Under SPCC, a farm is: “a
facility on a tract of land devoted to the production of crops or raising of
animals, including fish, which produced and sold, or normally would have
produced and sold, $1,000 or more of agricultural products during a year.”
SPCC
applies to a farm which:
• Stores, transfers, uses,
or consumes oil or oil products, such as diesel fuel, gasoline, lube oil,
hydraulic oil, adjuvant oil, crop oil, vegetable oil, or animal fat; and
• Stores more than 1,320
US gallons in aboveground containers or more than 42,000 US gallons in
completely buried containers; and
• Could reasonably be
expected to discharge oil to waters of the US or adjoining shorelines, such as
interstate waters, intrastate lakes, rivers, and streams.
The SPCC program requires
you to prepare and implement an SPCC Plan. If you already have a Plan, maintain
it. If you do not have a Plan, you should prepare and implement one. Many
farmers will need to have their Plan certified by a Professional Engineer
(“PE”). However, you may be eligible to self-certify your amended Plan if:
• Your farm has a total
oil storage capacity between 1,320 and 10,000 gallons in aboveground
containers, and the farm has a good spill history (as described in the SPCC
rule), you may prepare and self-certify your own Plan. (However, if you decide
to use certain alternate measures allowed by the federal SPCC Rule, you will
need a PE.)
• Your farm has storage
capacity ofmore than 10,000 gallons, or has had an oil spill you may need to
prepare an SPCC Plan certified by a PE.
Information required to
prepare a SPCC Plan for farm
• A list of the oil
containers at the farm by parcel (including the contents and location of each
container);
• A brief description of the
procedures that you will use to prevent oil spills. For example, steps you use
to transfer fuel from a storage tank to your farm vehicles that reduce the
possibility of a fuel spill;
• A brief description of
the measures you installed to prevent oil from reaching water (see next
section);
• A brief description of
the measures you will use to contain and cleanup an oil spill to water; and
• A list of emergency
contacts and first responders.
• Use containers suitable
for the oil stored. For example, use a container designed for flammable liquids
to store gasoline;
• Identify contractors or
other local personnel who can help you clean up an oil spill;
• Provide overfill
prevention for your oil storage containers. You could use a high-level alarm,
or audible vent, or establish a procedure to fill containers;
• Provide effective, sized
secondary containment for bulk storage containers, such as a dike or a remote
impoundment. The containment must be able to hold the full capacity of the
container plus possible rainfall. The dike may be constructed of earth or
concrete. A double-walled tankmay also suffice;
• Provide effective,
general secondary containment to address the most likely discharge where you
transfer oil to and from containers and for mobile refuelers, such as fuel
nurse tanks mounted on trucks or trailers. For example, you may use sorbent
materials, drip pans or curbing for these areas; and
• Periodically inspect and
test pipes and containers. You should visually inspect aboveground pipes and
inspect aboveground containers following industry standards. You must “leak
test” buried pipes when they are installed or repaired. EPA recommends you keep
a written record of your inspections.
Author - Bio
Amend and update your SPCC
Plan when changes are made to the farm, for example, if you add new storage
containers (e.g. tanks) that are 55 gallons or larger, or if you purchase or
lease parcels with containers that are 55 gallons or larger. You must review
your Plan every five years to make sure it includes any changes in oil storage
at your farm. To know more information about Spill Prevention, Control, and
Countermeasure (SPCC), visit our http://www.questepa.com.
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