Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures (SPCC)

Scope

Facilities covered under SPCC Standard at 40 CFR 112 include those that:

• Are considered a non-transportation-related facility;
• Are engaged in drilling, producing, gathering, storing, processing, refining, transferring, distributing, using, or consuming oil;
• Could be reasonably expected to discharge oil in quantities that may be harmful into navigable waters or adjoining shorelines;
• Have a total aggregate capacity of either:
  • Aboveground oil storage greater than 1,320 in containers 55 gallons or greater; or
  • Completely buried storage tanks greater than 42,000 gallons in containers 55 gallons or greater.

Note: When counting the number of gallons of aboveground storage, do not count containers with a capacity less than 55 gallons, permanently closed containers, storage containers used exclusively in wastewater treatment, hot mix asphalt or hot-mix asphalt containers, pesticide application equipment and related mix containers, residential heating oil containers, or milk and milk product containers. When counting the number of gallons of completely buried storage tanks, do not count completely buried tanks subject to all of the technical requirements of 40 CFR 280 or 281, underground oil storage tanks that supply emergency diesel generators at a nuclear power station, permanently closed containers, and single family residential heating oil containers.

Regulatory citations

• 40 CFR 112 — Oil pollution prevention

Key definitions

• Alteration: Any work on a container involving cutting, burning, welding, or heating operations that changes the physical dimensions or configuration of the container.
• Animal fat: A non-petroleum oil, fat, or grease of animal, fish, or marine mammal origin.
• Breakout tank: A container used to relieve surges in an oil pipeline system or to receive and store oil transported by a pipeline for reinjection and continued transportation by pipeline.
• Bulk storage container: Any container used to store oil. These containers are used for purposes including, but not limited to, the storage of oil prior to use, while being used, or prior to further distribution in commerce. Oil-filled electrical, operating, or manufacturing equipment is not a bulk storage container.
• Bunkered tank: A container constructed or placed in the ground by cutting the earth and re-covering the container in a manner that breaks the surrounding natural grade, or that lies above grade, and is covered with earth, sand, gravel, asphalt, or other material. A bunkered tank is considered an aboveground storage container for purposes of this part.
• Completely buried tank: Any container completely below grade and covered with earth, sand, gravel, asphalt, or other material. Containers in vaults, bunkered tanks, or partially buried tanks are considered aboveground storage containers for purposes of this part.
• Contiguous zone: The zone established by the United States under Article 24 of the Convention of the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone, that is contiguous to the territorial sea and that extends nine miles seaward from the outer limit of the territorial area.
• Discharge: Includes, but is not limited to, any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, or dumping of oil, but excludes discharges in compliance with a permit under section 402 of the CWA; discharges resulting from circumstances identified, reviewed, and made a part of the public record with respect to a permit issued or modified under section 402 of the CWA, and subject to a condition in such permit; or continuous or anticipated intermittent discharges from a point source, identified in a permit or permit application under section 402 of the CWA, that are caused by events occurring within the scope of relevant operating or treatment systems.
• Facility: Any mobile or fixed, onshore or offshore building, property, parcel, lease, structure, installation, equipment, pipe, or pipeline (other than a vessel or a public vessel) used in oil well drilling operations, oil production, oil refining, oil storage, oil gathering, oil processing, oil transfer, oil distribution, and oil waste treatment, or in which oil is used, as described in Appendix A to this part. The boundaries of a facility depend on several site-specific factors, including but not limited to, the ownership or operation of buildings, structures, and equipment on the same site and types of activity at the site. Contiguous or non-contiguous buildings, properties, parcels, leases, structures, installations, pipes, or pipelines under the ownership or operation of the same person may be considered separate facilities. Only this definition governs whether a facility is subject to this part.
• Farm: 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.
• Loading/Unloading rack: A fixed structure (such as a platform, gangway) necessary for loading or unloading a tank truck or tank car, which is located at a facility subject to the requirements of this part. A loading/unloading rack includes a loading or unloading arm, and may include any combination of the following: piping assemblages, valves, pumps, shut-off devices, overfill sensors, or personnel safety devices.
• Mobile refueler: A bulk storage container onboard a vehicle or towed, that is designed or used solely to store and transport fuel for transfer into or from an aircraft, motor vehicle, locomotive, vessel, ground service equipment, or other oil storage container.
• Motive power container: Any onboard bulk storage container used primarily to power the movement of a motor vehicle, or ancillary onboard oil-filled operational equipment. An onboard bulk storage container which is used to store or transfer oil for further distribution is not a motive power container. The definition of motive power container does not include oil drilling or workover equipment, including rigs.
• Navigable waters: The latest definition found at 40 CFR 112.2.
• Non-petroleum oil: Oil of any kind that is not petroleum-based, including but not limited to: Fats, oils, and greases of animal, fish, or marine mammal origin; and vegetable oils, including oils from seeds, nuts, fruits, and kernels.
• Offshore facility: Any facility of any kind (other than a vessel or public vessel) located in, on, or under any of the navigable waters of the United States, and any facility of any kind that is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and is located in, on, or under any other waters.
• Oil: Oil of any kind or in any form, including, but not limited to: fats, oils, or greases of animal, fish, or marine mammal origin; vegetable oils, including oils from seeds, nuts, fruits, or kernels; and, other oils and greases, including petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, synthetic oils, mineral oils, oil refuse, or oil mixed with wastes other than dredged spoil.
• Oil-filled operational equipment: Equipment that includes an oil storage container (or multiple containers) in which the oil is present solely to support the function of the apparatus or the device. Oil-filled operational equipment is not considered a bulk storage container, and does not include oil-filled manufacturing equipment (flow-through process). Examples of oil-filled operational equipment include, but are not limited to, hydraulic systems, lubricating systems (e.g., those for pumps, compressors and other rotating equipment, including pumpjack lubrication systems), gear boxes, machining coolant systems, heat transfer systems, transformers, circuit breakers, electrical switches, and other systems containing oil solely to enable the operation of the device.
• Onshore facility: Any facility of any kind located in, on, or under any land within the United States, other than submerged lands.
• Owner or operator: Any person owning or operating an onshore facility or an offshore facility, and in the case of any abandoned offshore facility, the person who owned or operated or maintained the facility immediately prior to such abandonment.
• Partially buried tank: A storage container that is partially inserted or constructed in the ground, but not entirely below grade, and not completely covered with earth, sand, gravel, asphalt, or other material. A partially buried tank is considered an aboveground storage container for purposes of this part.
• Permanently closed: Any container or facility for which: (1) All liquid and sludge has been removed from each container and connecting line; and (2) All connecting lines and piping have been disconnected from the container and blanked off, all valves (except for ventilation valves) have been closed and locked, and conspicuous signs have been posted on each container stating that it is a permanently closed container and noting the date of closure.
• Petroleum oil: Petroleum in any form, including but not limited to crude oil, fuel oil, mineral oil, sludge, oil refuse, and refined products.
• Produced water container: A storage container at an oil production facility used to store the produced water after initial oil/water separation, and prior to reinjection, beneficial reuse, discharge, or transfer for disposal.
• Production facility: All structures (including but not limited to wells, platforms, or storage facilities), piping (including but not limited to flowlines or intra-facility gathering lines), or equipment (including but not limited to workover equipment, separation equipment, or auxiliary non-transportation-related equipment) used in the production, extraction, recovery, lifting, stabilization, separation or treating of oil (including condensate), or associated storage or measurement, and is located in an oil or gas field, at a facility. This definition governs whether such structures, piping, or equipment are subject to a specific section of this part.
• Vegetable oil: A non-petroleum oil or fat of vegetable origin, including but not limited to oils and fats derived from plant seeds, nuts, fruits, and kernels.
• Vessel: Every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water, other than a public vessel.
• Worst case discharge for an onshore non-transportation-related facility: The largest foreseeable discharge in adverse weather conditions as determined using the worksheets in Appendix D to Part 112.

Summary of requirements

An SPCC-covered facility must:

• Determine which SPCC plan the facility must complete — Tier I SPCC plan, Tier II SPCC plan, or full SPCC plan;
• Prepare and implement a certified and management-approved SPCC plan in accordance with good engineering practices;
• Include in the SPCC plan Attachment C-II, Certification of the Applicability of the Substantial Harm Criteria, found at 40 CFR 112 Appendix C;
• Review and evaluate of the SPCC plan at least once every five years and amend the plan within six months of the review;
• Amend the SPCC plan within six months of a change in the facility design, construction, operation, or maintenance that materially affects its potential for a discharge;
• Prevent oil spills, by, among other things:
  • Using suitable containers designed for contents they store,
  • Providing overfill prevention (if required),
  • Providing secondary containment,
  • Periodically inspecting and testing piping and containers;
  • Training oil-handling personnel; and
  • Securing and controlling access to oil handling, processing, and storage areas;
• Report to EPA oil discharges over reportable amounts if they reach navigable waters or adjoining shorelines; and
• Review and consider whether the Facility Response Plan (FRP) requirements at 40 CFR 112 Subpart D are applicable to your facility.