into or onto navigable waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines, and that have:

• a total aboveground oil storage capacity of more than 1,320 gallons, or
• a total underground storage capacity of more than 42,000 gallons.

To determine whether your campus or site needs an SPCC plan, total the storage of all onsite oil. This includes oil both in storage and in process and any oil in equipment with reservoirs, such as

Perform oil storage calculations on the rated capacity of the container, not the amount of oil it routinely contains. However, the SPCC regulation includes exemptions to the quantity calculation:

• containers with a capacity fewer than 55 gallons are exempt,
• completely buried tanks that are subject to state or federal underground storage tanks (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) regulations are exempt, and
• permanently closed (by the terms of the standard) containers are exempt.

Potential oil pollution sources on the campus, regardless of ownership, may have to be included in the SPCC plan. Utility-owned transformers with oil storage capacity of 55 gallons or more, for instance, are potential oil pollution sources on your campus, but they are not under your control. The regulations do not specify whether these containers must be part of a campus SPCC plan.

Contact your regional office to confirm what oil sources this regulation includes.

If a campus meets the above oil storage quantity thresholds after applying exemptions, it is subject to SPCC regulations.

What do I have to do?

If your campus meets or exceeds the volume and operational requirements for the SPCC plan, you must prepare a written SPCC plan for all potential oil pollution sources on campus.

If your campus has fewer than 10,000 gallons of aboveground storage of oil, the 2006 revisions to the regulations create an option for reduced regulatory burden. To qualify for this option, a facility must have had neither of two events in the past 3 years or in the time during which it has been subject to SPCC regulation (whichever is shorter):

• any discharge to navigable waters in excess of 1,000 gallons, and
• two discharges to navigable waters exceeding 42 gallons in any 12-month period.

Qualifying for this option requires a determination of whether an oil release reached navigable waters. The threshold spill quantities relate to oil that actually reaches navigable waters, not the total amount that spills. The “qualified facility” option allows a campus to reduce the degree to which it must rely on external certification of its plan. A qualified facility is not exempt from SPCC regulation; it has additional flexibility with regard to plan certification, container testing, and facility security. Review the Qualified Facility Plan Requirements in 40 CFR 112.6.

Bulk storage containers have specific management requirements under SPCC. Review these obligations in 40 CFR 112.8.
SPCC plans for facilities that do not use the qualified facilities option must

• be kept onsite;
• be understood by all employees involved in covered operations (e.g., oil-handling employees);
• be certified by a registered professional engineer who has examined the facility;
• have full management approval and appropriate signatures;
• be reviewed every 5 years or after a release;
• discuss spill history;
• discuss predictions of release flow and direction;
• provide tank lists (aboveground storage tanks and underground storage tanks) with secondary containment volumes;
• include telephone numbers of national, state, and local emergency contacts for spill reporting;
• include the “Certification of the Applicability of Substantial Harm Criteria Checklist,” which determines whether you also
• need a facility response plan (FRP; available as Attachment C-II to Appendix C of 40 CFR 112);
• include a complete discussion (or indication of nonapplicability) of how the facility conforms with all SPCC requirements in 40 CFR 112 by
• providing impervious secondary containment or substantially equivalent protection for oil storage;
• controlling stormwater in containment for outdoor oil storage areas to prevent contaminated runoff;
• implementing an inspection and maintenance program that should include records of compliance testing of storage tanks, level gauging systems, alarms, draining of diked areas, and evidence of spills;
• providing security measures, including lighting, fencing and locked gates, and outflow valves, to reduce risk of vandalism and undetected spills; and
• instructing employees, drivers, or any personnel involved in oil operation systems in spill prevention, the SPCC plan, and pollution control laws;
• maintain applicable records for at least 3 years.

EPA’s 2006 revision of its SPCC regulations removes specific requirements related to oil transfers from mobile refueling, such as secondary fuel at central heating plants or motor vehicle fuel in fleet maintenance areas. However, general requirements remain — the facility and/or the refueling apparatus must have the capacity to prevent release of spills and overfill.
SPCC plans must include a determination of applicability of the Substantial Harm Criteria. If your facility meets the Substantial Harm Criteria, you must develop an FRP. See the 40 CFR 112.20 for more information.