Regulation Basics

Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure EPA 40CFR112:

Summary: The SPCC regulation is the national oil spill regulation. The purpose of the SPCC regulation is prevention of oil discharge into navigable waters and related areas, rather than cleanup after a spill has occurred. The regulation generally affects all facilities with at least 1320 gallons aboveground storage capacity, or 42000+ gallons underground storage capacity. The SPCC requires affected facilities to prepare and file an action plan (the SPCC Plan).

Affected facilities include, among others onshore and offshore drilling, platforms, barges and mobile facilities; fixed and mobile onshore or offshore production; oil refining and storage; any industrial, commercial, agricultural or public facility that uses or stores oil; some waste treatment operations; loading racks, transfer hoses and related equipment; vehicles and pipelines. Oils, fats and greases of any kind or in any form are specifically included in the regulation.

The SPCC Plan must include certain elements, such as Operating procedures to prevent oil spills; Control measures to prevent spilled oil from entering surface water; Countermeasures such as Secondary Containment for spills and bulk storage compliance; Professional Engineer certification; Management approval; Facility inspections; Security; Training and more. For more information, visit the website WWW.EPA.GOV/OILSPILL, or contact your regional EPA SPCC Coordinator. To report an oil or chemical spill, CALL THE NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER AT 800-424-8802.

Containment, EPA 40CFR264.175:

Ref (b) (3) “…the containment system must have sufficient capacity to contain 10% of the volume of containers or the volume of the largest container, whichever is greater.”

Salvage Drums, DOT 49CFR173.3(c):

Ref (c) – (c) (7) “Salvage Drums. Packages of hazardous materials that are damaged, defective, or found leaking and hazardous materials that have spilled or leaked may be placed in a metal or plastic removable head salvage drum that is compatible with lading and shipped for repackaging or disposal under the following conditions:

…the drum must be a UN 1A2, 1B2, 1N2 or 1H2 tested and marked for Packing Group III or higher performance standards for liquids or solids and a leakproofness test of 20 kPa (3 psig).

Capacity of the drum may not exceed 450 L (119 gallons).

Each drum shall be provided when necessary with sufficient cushioning and absorption material to prevent excessive movement of the damaged package and to eliminate the presence of any free liquid at the time the salvage drum is closed. All cushioning and absorbent material used in the drum must be compatible with the hazardous material.

“…the packaging must be marked “SALVAGE” or “SALVAGE DRUM”.

The overpack requirements of (Section) 173.25 do not apply to drums used in accordance with this paragraph.

Stormwater regulations, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) EPA 40CFR122.26:

Summary: NPDES requires implementation of “Best Management Practices” (BMP’s). A BMP is literally a course of action which, through its implementation helps “to manage the quantity and improve the quality of stormwater runoff” and meets or exceeds the “Minimum Control Measures” performance objectives of the federal NPDES regulation for limiting the discharge of pollutants to surface water supplies via stormwater runoff.

NPDES requires Minimum Control Measures to be put into place by activities in affected Urbanized Areas (UA). There are 405 Urbanized Areas in the US listed in Appendix 6 of the 2000 US Census. Urbanized Areas are not necessarily just cities, but also include suburbs and other nearby areas. Appendix 6 contains detailed maps of each Urbanized Area and can be accessed on-line through the US EPA Office of Wastewater Management (OWM) website WWW.EPA.GOV/OMW to determine if a particular place is in an affected UA.

The applicable regulations require affected activities to develop a program to manage stormwater discharges from their facilities. This management program includes, among others, the development and implementation of a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) including BMP’s. The SWPPP identifies: Potential Sources of Pollution and Exposed Materials, including a History of Past Spills & Leaks; BMP’s; Non-Structural controls such as Good Housekeeping Practices and Spill Prevention & Response; and Structural controls such as Containment including Pollution Incident Prevention Plans (PIPP) and Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCC) plans.