Water Services

Storm

Major Focus

Develop cost-effective solutions for facilities that require stormwater plans, oil spill prevention / response plans and National or State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (PDES) permits.

Services

  • Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plans and Revisions (SPCC)
  • Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans and Revisions (SWPPP)
  • Facility Response Plans and Revisions
  • NPDES Permit Applications
  • Training Programs for site specific SPCC, SWPPP and Facility Response Plans

Spill Prevention and Countermeasure Plans

The oil pollution prevention rule was promulgated under the Clean Water Act to prevent oil discharges from reaching navigable waters or adjoining shorelines. It was written to ensure effective oil spill prevention and proactive responses to oil discharges. Required under the rule is a Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan that contains measures to prevent and control oil spills at regulated facilities.

Under the U.S. EPA Final Rule for Oil Pollution Prevention for Non-Transportation Related Onshore and Offshore Facilities (40 CFR Part 112) published on July 17, 2002, new SPCC requirements became effective on August 16, 2002. These apply to owners and operators of non-transportation related facilities (onshore and offshore) engaged in the drilling, producing, gathering, storing, processing, refining, transferring, distributing, use or consuming of oil and oil products if they meet the following criteria:

  • Due to their location, they could reasonably be expected to discharge oil in harmful quantities into or upon navigable waters of the United States, including the contiguous zone and waters associated with activity under the Continental Shelf Lands Act or Deepwater Port Act.
  • Have an aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity in excess of 1320 gallons. Oil includes petroleum, animal, vegetable, and other oils stored in containers with a capacity of 55 gallons or more.

Plan Content

Facilities that meet these criteria must develop a written SPCC Plan to establish, implement and maintain effective spill practices and procedures that prevent the discharge of oil, including training programs, maintenance procedures, routine inspection programs, record keeping, and engineering controls that meet industry standards. Secondary containment is mandated, but deviations from other requirements are permitted when equivalent protection is provided by other contingency measures. Deviations may require the development and implementation of a Facility Response Plan under 40 CFR 109. The SPCC plan must also designate persons accountable for spill prevention and response, and provide notification and response procedure guidelines that must be followed in the event of a discharge.

Approval, Certification, Review and Amendment

An SPCC Plan must have full approval by management at a level that has authority to provide the necessary manpower and resources. SPCC Plans also must be certified by a Licensed Professional Engineer. They must be reviewed and updated at least once every five (5) years or whenever there are changes to the facility’s design, construction, operation, or maintenance that materially affect the potential for the discharge of oil. Re-certification is required every five years or when there is an update because of substantial changes that may affect the potential to discharge.