{ "id": "R44536", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R44536", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 586913, "date": "2017-01-05", "retrieved": "2020-01-02T14:57:40.995086", "title": "Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Regulations: Background and Issues for Congress", "summary": "In 1970, Congress enacted legislation directing the President to promulgate oil spill prevention and response regulations. President Nixon delegated this presidential authority to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970. In 1973, EPA issued Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations that require certain facilities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to oil discharges that may reach navigable waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines. \nIn general, a facility must prepare an SPCC plan if the facility has an aboveground aggregate oil storage capacity greater than 1,320 gallons or a completely buried oil storage capacity greater than 42,000 gallons. Among other obligations, SPCC regulations require secondary containment (e.g., dikes or berms) for certain oil-storage units. A licensed professional engineer must certify the plan, although some facilities\u2014depending on storage capacity and spill history\u2014may be able to self-certify.\nIn recent years, the SPCC regulations have received considerable interest from Congress. Most of this interest has involved the applicability of SPCC regulations to farms, which may be subject to the SPCC regulations for oil stored onsite for agricultural equipment use. Farms account for approximately 25% of SPCC regulated entities, second only to oil and gas production facilities.\nIn 2002, EPA issued a final rule that made changes and clarifications to its SPCC regulations. For most types of facilities subject to SPCC requirements, the compliance deadline was November 10, 2011. However, EPA extended this compliance date for farms to May 10, 2013. \nThe 2013 compliance date generated considerable attention in the 113th Congress. On June 10, 2014, the President signed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) of 2014 (P.L. 113-121). The act altered the applicability of the SPCC regulations to farms. Two key changes include\nfarms with an aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity less than 2,500 gallons are not subject to SPCC regulations; and\nfarms with an aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity less than 6,000 gallons (or an alternate threshold determined by EPA) and no reportable discharge history are not subject to SPCC regulations.\nWRRDA directed EPA to conduct a study to determine whether the interim 6,000 gallon threshold should be decreased (to not less than 2,500 gallons) based on a significant risk of an oil discharge to water. In June 2015, EPA concluded that the appropriate threshold should be 2,500 gallons instead of 6,000 gallons. According to the regulatory agenda, EPA was scheduled to release a proposed rule regarding this change in August 2016, with a final rule scheduled for December 2016. As of the date of this report, EPA has not published a proposed rule.\nOn December 16, 2016, the President signed the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN, P.L. 114-322). WIIN provisions build upon the changes made in WRRDA. In particular, the SPCC regulations would not apply to farm containers on separate parcels with (1) an individual storage capacity of 1,000 gallons or less, and (2) an aggregate storage capacity of 2,500 gallons or less. \nUnder WRRDA, smaller containers (i.e., 1,000 gallons or less) would not be counted toward an aggregate storage capacity, but these containers were still subject to any relevant SPCC regulations. Pursuant to the WIIN provision, smaller containers would not be counted toward a farm\u2019s aggregate storage capacity or covered by SPCC regulations even if the farm\u2019s aggregate storage capacity breached regulatory thresholds.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44536", "sha1": "8bf7f2c32e60a5fa1b78c554e7f874de01808ee8", "filename": "files/20170105_R44536_8bf7f2c32e60a5fa1b78c554e7f874de01808ee8.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44536_files&id=/1.png": "files/20170105_R44536_images_e900f1302c7888a49e46bfe9597701b4ed971295.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44536_files&id=/0.png": "files/20170105_R44536_images_5ab4f42ca1332132775a480c1f06163cdb410fbf.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44536", "sha1": "118fc3e849423f39dfd2e9957bd73050400a4093", "filename": "files/20170105_R44536_118fc3e849423f39dfd2e9957bd73050400a4093.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 457878, "date": "2016-12-27", "retrieved": "2017-01-03T22:37:40.227476", "title": "Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Regulations: Background and Issues for Congress", "summary": "In 1970, Congress enacted legislation directing the President to promulgate oil spill prevention and response regulations. President Nixon delegated this presidential authority to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970. In 1973, EPA issued Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations that require certain facilities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to oil discharges that may reach navigable waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines. \nIn general, a facility must prepare an SPCC plan if the facility has an aboveground aggregate oil storage capacity greater than 1,320 gallons or a completely buried oil storage capacity greater than 42,000 gallons. Among other obligations, SPCC regulations require secondary containment (e.g., dikes or berms) for certain oil-storage units. A licensed professional engineer must certify the plan, although some facilities\u2014depending on storage capacity and spill history\u2014may be able to self-certify.\nIn recent years, the SPCC regulations have received considerable interest from Congress. Most of this interest has involved the applicability of SPCC regulations to farms, which may be subject to the SPCC regulations for oil stored onsite for agricultural equipment use. Farms account for approximately 25% of SPCC regulated entities, second only to oil and gas production facilities.\nIn 2002, EPA issued a final rule that made changes and clarifications to its SPCC regulations. For most types of facilities subject to SPCC requirements, the compliance deadline was November 10, 2011. However, EPA extended this compliance date for farms to May 10, 2013. \nThe 2013 compliance date generated considerable attention in the 113th Congress. On June 10, 2014, the President signed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) of 2014 (P.L. 113-121). The act altered the applicability of the SPCC regulations to farms. Two key changes include\nfarms with an aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity less than 2,500 gallons are not subject to SPCC regulations; and\nfarms with an aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity less than 6,000 gallons (or an alternate threshold determined by EPA) and no reportable discharge history are not subject to SPCC regulations.\nWRRDA directed EPA to conduct a study to determine whether the interim 6,000 gallon threshold should be decreased (to not less than 2,500 gallons) based on a significant risk of an oil discharge to water. In June 2015, EPA concluded that the appropriate threshold should be 2,500 gallons instead of 6,000 gallons. According to the regulatory agenda, EPA was scheduled to release a proposed rule regarding this change in August 2016, with a final rule scheduled for December 2016. As of the date of this report, EPA has not published a proposed rule.\nOn December 16, 2016, the President signed the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN, P.L. 114-322). Section 5001 of WIIN modifies the applicability of the SPCC regulations for farms. In particular, the SPCC regulations would not apply to farm containers on separate parcels with (1) an individual storage capacity of 1,000 gallons or less, and (2) an aggregate storage capacity of 2,000 gallons or less.\nThe arguments in support of such legislation often concern the financial impact of the SPCC regulations to farms. On the other hand, some Members have argued that EPA has considered the costs and benefits of its SPCC regulations during multiple rulemaking processes and determined that the benefits outweigh the costs. EPA contends that the SPCC compliance costs that help prevent oil spills are much less than the costs of oil spill cleanup and potential civil penalties.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44536", "sha1": "2281df9ff55b2babe676c318164a6bfedccea0d5", "filename": "files/20161227_R44536_2281df9ff55b2babe676c318164a6bfedccea0d5.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44536", "sha1": "5f8ecd642da12c958c671dae8efde888b7dd2153", "filename": "files/20161227_R44536_5f8ecd642da12c958c671dae8efde888b7dd2153.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 456104, "date": "2016-09-28", "retrieved": "2016-11-28T21:30:22.460563", "title": "Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Regulations: Background and Issues for Congress", "summary": "In 1970, Congress enacted legislation directing the President to promulgate oil spill prevention and response regulations. President Nixon delegated this presidential authority to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970. In 1973, EPA issued Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations that require certain facilities to prevent, prepare, and respond to oil discharges that may reach navigable waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines. \nIn general, a facility must prepare an SPCC plan if the facility has an aboveground aggregate oil storage capacity greater than 1,320 gallons or a completely buried oil storage capacity greater than 42,000 gallons. Among other obligations, SPCC regulations require secondary containment (e.g., dikes or berms) for certain oil-storage units. A licensed professional engineer must certify the plan, although some facilities\u2014depending on storage capacity and spill history\u2014may be able to self-certify.\nIn recent years, the SPCC regulations have received considerable interest from Congress. Most of this interest has involved the applicability of SPCC regulations to farms, which may be subject to the SPCC regulations for oil stored onsite for agricultural equipment use. Farms account for approximately 25% of SPCC regulated entities, second only to oil and gas production facilities.\nIn 2002, EPA issued a final rule that made changes and clarifications to its SPCC regulations. For most types of facilities subject to SPCC requirements, the compliance deadline was November 10, 2011. However, EPA extended this compliance date for farms to May 10, 2013. \nThe 2013 compliance date generated considerable attention in the 113th Congress. On June 10, 2014, the President signed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) of 2014 (P.L. 113-121). The act altered the applicability of the SPCC regulations to farms. Two key changes include\nfarms with an aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity less than 2,500 gallons are not subject to SPCC regulations; and\nfarms with an aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity less than 6,000 gallons (or an alternate threshold determined by EPA) and no reportable discharge history are not subject to SPCC regulations.\nWRRDA directed EPA to conduct a study to determine whether the interim 6,000 gallon threshold should be decreased (to not less than 2,500 gallons) based on a significant risk of an oil discharge to water. In June 2015, EPA concluded that the appropriate threshold should be 2,500 gallons instead of 6,000 gallons. According to the regulatory agenda, EPA was scheduled to release a proposed rule regarding this change in August 2016, with a final rule scheduled for December 2016. As of the date of this report, EPA has not published a proposed rule.\nOn September 15, 2016, the Senate passed S. 2848, the Water Resources Development Act of 2016. This omnibus bill would, among other provisions, modify the applicability of the SPCC regulations for farms. In particular, the SPCC regulations would not apply to farm containers on separate parcels with (1) an individual storage capacity of 1,000 gallons or less, and (2) an aggregate storage capacity of 2,000 gallons or less.\nThe arguments in support of such legislation often concern the financial impact of the SPCC regulations to farms. On the other hand, some Members have argued that EPA has considered the costs and benefits of its SPCC regulations during multiple rulemaking processes and determined that the benefits outweigh the costs. EPA contends that the SPCC compliance costs that help prevent oil spills are much less than the costs of oil spill cleanup and potential civil penalties.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44536", "sha1": "adac9e4660d1a6ac0685ead63fc1f0af80d04ffc", "filename": "files/20160928_R44536_adac9e4660d1a6ac0685ead63fc1f0af80d04ffc.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44536", "sha1": "be813cb6652fdb989d911af901301ff8d6f3bac9", "filename": "files/20160928_R44536_be813cb6652fdb989d911af901301ff8d6f3bac9.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 453536, "date": "2016-06-21", "retrieved": "2016-06-21T20:57:19.565819", "title": "Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Regulations: Background and Issues for Congress", "summary": "In 1970, Congress enacted legislation directing the President to promulgate oil spill prevention and response regulations. President Nixon delegated this presidential authority to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970. In 1973, EPA issued Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations that require certain facilities to prevent, prepare, and respond to oil discharges that may reach navigable waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines. \nIn general, a facility must prepare an SPCC plan if the facility has an aboveground aggregate oil storage capacity greater than 1,320 gallons or a completely buried oil storage capacity greater than 42,000 gallons. Among other obligations, SPCC regulations require secondary containment (e.g., dikes or berms) for certain oil-storage units. A licensed professional engineer must certify the plan, although some facilities\u2014depending on storage capacity and spill history\u2014may be able to self-certify.\nIn recent years, the SPCC regulations have received considerable interest from Congress. Most of this interest has involved the applicability of SPCC regulations to farms, which may be subject to the SPCC regulations for oil stored onsite for agricultural equipment use. Farms account for approximately 25% of SPCC regulated entities, second only to oil and gas production facilities.\nIn 2002, EPA issued a final rule that made changes and clarifications to its SPCC regulations. For most types of facilities subject to SPCC requirements, the compliance deadline was November 10, 2011. However, EPA extended this compliance date for farms to May 10, 2013. \nThe 2013 compliance date generated considerable attention in the 113th Congress. On June 10, 2014, the President signed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) of 2014 (P.L. 113-121). The act altered the applicability of the SPCC regulations to farms. Two key changes include:\nFarms with an aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity less than 2,500 gallons are not subject to SPCC regulations; and\nFarms with an aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity less than 6,000 gallons (or an alternate threshold determined by EPA) and no reportable discharge history are not subject to SPCC regulations.\nWRRDA directed EPA to conduct a study to determine whether the interim 6,000 gallon threshold should be decreased (to not less than 2,500 gallons) based on a significant risk of an oil discharge to water. In June 2015, EPA concluded that the appropriate threshold should be 2,500 gallons instead of 6,000 gallons. EPA is scheduled to release a proposed rule regarding this change in August 2016, with a final rule scheduled for December 2016.\nAs of the date of this report, Members in 114th Congress have introduced one bill that would address the SPCC regulations: S. 2993 (Fischer) would exclude from SPCC regulations farms with an aggregate aboveground storage capacity of 10,000 gallons or less and no reportable discharge history.\nThe arguments in support of such legislation often concern the financial impact of the SPCC regulations to farms. On the other hand, some Members have argued that EPA has considered the costs and benefits of its SPCC regulations during multiple rulemaking processes and determined that the benefits outweigh the costs. EPA contends that the SPCC compliance costs that help prevent oil spills are much less than the costs of oil spill cleanup and potential civil penalties.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44536", "sha1": "c5680845b2b3f8d319da96a833585ef45baeb824", "filename": "files/20160621_R44536_c5680845b2b3f8d319da96a833585ef45baeb824.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44536", "sha1": "71336f47fa40cd1b68a124db4143f24ecb04dffd", "filename": "files/20160621_R44536_71336f47fa40cd1b68a124db4143f24ecb04dffd.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "Environmental Policy" ] }