Oil SPCC Rules: A Compliance Update
Karen Townsend, PE View Profile

EPA has extended the deadline for facilities to update and implement their SPCC Plans to comply with the 2002 rule amendments several times and promised additional SPCC rule-making. What's the present status? 

The deadline has been extended five times since the rules changes were promulgated in 2002, with the current deadline being July 1, 2009. EPA was challenged and even sued by trade organizations and members of the regulated community, accounting for the early compliance deadline extensions. They held stakeholder meetings and developed a guidance document for EPA inspectors to use, which has become a great resource for providing clarification on certain elements of the rule that were confusing.

The most recent extension was coupled with proposed amendments, such as: an exemption for certain types of facilities (farms, single-family residences); definitions for terms that were unclear ("facility," "loading/unloading rack"); clarity on the general secondary containment provisions, and flexibility in facility security requirements, and the use of industry standards to comply with integrity testing requirements. The complete proposed rule is available from the EPA website and comments are due December 14, 2007 (http://www.epa.gov/oilspill/spccmust.htm). After that, it remains to be seen if this is the last of the rule changes and deadline extensions.

What recommendations would you give to facility owners with respect to complying with these rules and deadlines? 

If your facility is subject to the rule, prepare or update your Plan now rather than holding out to see if there will be more regulatory relief to come (it’s unlikely there will be). EPA regional inspectors are continuing to perform inspections; they're not waiting to see how it all sorts out. They're inspecting facilities, evaluating SPCC Plans and assessing compliance based on the 2002 rule changes.

Furthermore, facility owners are required to review and evaluate their existing Plans at least once every 5 years and amend it, if necessary. It's been over 5 years since the rule changes became effective; inspectors will be looking to see that Plans are being kept up-to-date and that 5-year reviews are being done. There doesn’t seem to be any benefit to waiting until the deadline draws near and the risks of an inspection and a finding of non-compliance are real.

Looking back to the 2002 amendments, what was the one most significant change in the rules? 

The most significant change was the requirement for inspection and testing of tanks. The rule specifically requires tank owners to perform frequent visual inspections of their tanks as well as an integrity test on a regular schedule. The inspection and testing procedures have to be written into the Plan and certified by the Professional Engineer who stamps/certifies the Plan.

This requirement set into motion a push by the Steel Tank Institute (STI) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) to update their standards for performing tank inspections and tests, and programs for training and certifying additional inspectors to serve the regulated community.