Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure Act

Any material defined as “oil” by the EPA falls under the SPCC rule, including:

• Animal fats and greases

• Vegetable oils (from nuts, seeds, fruits, or kernels)

• Crude oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, jet fuel, heating oil, motor oil

• Hydraulic oil, lubricating oil, synthetic oils, and used oil

• Oily wastes, oil refuse, Stoddard solvent, mineral spirits, residual fuels

• Tall oil, turpentine, bunker fuel, dielectric fluid, and asphalt

• Cutting oils, coolants, and more

For this document, all of these are referred to as “oil.”

An SPCC Plan is required when a facility's oil storage exceeds the thresholds below and there's a reasonable expectation that a discharge could reach navigable waters or shorelines.

You must comply with SPCC if your facility:

• Has an above-ground oil storage capacity of over 1,320 gallons (storage containers that are 55 gallons or greater are used to calculate total capacity), or

• Has a below-ground storage capacity of over 42,000 gallons.

Facilities that meet these criteria must develop a written SPCC Plan. Certain businesses, such as convenience stores, may be exempt from the current law. The EPA has granted compliance extensions in four problem areas, including:

• Qualified oil-filled equipment

• Motive power containers

• Mobile refuelers

• Animal fats and vegetable oils that are used at onshore/offshore production sites and drilling facilities.

SPCC is not a permit program; there is no application to submit or approval to obtain from EPA. Instead, the facility owner or operator is responsible for preparing, implementing, and maintaining the SPCC Plan itself. Whether that plan must be certified by a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) or can be self-certified depends on the facility's oil storage capacity and spill history:

• Facilities with an aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity over 10,000 gallons must have their SPCC Plan reviewed and certified by a licensed PE.

• Facilities with 10,000 gallons or less in aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity, no single container over 5,000 gallons, and no reportable oil discharge history in the past three years generally qualify as a Tier I Qualified Facility and may self-certify their plan using EPA's Tier I template, without a PE.

• Facilities that meet the same 10,000-gallon aggregate cap and clean spill history, but have at least one container over 5,000 gallons, generally qualify as a Tier II Qualified Facility and may still self-certify, using a more detailed plan. • A PE is also required if a facility needs to deviate from standard SPCC requirements, such as through an impracticability determination for secondary containment.

Regardless of certification type, every SPCC Plan must be formally reviewed at least once every five years, and amended within six months of any change in facility design, construction, operation, or maintenance that materially affects the potential for an oil discharge.

An SPCC Plan must outline your facility’s spill prevention, control, and countermeasure strategies to minimize the potential for oil discharge. SPCC plan requirements include:

• Secondary containment and/or diversionary structures (e.g., dikes, berms, or retaining walls)

• A means of secondary containment sufficient to contain the capacity of the largest single compartment or container

• Products that seal drains or divert spills from drains, and sorbents, which are considered control or countermeasures.

In practice, this means secondary containment must be sized to hold the capacity of the largest single container or compartment within it, and outdoor containment areas typically need additional freeboard capacity to account for precipitation.

An SPCC Plan is a written document required under the EPA's Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule (40 CFR Part 112) that outlines a facility's strategies for preventing, controlling, and responding to an oil discharge that could reach navigable waters or shorelines.

An SPCC Plan is required when a facility has an aboveground oil storage capacity over 1,320 gallons (counting containers of 55 gallons or more) or a completely buried storage capacity over 42,000 gallons, and there's a reasonable expectation that a discharge could reach navigable waters.

Any non-transportation-related facility that stores, handles, or transfers oil above the SPCC applicability thresholds needs a written SPCC Plan, unless it qualifies for one of EPA's specific exemptions, such as certain qualified oil-filled equipment or mobile refuelers.

The facility owner or operator is responsible for preparing and implementing the SPCC Plan. Facilities with more than 10,000 gallons of aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity need the plan certified by a licensed Professional Engineer (PE). Smaller Qualified Facilities that meet EPA's capacity and spill-history criteria may self-certify instead.

There is no SPCC permit or application process with EPA. Facilities that meet the applicability thresholds are responsible for preparing, implementing, and maintaining their own written SPCC Plan on site; it generally does not need to be filed with or approved by EPA in advance.

An SPCC Plan must include secondary containment, such as dikes, berms, or retaining walls, sized to hold the capacity of the largest single container or compartment within it. Outdoor containment areas typically also need additional freeboard capacity to account for precipitation.

Every SPCC Plan, whether PE-certified or self-certified, must be formally reviewed at least once every five years. It must also be amended within six months of any change in facility design, construction, operation, or maintenance that materially affects the potential for an oil discharge.