FLEXIBILITY ON U.S. EPA OIL SPILL PREVENTION MEASURES TO ACCOMMODATE SMALL CAPACITY MULTI-SECTOR STAKEHOLDERS

Abstract

ABSTRACT In December 2006 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published revisions to the Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulation (40 CFR part 112) to streamline regulatory requirements pertaining to the prevention of oil discharges to navigable waters and adjoining shorelines. The purpose of these revisions was to allow flexibility for the regulated community in designing an oil spill prevention program that is appropriate for each individual facility. The range of regulated facilities for the SPCC universe includes everything from oil exploration and production facilities to end users of oil. The equipment and oil-handling activities vary as a result of the individual business operations of the facility. EPA has moved away from a prescriptive approach for requirements pertaining to the oil pollution prevention regulation in 40 CFR 112 and has incorporated performance based elements into the regulation to accommodate the wide universe of regulated stakeholders while maintaining protection of human health and the environment. Since promulgation of the regulation, the rule has incorporated alternative measures for when secondary containment is determined to be impracticable. In 2002, a provision was added to the rule to allow for deviations from rule requirements when an alternative environmentally equivalent measure is employed. The most recent revisions to the SPCC rule in 2006 include alternatives for facilities with small oil storage capacities to self-certify their SPCC Plans in lieu of a Professional Engineer certification. Additionally, the Agency is developing an additional proposal to streamline and simplify the SPCC rule for oil and gas production facilities, farms, and a subset of qualified facilities. This paper will highlight the SPCC rule provisions that provide flexibility in order to facilitate compliance and achieve the goal of preventing discharges of oil to navigable waters and adjoining shorelines. It will discuss the background of the SPCC rule; the key revisions that specifically offer alternative compliance options, with a focus on small oil storage capacity facilities; and provide an overview of the 2007 proposed revisions to the SPCC rule.