A
facility that meets the criteria described above must comply with the SPCC rule
by preventing oil spills and developing and implementing an SPCC Plan.
Benefits of implementing
an SPCC Plan include:
• By preparing and
implementing a plan, the facility assures it has installed effective spill
prevention equipment/secondary containment, established emergency response
plans, and provides employee training to prevent and/or respond to oil spills.
• These proactive
activities will reduce emergency response and environmental liability costs
associated with spills. Likewise, reduced fire risks and worker exposure can be
realized.
You can determine whether
your facility could reasonably discharge oil into or upon navigable waters or
adjoining shorelines by considering the geography and location of your facility
relative to nearby navigable waters (such as streams, creeks and other
waterways). Additionally, you should determine if ditches, gullies, storm
sewers or other drainage systems may transport an oil spill to nearby streams.
Estimate the volume of oil
that could be spilled in an incident and how that oil might drain or flow from
your facility and the soil conditions or geographic features that might affect
the flow toward waterways. Also you may want to consider whether precipitation
runoff could transport oil into navigable waters or adjoining shorelines. You
may not take into account manmade features, such as dikes, equipment, or 4
other structures that might prevent, contain, hinder, or restrain the flow of
oil. Assume these manmade features are not present when making your
determination. If you consider the applicable factors described above and
determine a spill can reasonably flow to a waterway, then you must comply with
the SPCC
rule.
Author - Bio
Owners or operators of
regulated facilities must properly instruct their oil handling personnel in the
operation and maintenance of equipment to prevent the discharge of oil. Under the rules adopted by EPA described in
67 FR 47042, SPCC
training is not required for employees that do not
handle oil. As described in 67 FR 47042, owners or operators must conduct
annual spill prevention briefings for their operating personnel to ensure
adequate understanding of the SPCC Plan for
that facility. The briefings must highlight and describe known discharges,
failures, or malfunctioning equipment that occurred within the last year at the
facility, and recently developed precautionary measures. To know more insights
about Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasures
(SPCC), visit our www.questepa.com.
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