 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Farmers have until May for SPCC compliance
New EPA deadline will likely be final chance to prepare plans, implement procedures for handling oil spills
Farmers storing bulk fuel or other oil products on their farms will soon be faced with a final deadline to implement written plans for preventing and handling spills under federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations.
By May 10, 2013, farmers who meet certain criteria for on-farm fuel storage must comply with Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCC) requirements or be at risk for EPA fines or liability issues if an incident occurs on their property. The SPCC rule applies to farms with aboveground storage capacity of oil totaling more than 1,320 gallons. “Oil” is broadly defined to include diesel, gasoline, motor oil, hydraulic or transmission fluid, lubricating greases, kerosene or heating oil, and even crop oil.
“Even though this deadline has been extended several times, I don’t see it being extended again unless there is a change in EPA administration,” says Randy Crowell, Tennessee Farmers Cooperative’s director of environment health and safety. “It’s important that farmers understand these requirements and make plans to comply.”
Only products stored in stationary tanks and containers of at least 55 gallons are counted toward the regulated amount, which is a collective total of all fuel and oil storage on a single farm. Farmers are not required to add up storage on different parcels of land to see if it meets the 1,320-gallon minimum, and they do not have to include tanks that have been permanently disabled or closed.
Farmers whose operations fall under this threshold must prepare a written and certified plan that describes their measures to safely handle petroleum and other oil-based products on their farms. Required information includes how and where oil products are stored, the farm’s topography, emergency contacts, personnel training efforts, security measures, record-keeping methods, procedures for inspecting and testing tanks, and plans for containing and cleaning up a spill.
To carry out this plan, farmers will likely need to upgrade storage facilities to include secondary containment measures, such as concrete dikes or earthen berms, and overflow prevention procedures, which can be as simple as signage explaining proper fueling procedures.
While many farmers have yet to take notice of the SPCC requirements, they are nothing new. In fact, they’re part of the 1973 Clean Water Act and have been amended several times. The latest deadline actually only applies to farms established after 2002. Farms in existence before then are already supposed to have SPCC plans in place, even though compliance has been largely unenforced until now.
After May, Crowell says, producers caught without an SPCC plan can expect very little forgiveness from the EPA. Fines can start at $1,000 for not having a plan and could be much more substantial if a spill occurs.
Farmers who have storage capacity of more than 10,000 gallons must have a professional engineer certify their SPCC plan. Farmers whose storage capacity falls below that amount can self-certify the plan — a relatively simple process that involves filling out a template from the EPA’s website.
To access the EPA template and more details on SPCC rules, visit www.epa.gov/oem/content/spcc. The Asmark Institute, which works with the TFC system on regulatory compliance, also offers an interactive web template at www.asmark.org/mySPCC to help farmers develop an SPCC plan, and the University of Tennessee Extension provides SPCC resources at http://wastemgmt.ag.utk.edu/SPCC.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|