The Oil Pollution Prevention regulation at 40 CFR part 112 requires and establishes procedures for the preparation and implementation of Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plans. SPCC Plans help minimize the potential for oil discharges by non-transportation-related onshore and offshore facilities into or upon the navigable waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines or from affecting certain natural resources.
Owners and operators of regulated facilities must prepare SPCC Plans in accordance with good engineering practices and have them approved by a person with the authority to commit the resources necessary to implement the SPCC Plan. SPCC Plans address the following three areas: (1) operating procedures that prevent oil spills; (2) control measures installed to prevent a spill from reaching navigable waters or adjoining shorelines; and (3) countermeasures to contain, clean up, and mitigate the effects of an oil discharge that could reach navigable waters.
Section 311(j)(1)(C) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, or Clean Water Act (CWA), authorizes the President to issue regulations establishing procedures, methods, equipment, and other requirements to prevent discharges of oil from vessels and facilities and to contain such discharges. The President delegated the authority to regulate non-transportation-related onshore facilities under §311(j)(1)(C) of the Act to EPA under Executive Order (E.O.) 12777, §2(b)(1).
The 2006 rule amendments will further reduce the burden of the SPCC regulation, with expected benefits for small entities. Specifically, the rule amendments will reduce the regulatory burden on qualified facilities and facilities with qualified oil-filled operational equipment. Qualified facilities with 10,000 gallons or less of aggregate aboveground storage no longer need a licensed PE to certify their Plans. The amendments also allow greater use of contingency plans without requiring an impracticability determination for facilities with qualified oil-filled operational equipment. Facilities that store oil solely in motive power containers are no longer regulated, while other facilities with oil storage in addition to motive power containers may incur lower compliance costs. The rule also allows mobile refuelers to fall under the ruleÂs general containment requirement, which does not require specifically sized secondary containment. Under these amendments, the SPCC rule compliance date will be extended for farms until the effective date of a rule addressing whether to provide differentiated requirements for farms.
Differences in burden and costs from the previous ICR are attributed to both adjustments and program changes. Adjustments capture updates to the number of affected facilities, wages, and unit costs in the absence of the 2006 SPCC amendments. Program changes reflect the 2006 revisions to the SPCC rule, which affect both per-facility costs and the number of affected facilities.
In total, the burden hours presented in this ICR have decreased relative to the current OMB inventory. The new burden estimate shows an annualized decrease of approximately 195,000 hours due to a smaller number of facilities expected to incur paperwork-related costs. The annualized capital and O&M costs are estimated to decrease with the rule by $16.0 million, mainly due to the revisions made to the estimate of the per-facility costs and the number of new SPCC-regulated facilities.
In total, the burden hours presented in this ICR have decreased relative to the current OMB inventory by 195,000 hours and $16.0 million. This decrease is attributed to both adjustments and program changes. Adjustments capture updates to the number of affected facilities, wages, and unit costs in the absence of the 2006 SPCC amendments. Program changes reflect the 2006 revisions to the SPCC rule, which affect both per-facility costs and the number of affected facilities.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plans - State, Local or Tribal Governments