Yesterday, the Senate adopted an amendment introduced by Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Jim Inhofe (R-OK) to the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) which would increase threshold sizes for Above Ground Storage Tank (AST) regulation at the farm level, and allow more farms to self-certify spill plans. It provides an exemption from the SPCC rule to any farmer with no single tank larger than 10,000 gallons and will allow farmers to self-certify if they hold less than 42,000 total gallons of oil storage capacity. If the Senate passes the WRDA, the measure would go to the House for consideration. Similar SPCC exemption legislation has been introduced by Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR) and it is expected to pass when the House takes it up later this year. If the Pryor-Inhofe amendment is ultimately signed into law, then farmers will be granted the tank threshold exemptions and the amendment to delay EPA’s SPCC regulations until September 30, 2013 will be moot.

In the meantime, EPA’s SPCC rule is slated to go into effect TOMORROW for farmers. The rule requires farmers to hire a certified professional engineer to design a SPCC plan and have secondary containment installed. As petroleum marketers well know, the SPCC rule is applicable to any facility, including farms, with an aggregate above-ground oil storage capacity of 1,320 gallons in tanks of 55 gallons or greater. However, whether the rule will be enforced now is unclear. Included in passage of the continuing resolution (CR), which was signed into law in March, is language which delays SPCC compliance deadlines for farmers through September 30, 2013. The amendment prevents funds from being used through Fiscal Year 2013 to implement requirements of EPA’s SPCC rule.

The current SPCC rule are farms over 1,320 gallons up to 10,000 gallons can self-certify and farms greater than 10,000 gallons need a professional engineer.

FARMERS SPCC CLARIFICATION MOVING IN HOUSE
Thursday the House approved H.R. 3158, the “Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship (FUELS) Act”. The bill, introduced by Rick Crawford (R-AR), would bring clarity to farmers on the requirements of the EPA’s Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule, it would provide threshold sizes for tank regulation at the farm level, and allow more farms to self-certify.
As petroleum marketers well know, the SPCC rule is applicable to any facility, including farms, with an aggregate above-ground oil storage capacity of 1,320 gallons in tanks of 55 gallons or greater. H.R. 3158 would create three classes of farms for SPCC purposes:

1. Farms with individual tanks with storage capacity greater than 10,000 gallons, aggregate storage capacity of at least 42,000 gallons or spill histories would need professional engineers to certify their SPCC plans.

2. Farms with aggregate storage capacity greater than 10,000 gallons but less than 42,000 gallons and no history of spills could be self-certified by the farms’ owners or operators.

3. Farms with aggregate storage capacity less than 10,000 gallons and no history of spills would be exempt from requirements.
The bill would also exclude all containers on separate parcels that have a capacity less than 1,320 gallons from the aggregate storage capacity of a farm.

The measure faces significant opposition in the Senate and is not likely to be adopted without pro-environment changes. Senators Inhofe (R-OK) and Sessions (R-AL) tried to attach an SPCC amendment to the Farm bill, but their amendment was not included in the final Senate agreement.

JTB

An overwhelming segment of the continental United States was affected by flooding during the spring and summer of 2011. Other areas were impacted by devastating fires.  Many counties in many states were declared disaster areas by either the federal or state government or both. As a result, EPA believes that because of their unique nature farms were disproportionately affected and need additional time to prepare and implement a Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure Plan.

The amendment does not remove the regulatory requirement for owners or operators of farms in operation before August 16, 2002, to maintain and continue implementing an SPCC Plan in accordance with the SPCC regulations then in effect. Such farms continue to be required to maintain plans during the interim until the applicable compliance date for amending and implementing the amended Plans. Finally, the amendment does not relieve farms from the liability of any oil spills that occur.

Oil Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCC) Program:
Information for Farmers
www.epa.gov/emergencies/docs/oil/spcc/spccfarms.pdf

Create your own SPCC Plan (template and example):
www.epa.gov/osweroe1/content/spcc/spcc_ag.htm

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Easy Online Templates for SPCC plans

www.asmark.org/myspcc

Above Ground Storage Tank Guidance Document

sample_plhttp://www.dep.wv.gov/WWE/Programs/gw/Documents/AST%20Guidance%20Document.pdfan

SPCC Service Provider
www.AgCompliance.com