If you store fuel on site, a federal spill-prevention rule may apply to you. This guide explains how the capacity threshold works and what the rule expects of tank owners.
SPCC stands for Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure. It is a federal rule from the EPA, found in 40 CFR part 112, that requires certain facilities storing oil to prepare a plan and put measures in place to prevent oil from reaching navigable waters and adjoining shorelines.
For SPCC purposes, oil is defined broadly as oil of any kind or in any form, and the definition expressly includes petroleum and fuel oil. In practice, diesel and gasoline stored on site count, along with other oils such as hydraulic and lubricating oil. This guide is general information, not legal advice, and your own facility should confirm its status with the EPA or a qualified professional.
Whether a discharge could reasonably be expected to reach navigable waters or adjoining shorelines is one of the screening questions, and it takes into account the site's drainage and surroundings. That answer is a judgment worth making carefully, with help if needed.
A facility is covered when it meets several conditions together. It is not transportation-related, it handles oil, it could reasonably be expected to discharge oil in harmful quantities into navigable waters or adjoining shorelines, and its total aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity is greater than 1,320 gallons.
The word aggregate matters. The 1,320 gallons is a total across all containers at the facility, not the size of a single tank. A diesel tank, a gasoline tank, a generator belly tank and a few drums can add up to more than the threshold even if none seems large on its own.
Containers smaller than 55 gallons do not count toward the total. Permanently closed containers, motive power containers such as a vehicle's own fuel tank, and containers used only for wastewater treatment are also excluded.
A separate threshold applies to completely buried storage. A facility can also be covered if its buried capacity exceeds 42,000 gallons, with tanks already subject to the technical requirements of the federal underground tank regulations excluded from that count.
As a simple illustration, a 1,000-gallon diesel tank plus a 500-gallon gasoline tank totals 1,500 gallons, which is over the line. Add up every container of 55 gallons or more, drums included, and do not leave any out.
Some smaller sites can write and self-certify their own plan as a qualified facility, instead of having a professional engineer certify it. To qualify, aboveground oil storage must be 10,000 gallons or less in aggregate, and the site must meet a spill history test over the preceding three years. Specifically, it cannot have had a single discharge to water of more than 1,000 gallons, or two discharges each over 42 gallons within any twelve-month period.
Even a qualified facility must follow the rule's general requirements. If a requirement such as secondary containment is impracticable, a professional engineer must certify the alternative. Confirm the current criteria with the EPA before you rely on them.
Qualified facility status is not an exemption. The site must still prepare a plan and follow the rule. It changes mainly who is allowed to certify the plan.
For bulk storage containers, the rule calls for a secondary means of containment sized to hold the entire capacity of the largest single container, plus enough extra room, called freeboard, to contain precipitation. The containment must be impervious enough to hold discharged oil. Dikes, curbs and pits are common ways to do this.
Mobile refuelers and non-transportation-related tank trucks are excluded from that construction requirement. A double-wall tank is a popular answer in practice, but whether it satisfies the rule at your site is a question for your plan and the product's documentation.
Containment only works when it is maintained. Cracks, gaps and blocked or overgrown areas defeat it, so include it in your regular tank inspections.
Each aboveground container must be tested or inspected on a regular schedule and whenever material repairs are made. Frequency and method follow industry standards that consider the container's size, configuration and design. Examples include visual checks and other forms of testing. Records are kept for comparison over time.
The rule also requires overfill prevention. The options include a high liquid level alarm, a high-level pump cutoff, direct communication between the person watching the tank and the pumping station, or a fast-response level system that someone monitors. Level sensing devices are tested regularly.
Good housekeeping closes the loop: visible discharges are corrected promptly, and oil that collects in a diked area is removed.
Keep the plan and the inspection records where the people responsible for the tanks can find them.
Federal SPCC is only one layer. States and local governments may impose their own tank registration, spill reporting, fire code and zoning requirements, some of which apply to tanks well below 1,320 gallons. Fire codes can govern distance from buildings, tank construction and venting.
Check with your state environmental agency and your local fire authority before installing or moving a tank. Rules differ from place to place, and we do not make claims about any particular jurisdiction.
A conversation with the local fire authority before installation is usually more productive than correcting an installation afterward.
A supplier can keep a compliant tank stocked without overfilling it. The delivery arrangement is described under bulk tank delivery, and a generator tank adds its own considerations covered in generator refueling.
If a release does happen, know your reporting duties. The steps are laid out in job site fuel spill prevention and response.
Good delivery practice supports compliance. An operator who confirms the tank's available capacity before pumping, and a fill port that sits in view, reduce the odds of an overfill.
All aboveground containers at the facility of 55 gallons or more, added together. It is an aggregate figure.
Motive power containers, such as the fuel tank in a vehicle, are excluded from the capacity total.
That depends on your site, the tank's design and what your SPCC plan says. Ask the tank manufacturer and your plan preparer.
The EPA regional office, your state environmental agency, or a qualified environmental or engineering professional.
Tell us what you run and where it sits, and we will come back with a delivery plan.