In December 2006, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a final rule amending the requirements and deadlines for facilities subject to EPA’s Oil Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations.  The SPCC regulations require covered facilities to prevent, prepare for and respond to oil discharges.  The final rule will provide alternative compliance options for certain regulated facilities.

In particular, they clarified rules pertaining to facilities with smaller oil storage capacities, qualified oil-filled operational equipment, motive power containers, and certain vehicle fuel tanks and other on-board bulk oil storage containers.  EPA also removed sections of the rule that are not appropriate for facilities with animal fats and vegetable oils, and extended the compliance dates for farms.

To provide time for the implementation of these modifications, as well as anticipate additional modifications, EPA is issuing a proposed rule to extend the compliance date to July 1, 2009 for owners and operators of facilities (with the exception of farms) to prepare, or amend and implement a new SPCC plan.  EPA expects to propose further revisions to the SPCC rule in 2007, and the extension would allow EPA the time to promulgate further regulatory revisions before the compliance dates.

Owners or operators of facilities in operation before August 16, 2002 are not relieved of any SPCC regulatory requirements then in effect.  Such facilities are required to maintain their plans during the interim until the applicable date for amending their existing plans. 

EWMA continues to track changes in the law and is guiding their clients through the new requirements and its impact on their business.  For a summary of the December 2006 SPCC Amendment and a list of effected facilities go to SPCC Amendment and List.