Advice to Petroleum Marketers and Jobbers: Don’t Play the Waiting Game
Why You Should Revise Your SPCC Plan Now
As consultants to the regulated community, PSARA has heard from many in the petroleum storage and distribution businesses that they don’t know what to do about SPCC compliance. As owners, you are likely receiving conflicting information from the group(s) you typically rely upon for regulatory guidance. Industry groups, such as the Petroleum Marketers Association of America (PMAA), are digging in their heals in a stand against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and advising their members to hold tight until the issues are resolved. Consultants are pushing owners to invest in SPCC compliance with doom and gloom stories of heavy EPA fines, projections of qualified labor shortages, and higher prices as the compliance deadlines approach. The official EPA stance is that the rule is final (at least until it changes), and owners must comply with the version of the rule currently on the books. At the same time, the head of the Agency’s Oil Spill Division admits that their position may change due to the outfall of lawsuits and/or their own internal review of the new rule’s effect. So, as a facility owner, what should you do relative to your SPCC compliance? Here’s our take on the situation. The Facts There are a few hard and fast facts in the SPCC debate. First, if you are the owner or operator of a facility that produces, refines, stores, or uses oil and you have aboveground storage capacity in excess of 1,320 gallons of oil (including tanks and containers holding 55 gallons or more), then you are subject to the SPCC rules. Second, assuming the rules apply, you must update and recertify your SPCC Plan by August 17, 2004. Background The SPCC rules, which were first established in 1974 as a part of the Clean Water Act, were recently revised by the EPA. As we have stated, the new rule changes have not met with universal acceptance by the regulated community, however, and the EPA is now sorting through three “tiers” of SPCCrelated issues, several of which may directly influence the manner in which petroleum marketers and jobbers react to the new rules. Outstanding Issues The Tier I issues are related to three lawsuits brought against the EPA by the American Petroleum Institute, the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, and the Marathon Oil Company. These lawsuits, which have recently been combined into a single action, generally relate to the new rule’s stronger requirement for secondary containment around loading/ unloading racks, the applicability of the rule to piping, the technical definition of the term “navigable waterways,” the exclusion of produced waters as wastewater, and whether or not the Agency adequately estimated the cost impact the rule change would have on the owners of small businesses.
The Tier II issues result directly from the feedback the Agency received from the regulated community and center around the applicability of the rule to specific facilities and processes. In general, these issues relate to the applicability of the SPCC requirements to oil/water separators, parked tanker trucks (and other “mobile” tanks), and the oil stored and used by large equipment and other “motive power” equipment.
Our Recommendations
Despite all of the confusion, PSARA recommends that you prepare or amend your facility’s SPCC Plan as early as possible in order to avoid the crunch as the compliance deadline approaches. Your plan should be written so as to conform with all of the SPCC requirements promulgated on July 17, 2002. The plan itself can be certified by a registered engineer prior to the completion of any of the more expensive modifications that may be required to bring the facility into The Tier III issues are industry-specific and relate to compliance. Generally, the cost to prepare an SPCC the agriculture, aviation, electric power generation, Plan is not prohibitive— and edible oils industries. from $1,500.00 to These issues generally cen$2,500.00 for most faciliter on the applicability of “We feel so strongly about the early preparaties. the rule to these specific tion or revision of your facility’s SPCC Plan industry groups and the that we guarantee any plan we prepare between secondary containment PSARA’s Guarantee now and June 1, 2004, will meet the final SPCC requirements facing them. requirements in place on August 17, 2004.” We feel so strongly about the early preparation or For these reasons, and revision of your facility’s SPCC Plan that we guaranmany others, the SPCC topic has become a “hot buttee any plan we prepare between now and June 1, ton” for many since the EPA modified the “old” 2004, will meet the final SPCC requirements in place SPCC rule in July 2002. It is their contention that the on August 17, 2004. If the SPCC rule is modified new rule changes do not substantially improve the quality or protection of the environment and do not substantially as the result of the resolution of any of offer any additional significant protection from spills the outstanding Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III issues, or releases. PSARA will modify and recertify your facility’s SPCC Plan at no additional charge to you. These issues, along with the posturing of those who PSARA Technologies has provided spill prevention are in contention with the Agency regarding the resoand response consulting services to the petroleum lution of the issues, have caused a great deal of conindustry for nearly 20 years. Our SPCC Plans have fusion and hesitancy within the regulated community served as the cornerstone for contingency planning at to comply with new rule requirements. In many bulk petroleum storage facilities, manufacturing sites, cases, PSARA agrees with the advice and guidance and even nuclear power generating stations. If you provided by industry groups such as the PMAA. For have any questions regarding the SPCC program, example, we agree that owners should exercise cauplease visit our SPCC Resource Web Page at tion when investing in major facility improvements http://www.psara.com/spcc.htm or call Richard Stuck, until all of the issues surrounding the new SPCC rule provisions are fully ironed out. CPG, or Mike Hessling, PE, at (513) 791-4418.