SPCC Plan General Requirements and Oil Spill Prevention for Marine Facilities

SPCC Plans are required for facilities that store, distribute or transfer oil in quantities as described below and from which an oil spill could reach navigable waters.  The term "Oil", includes; petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, kerosene, heating oil, motor oil both used and new, and hydraulic oil.    

An SPCC Plan is required for a facility where:

1. The total underground buried storage capacity of the facility is 42,000 gallons or more of oil, or

2.  the total above ground storage capacity is 1,320 gallons or more of oil, or 

3.  if a single above ground container has a capacity of 660 gallons or more of oil, and

4. due to the facilities location, the facility could  reasonably be  expected to discharge oil into a navigable water way.

Most bulk oil storage facilities are subject to the SPCC regulation.  Many marine facilities are also subject to the Facility Response Plan (FRP) regulation under 40 CFR 112.20 and 112.21 because of the over water transfer aspect of their operation..  Owners or operators of SPCC-subject facilities should determine whether the facility is required to have an FRP by determining if the facility poses a threat of substantial harm to the environment. 

As outlined in 40 CFR 112.20(f)(1), a facility has the potential to cause substantial harm if:

The facility transfers oil over water to or from vessels and has a total oil storage capacity, including both above ground and below ground tanks, greater than or equal to 42,000 gallons; or

The facility's total oil storage capacity, including both ASTs and USTs, is greater than or equal to one million gallons, and one of the following is true:

• The facility lacks secondary containment that is able to contain the capacity of the largest AST within each storage area plus freeboard to allow for precipitation;
• The facility is located at a distance such that a discharge could cause injury to an environmentally sensitive area;
• The facility is located at a distance such that a discharge would shut down a public drinking water intake; or
• The facility has had a reportable spill greater than or equal to 10,000 gallons within the last five years.

All facilities must document the determination of substantial harm by completing the "Certification of the Applicability of the Substantial Harm Criteria Checklist."   The check list is provided as Attachment C-II in Appendix C of 40 CFR 112. This certification should be kept with the facility's SPCC plan.  SPCC Check List 

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