Effective spill plan programs help companies by minimizing the potential for an oil release to occur and to mitigate any environmental impacts in the event of a spill at the facility.
Benefits of implementing an SPCC Plan include:
- The SPCC regulations reduce the likelihood and severity of oil leaks and spills.
- By preparing and implementing a plan, the facility assures it has installed effective spill prevention equipment/secondary containment, established emergency response plans, and provides employee training to prevent and/or respond to oil spills.
- These proactive activities will reduce emergency response and environmental liability costs associated with spills. Likewise, reduced fire risks and worker exposure can be realized.
The SPCC Plan must include:
- A prediction of the direction, rate of flow, and total quantity of oil which could be discharged and a facility diagram, including all completely buried tanks
- A complete discussion of facility spill containment and/or diversionary structures or equipment such as; dikes, berms, or retaining walls, curbing, drainage systems, weirs or booms and sorbent materials, spill diversion ponds and double-wall tanks
- Stormwater management practices describing containment area drainage procedures (i.e., restrained by locked valves, discharge inspection records, etc.)
- Procedures describing bulk storage practices (i.e., double walled tanks with interstitial monitoring, dikes with capacity equal to the largest storage container plus 10%, periodic tank/container integrity testing, record-keeping, etc.)
- Procedures describing facility transfer practices (i.e., maintenance and leak testing of aboveground valves and piping, including corrosion protection provisions under 40 CFR Parts 280 or 281for buried piping, warning labels, etc.)
- Tank truck loading and unloading practices (i.e., having area containment capacity with at least the capacity of the largest single compartment of the transfer vehicle with sufficient freeboard to contain precipitation, premature disconnect/vehicle departure prevention methods, Department of Transportation (DOT) compliance documentation, etc.)
- Site security program (i.e., restricting access to oil handling and storage areas, securing tank valves, pumps, transfer connections when in standby status, etc.)
- SPCC personnel training program for oil-handling employees with an overview of applicable environmental regulations and requirements including operation and maintenance of equipment, designation of Plan coordinator, training schedule and personnel training records
- Should the facility discharge more than 1,000 gallons of oil or experience two oil spill events (over 42 gallons) in a twelve-month period, the facility must provide a written emergency notification and a spill report including corrective action and plans to prevent recurrence to the EPA within 60 days
