Americans use over 250 billion gallons of oil and petroleum products each year. From the time the oil is produced, to the time it is delivered to its final destination, it will have been stored numerous times at many different facilities, raising the potential for oil spills at every stop. The effects of even a minor oil spill can be devastating, both to the environment and the creatures that inhabit it.

To combat the oil spill danger, EPA established the Spill Prevention Control and Counter- measures (SPCC) program. The SPCC program is designed to ensure that facilities housing large quantities of oil and facilities located in environmentally-sensitive areas make definite plans to protect against oil spills and other releases. The program establishes spill prevention procedures, methods, and equipment requirements for facilities that consume, store, distribute, drill, produce, gather, process, refine, or transfer certain quantities of oil and oil products. One method EPA uses to ensure that facilities are managing their oil stores correctly and are prepared to handle any spills is requiring facilities to prepare and implement a SPCC Plan.

Do the SPCC Provisions Apply to Your Community?

Your local government must comply with the SPCC program regulations if you own or operate:

• a facility with a total aboveground oil storage capacity greater than 1,320 gallons
• a facility with a total underground oil storage capacity greater than 42,000 gallons
• a facility with a single aboveground container having a storage capacity of greater than 660 gallons; or
• a facility that, due to its location, could reasonably be expected to discharge oil into navigable waters of the United States or its adjoining shorelines.

Actions Your Community Should Be Taking

Facilities that are subject to the SPCC program requirements must prepare a SPCC Plan. The Plan must address three general areas of concern:

1. operating procedures designed to prevent oil spills at the facility
2. control measures that have been installed to prevent a spill from reaching navigable waters, and
3. counter measures to contain, clean up, and mitigate the effects of an oil spill that does reach navigable waters.

The facility SPCC Plan must contain, at a minimum, the following elements:

• a written description of any spills occurring within the past year and how those spills were addressed
• a prediction of the direction, rate of flow, and total quantity of oil that could be released
• a description of containment and/or diversionary structures or equipment in place to prevent spilled oil from reaching navigable waters
• a demonstration, where containment and/or diversionary structures or equipment are not practical, of a strong oil spill contingency plan and a written commitment of manpower, equipment, and materials to quickly control and remove spilled oil, and
• a complete discussion of the spill prevention and control measures applicable to the facility and its operations.

Each SPCC Plan must be certified by a registered professional engineer and must be kept available for review at the facility. Regulated facilities must prepare a SPCC Plan within six months of the date they begin operations, and the Plan must be fully implemented six months later.

In addition to the federal SPCC requirements, your facility may also be subject to additional state oil pollution prevention requirements. Be sure to contact your state agency responsible for regulating oil storage to determine what, if any, addition spill control and prevention requirements apply.

Additional Information

The SPCC regulations are published in Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations part 112.

(See Resource Section for SPCC contacts)