Recent Rule Amendments
The latest amendments to the rule and the compliance dates were issued on November 13, 2009, which reversed some of the amendments made in December, 2008.

These amendments have affected all aspects of the original SPCC regulation, including what types of facilities are required to have plans, the plan contents, and the compliance requirements. Some of the changes are minor; others are major. Any plan prepared before November 13, 2009, should be evaluated in its entirety to ensure that it complies with the current requirements.

Specific changes finalized by EPA
Some of the recent SPCC Rule Amendments apply to specific industries, such as agriculture and oil production facilities, and to certain types of facilities such as those that store animal fats and vegetable oils. They also provide more options for “qualified facilities”.

Agriculture: The latest Rule exempts pesticide application equipment and related mix containers that may currently be subject to the SPCC Rule when crop oil or adjuvant oil are added to formulations. EPA has also clarified that a nurse tank is considered a mobile refueler, and, like other types of mobile refuelers, is exempt from the sized secondary containment requirements. Additionally, farms are likely to benefit from several of the other amendments finalized in this Rule.

Oil Production Facilities: The revised Rule has finalized several amendments to tailor the requirements for oil production facilities. It:

• Modified the definition of "production facility".
• Extended the timeframe by which a new oil production facility must prepare and implement an SPCC Plan.
• Provided an alternative option for flow-through process vessels to comply with the general secondary containment requirement and additional oil spill prevention measures in lieu of sized secondary containment requirements.
• Exempted certain intra-facility gathering lines subject to the US Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) pipeline regulations.
• Provided an optional exemption from all secondary containment requirements for flowlines and intra-facility gathering lines, and established more specific requirements for a flowline / intra-facility gathering line maintenance program and contingency planning.
• Defined “produced water container” and provided an alternative compliance measure for these containers which require general secondary containment, a process or procedure certified by a PE designed to remove free-phase oil on the surface of the produced water in these containers and compliance with additional oil spill prevention measures in lieu of sized secondary containment requirements.
• Clarified the definition of “permanently closed.”