Does your facility need an SPCC plan?
The SPCC rule in 40 CFR part 112 applies to facilities that drill for, produce, gather, store, process, refine, transfer, distribute, use or consume oil and, because of their location, could reasonably be expected to discharge oil in harmful quantities into navigable waters or onto adjoining shorelines. A facility that could not reasonably be expected to have such a discharge is outside the rule, and so is one that meets the capacity exemption in 40 CFR 112.1(d)(2), which requires both of these:
- Its aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity is 1,320 U.S. gallons or less, counting only containers of 55 gallons or more. The count leaves out permanently closed containers, motive power containers and a few others the rule lists, such as containers for heating oil used solely at a single-family residence.
- Its completely buried storage capacity is 42,000 U.S. gallons or less. Buried tanks that are subject to all of the technical requirements of the federal UST rules in 40 CFR part 280, or of an approved state program, do not count toward that figure.
A facility over either number that meets the location test needs a plan, unless another exemption in 112.1(d) applies. EPA's applicability page walks through the questions step by step.
EPA's free SPCC plan template (Tier I)
EPA's Tier I Qualified Facility SPCC Plan Template is a Word document, offered in a standard and an editable version, that covers every SPCC requirement a Tier I facility has to address. The same page has two filled-in example plans, one for a farm and one for an automotive service garage, and EPA says the template can be completed on a computer or by hand.
Completing it is a self-certification. Under 40 CFR 112.6(a), the owner or operator certifies that they know the rule, have visited and examined the facility, prepared the plan to accepted industry practice, set up inspection and testing procedures, and will fully implement the plan; that the facility meets the Tier I criteria; that the plan uses none of the alternatives the rule otherwise allows under 112.7(a)(2) and 112.7(d); and that management has approved the plan and committed the resources to carry it out. A modified version of the template is allowed, but it then needs a section cross-referencing where each rule requirement is met.
EPA also warns that some states do not allow self-certification, so check with your state before relying on the template. EPA keeps a list of state PE licensing board contacts for that question.
Who can use the template, and who needs a PE
| Facility | Criteria | Plan options |
|---|---|---|
| Tier I qualified (112.3(g)(1)) | 10,000 gallons or less aggregate aboveground, no aboveground container over 5,000 gallons, clean discharge history | Complete EPA's template and self-certify, or follow the Tier II or PE route |
| Tier II qualified (112.3(g)(2)) | 10,000 gallons or less aggregate aboveground, clean discharge history, at least one container over 5,000 gallons | Self-certify a full plan under 112.6(b), or have a PE certify it; a PE must certify any environmental equivalence or impracticability alternatives |
| Every other facility | Over 10,000 gallons aggregate aboveground, or a disqualifying discharge history | A licensed Professional Engineer reviews and certifies the plan (112.3(d)) |
A clean discharge history, in 40 CFR 112.3(g), means no single discharge over 1,000 gallons and no two discharges over 42 gallons each within any twelve-month period, in the three years before the plan is certified, or since the facility became subject to the rule if that is more recent. Discharges caused by natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism do not count, and EPA counts only the oil that actually reaches navigable waters or adjoining shorelines, not the total spilled.
Facilities change. A Tier I facility that adds a container larger than 5,000 gallons has six months after preparing the amendment to put a Tier II plan in place, if it still meets the Tier II criteria. One that passes 10,000 gallons in total no longer qualifies for Tier II, so its new plan must be PE-certified (112.6(a)(2)). EPA's page Is My Facility a "Qualified Facility"? summarizes the criteria in a table.
EPA SPCC inspection checklists
EPA's SPCC Guidance for Regional Inspectors, revised in August 2013, is written for EPA's own inspectors, and EPA makes it available to facility owners and the public. Its Appendix G holds the SPCC inspection checklists, each in PDF, Word and Excel:
- Onshore facilities, excluding oil drilling, production and workover
- Onshore oil production, drilling and workover facilities
- Offshore oil production, drilling and workover facilities
- Tier I qualified facilities
Walking your site with the checklist for your facility type shows you, item by item, what an EPA inspector reviews.
SPCC checklist: what the plan and records must cover
The full list depends on the facility type, and the template and checklists above map every requirement. These are the items most plans and most inspections come back to:
- Keep a complete copy of the plan at the facility if it is attended at least four hours a day, or at the nearest field office if not, and have it available to EPA for on-site review during normal working hours (112.3(e)).
- Amend the plan within six months of a change in design, construction, operation or maintenance that materially affects the potential for a discharge, and implement the amendment within six months of preparing it (112.5(a)).
- Review and evaluate the plan at least once every five years (112.5(b)).
- Run inspections and tests under written procedures, and keep those procedures and the signed records with the plan for three years (112.7(e)).
- Train oil-handling personnel on equipment operation and maintenance, discharge procedures, pollution control rules, facility operations and the plan itself; name one person accountable for discharge prevention; and hold discharge prevention briefings at least once a year (112.7(f)).
- At onshore facilities other than production, give bulk storage containers secondary containment for the entire capacity of the largest single container plus enough freeboard for precipitation (112.8(c)(2)).
- Test or inspect each aboveground container for integrity on a regular schedule and after material repairs, following industry standards, and inspect its supports and foundations (112.8(c)(6)).
STI SP001 inspections and checklists
Section 112.8(c)(6) leaves the qualifications, frequency and type of integrity testing to industry standards. For aboveground storage tanks, the Steel Tank Institute publishes the SP001 Standard for the Inspection of Aboveground Storage Tanks. STI offers its SP001 AST record and its monthly, annual and portable container inspection checklists as downloads on that page. STI notes that the record and checklists are to be used with the SP001 standard, which it sells, and that using them alone does not constitute compliance with SP001. We link to STI rather than reproduce the forms.
Getting help with an SPCC plan
Our SPCC plan guide covers plan costs, contents and the five-year review in more depth, and the secondary containment guide covers containment requirements. If your facility needs a PE-certified plan, tank inspections or containment work, find contractors in your state or request free quotes.