The Oil Pollution Prevention Regulation (40 CFR 112) requires a regulated facility to construct and operate in accordance with industry standard practices. A plan of action and prevention must be in place in order to comply with this regulation.
Plan Required: An SPCC plan assures the EPA that a farm or facility has planned actions to prevent spills from an above ground tank. The EPA believe that an SPCC plan will prevent an oil spill from impacting streams, creeks, lakes, ponds and other surface water.
What is an SPCC Plan? An SPCC plan must list countermeasures used to prevent spills, such as procedures and equipment to contain spills. These are NOT spill contingency plans that focus on actions after a spill, but actions to PREVENT spills before they occur.
Who must have one? The regulation applies to non-transportation-related facilities, including farms, that:
- Have an aggregate capacity in above-ground storage of more than 1,320 gallons, or a total [non-exempted] underground storage capacity of 42,000 gallons; and
- Could reasonably be expected to discharge oil in harmful quantities in "navigable waters of the United States.”
