[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 9, Parts 87 to 135]
[Revised as of July 1, 1996]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR112.7]

[Page 296-302]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)
 
PART 112--OIL POLLUTION PREVENTION--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 112.7   Guidelines for the preparation and implementation of a Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plan.

    The SPCC Plan shall be a carefully thought-out plan, prepared in 
accordance with good engineering practices, and which has the full 
approval of management at a level with authority to commit the necessary 
resources. If the plan calls for additional facilities or procedures, 
methods, or equipment not yet fully operational, these items should be 
discussed in separate paragraphs, and the details of installation and 
operational start-up should be explained separately. The complete SPCC 
Plan shall follow the sequence outlined below, and include a discussion 
of the facility's conformance with the appropriate guidelines listed:
    (a) A facility which has experienced one or more spill events within 
twelve months prior to the effective date of this part should include a 
written description of each such spill, corrective action taken and 
plans for preventing recurrence.
    (b) Where experience indicates a reasonable potential for equipment 
failure (such as tank overflow, rupture, or leakage), the plan should 
include a prediction of the direction, rate of flow, and total quantity 
of oil which could be discharged from the facility as a result of each 
major type of failure.
    (c) Appropriate containment and/or diversionary structures or 
equipment to prevent discharged oil from reaching a navigable water 
course should be provided. One of the following preventive systems or 
its equivalent should be used as a minimum:
    (1) Onshore facilities:
    (i) Dikes, berms or retaining walls sufficiently impervious to 
contain spilled oil;
    (ii) Curbing;
    (iii) Culverting, gutters or other drainage systems;
    (iv) Weirs, booms or other barriers;
    (v) Spill diversion ponds;
    (vi) Retention ponds;
    (vii) Sorbent materials.
    (2) Offshore facilities:
    (i) Curbing, drip pans;
    (ii) Sumps and collection systems.
    (d) When it is determined that the installation of structures or 
equipment listed in Sec. 112.7(c) to prevent discharged oil from 
reaching the navigable waters is not practicable from any onshore or 
offshore facility, the owner or operator should clearly demonstrate such 
impracticability and provide the following:
    (1) A strong oil spill contingency plan following the provision of 
40 CFR part 109.
    (2) A written commitment of manpower, equipment and materials 
required to expeditiously control and remove any harmful quantity of oil 
discharged.
    (e) In addition to the minimal prevention standards listed under 
Sec. 112.7(c), sections of the Plan should include a complete discussion 
of conformance with the following applicable guidelines, other effective 
spill prevention and containment procedures (or, if more stringent, with 
State rules, regulations and guidelines):
    (1) Facility drainage (onshore); (excluding production facilities). 
(i) Drainage from diked storage areas should be restrained by valves or 
other positive means to prevent a spill or other excessive leakage of 
oil into the drainage

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system or inplant effluent treatment system, except where plan systems 
are designed to handle such leakage. Diked areas may be emptied by pumps 
or ejectors; however, these should be manually activated and the 
condition of the accumulation should be examined before starting to be 
sure no oil will be discharged into the water.
    (ii) Flapper-type drain valves should not be used to drain diked 
areas. Valves used for the drainage of diked areas should, as far as 
practical, be of manual, open-and-closed design. When plant drainage 
drains directly into water courses and not into wastewater treatment 
plants, retained storm water should be inspected as provided in 
paragraphs (e)(2)(iii) (B), (C) and (D) of this section before drainage.
    (iii) Plant drainage systems from undiked areas should, if possible, 
flow into ponds, lagoons or catchment basins, designed to retain oil or 
return it to the facility. Catchment basins should not be located in 
areas subject to periodic flooding.
    (iv) If plant drainage is not engineered as above, the final 
discharge of all in-plant ditches should be equipped with a diversion 
system that could, in the event of an uncontrolled spill, return the oil 
to the plant.
    (v) Where drainage waters are treated in more than one treatment 
unit, natural hydraulic flow should be used. If pump transfer is needed, 
two ``lift'' pumps should be provided, and at least one of the pumps 
should be permanently installed when such treatment is continuous. In 
any event, whatever techniques are used facility drainage systems should 
be adequately engineered to prevent oil from reaching navigable waters 
in the event of equipment failure or human error at the facility.
    (2) Bulk storage tanks (onshore); (excluding production facilities). 
(i) No tank should be used for the storage of oil unless its material 
and construction are compatible with the material stored and conditions 
of storage such as pressure and temperature, etc.
    (ii) All bulk storage tank installations should be constructed so 
that a secondary means of containment is provided for the entire 
contents of the largest single tank plus sufficient freeboard to allow 
for precipitation. Diked areas should be sufficiently impervious to 
contain spilled oil. Dikes, containment curbs, and pits are commonly 
employed for this purpose, but they may not always be appropriate. An 
alternative system could consist of a complete drainage trench enclosure 
arranged so that a spill could terminate and be safely confined in an 
in-plant catchment basin or holding pond.
    (iii) Drainage of rainwater from the diked area into a storm drain 
or an effluent discharge that empties into an open water course, lake, 
or pond, and bypassing the in-plant treatment system may be acceptable 
if:
    (A) The bypass valve is normally sealed closed.
    (B) Inspection of the run-off rain water ensures compliance with 
applicable water quality standards and will not cause a harmful 
discharge as defined in 40 CFR part 110.
    (C) The bypass valve is opened, and resealed following drainage 
under responsible supervision.
    (D) Adequate records are kept of such events.
    (iv) Buried metallic storage tanks represent a potential for 
undetected spills. A new buried installation should be protected from 
corrosion by coatings, cathodic protection or other effective methods 
compatible with local soil conditions. Such buried tanks should at least 
be subjected to regular pressure testing.
    (v) Partially buried metallic tanks for the storage of oil should be 
avoided, unless the buried section of the shell is adequately coated, 
since partial burial in damp earth can cause rapid corrosion of metallic 
surfaces, especially at the earth/air interface.
    (vi) Aboveground tanks should be subject to periodic integrity 
testing, taking into account tank design (floating roof, etc.) and using 
such techniques as hydrostatic testing, visual inspection or a system of 
non-destructive shell thickness testing. Comparison records should be 
kept where appropriate, and tank supports and foundations should be 
included in these inspections. In addition, the outside of the tank 
should frequently be observed by operating personnel for signs of 
deterioration, leaks which might cause a

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spill, or accumulation of oil inside diked areas.
    (vii) To control leakage through defective internal heating coils, 
the following factors should be considered and applied, as appropriate.
    (A) The steam return or exhaust lines from internal heating coils 
which discharge into an open water course should be monitored for 
contamination, or passed through a settling tank, skimmer, or other 
separation or retention system.
    (B) The feasibility of installing an external heating system should 
also be considered.
    (viii) New and old tank installations should, as far as practical, 
be fail-safe engineered or updated into a fail-safe engineered 
installation to avoid spills. Consideration should be given to providing 
one or more of the following devices:
    (A) High liquid level alarms with an audible or visual signal at a 
constantly manned operation or surveillance station; in smaller plants 
an audible air vent may suffice.
    (B) Considering size and complexity of the facility, high liquid 
level pump cutoff devices set to stop flow at a predetermined tank 
content level.
    (C) Direct audible or code signal communication between the tank 
gauger and the pumping station.
    (D) A fast response system for determining the liquid level of each 
bulk storage tank such as digital computers, telepulse, or direct vision 
gauges or their equivalent.
    (E) Liquid level sensing devices should be regularly tested to 
insure proper operation.
    (ix) Plant effluents which are discharged into navigable waters 
should have disposal facilities observed frequently enough to detect 
possible system upsets that could cause an oil spill event.
    (x) Visible oil leaks which result in a loss of oil from tank seams, 
gaskets, rivets and bolts sufficiently large to cause the accumulation 
of oil in diked areas should be promptly corrected.
    (xi) Mobile or portable oil storage tanks (onshore) should be 
positioned or located so as to prevent spilled oil from reaching 
navigable waters. A secondary means of containment, such as dikes or 
catchment basins, should be furnished for the largest single compartment 
or tank. These facilities should be located where they will not be 
subject to periodic flooding or washout.
    (3) Facility transfer operations, pumping, and in-plant process 
(onshore); (excluding production facilities). (i) Buried piping 
installations should have a protective wrapping and coating and should 
be cathodically protected if soil conditions warrant. If a section of 
buried line is exposed for any reason, it should be carefully examined 
for deterioration. If corrosion damage is found, additional examination 
and corrective action should be taken as indicated by the magnitude of 
the damage. An alternative would be the more frequent use of exposed 
pipe corridors or galleries.
    (ii) When a pipeline is not in service, or in standby service for an 
extended time the terminal connection at the transfer point should be 
capped or blank-flanged, and marked as to origin.
    (iii) Pipe supports should be properly designed to minimize abrasion 
and corrosion and allow for expansion and contraction.
    (iv) All aboveground valves and pipelines should be subjected to 
regular examinations by operating personnel at which time the general 
condition of items, such as flange joints, expansion joints, valve 
glands and bodies, catch pans, pipeline supports, locking of valves, and 
metal surfaces should be assessed. In addition, periodic pressure 
testing may be warranted for piping in areas where facility drainage is 
such that a failure might lead to a spill event.
    (v) Vehicular traffic granted entry into the facility should be 
warned verbally or by appropriate signs to be sure that the vehicle, 
because of its size, will not endanger above ground piping.
    (4) Facility tank car and tank truck loading/unloading rack 
(onshore). (i) Tank car and tank truck loading/unloading procedures 
should meet the minimum requirements and regulation established by the 
Department of Transportation.
    (ii) Where rack area drainage does not flow into a catchment basin 
or treatment facility designed to handle spills, a quick drainage system 
should

[[Page 299]]

be used for tank truck loading and unloading areas. The containment 
system should be designed to hold at least maximum capacity of any 
single compartment of a tank car or tank truck loaded or unloaded in the 
plant.
    (iii) An interlocked warning light or physical barrier system, or 
warning signs, should be provided in loading/unloading areas to prevent 
vehicular departure before complete disconnect of flexible or fixed 
transfer lines.
    (iv) Prior to filling and departure of any tank car or tank truck, 
the lowermost drain and all outlets of such vehicles should be closely 
examined for leakage, and if necessary, tightened, adjusted, or replaced 
to prevent liquid leakage while in transit.
    (5) Oil production facilities (onshore)--(i) Definition. An onshore 
production facility may include all wells, flowlines, separation 
equipment, storage facilities, gathering lines, and auxiliary non-
transportation-related equipment and facilities in a single geographical 
oil or gas field operated by a single operator.
    (ii) Oil production facility (onshore) drainage. (A) At tank 
batteries and central treating stations where an accidental discharge of 
oil would have a reasonable possibility of reaching navigable waters, 
the dikes or equivalent required under Sec. 112.7(c)(1) should have 
drains closed and sealed at all times except when rainwater is being 
drained. Prior to drainage, the diked area should be inspected as 
provided in paragraphs (e)(2)(iii) (B), (C), and (D) of this section. 
Accumulated oil on the rainwater should be picked up and returned to 
storage or disposed of in accordance with approved methods.
    (B) Field drainage ditches, road ditches, and oil traps, sumps or 
skimmers, if such exist, should be inspected at regularly scheduled 
intervals for accumulation of oil that may have escaped from small 
leaks. Any such accumulations should be removed.
    (iii) Oil production facility (onshore) bulk storage tanks. (A) No 
tank should be used for the storage of oil unless its material and 
construction are compatible with the material stored and the conditions 
of storage.
    (B) All tank battery and central treating plant installations should 
be provided with a secondary means of containment for the entire 
contents of the largest single tank if feasible, or alternate systems 
such as those outlined in Sec. 112.7(c)(1). Drainage from undiked areas 
should be safely confined in a catchment basin or holding pond.
    (C) All tanks containing oil should be visually examined by a 
competent person for condition and need for maintenance on a scheduled 
periodic basis. Such examination should include the foundation and 
supports of tanks that are above the surface of the ground.
    (D) New and old tank battery installations should, as far as 
practical, be fail-safe engineered or updated into a fail-safe 
engineered installation to prevent spills. Consideration should be given 
to one or more of the following:
    (1) Adequate tank capacity to assure that a tank will not overfill 
should a pumper/gauger be delayed in making his regular rounds.
    (2) Overflow equalizing lines between tanks so that a full tank can 
overflow to an adjacent tank.
    (3) Adequate vacuum protection to prevent tank collapse during a 
pipeline run.
    (4) High level sensors to generate and transmit an alarm signal to 
the computer where facilities are a part of a computer production 
control system.
    (iv) Facility transfer operations, oil production facility 
(onshore). (A) All above ground valves and pipelines should be examined 
periodically on a scheduled basis for general condition of items such as 
flange joints, valve glands and bodies, drip pans, pipeline supports, 
pumping well polish rod stuffing boxes, bleeder and gauge valves.
    (B) Salt water (oil field brine) disposal facilities should be 
examined often, particularly following a sudden change in atmospheric 
temperature to detect possible system upsets that could cause an oil 
discharge.
    (C) Production facilities should have a program of flowline 
maintenance to prevent spills from this source. The program should 
include periodic examinations, corrosion protection, flowline 
replacement, and adequate records, as appropriate, for the individual 
facility.
    (6) Oil drilling and workover facilities (onshore). (i) Mobile 
drilling or

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workover equipment should be positioned or located so as to prevent 
spilled oil from reaching navigable waters.
    (ii) Depending on the location, catchment basins or diversion 
structures may be necessary to intercept and contain spills of fuel, 
crude oil, or oily drilling fluids.
    (iii) Before drilling below any casing string or during workover 
operations, a blowout prevention (BOP) assembly and well control system 
should be installed that is capable of controlling any well head 
pressure that is expected to be encountered while that BOP assembly is 
on the well. Casing and BOP installations should be in accordance with 
State regulatory agency requirements.
    (7) Oil drilling, production, or workover facilities (offshore). (i) 
Definition: ``An oil drilling, production or workover facility 
(offshore)'' may include all drilling or workover equipment, wells, 
flowlines, gathering lines, platforms, and auxiliary nontransportation-
related equipment and facilities in a single geographical oil or gas 
field operated by a single operator.
    (ii) Oil drainage collection equipment should be used to prevent and 
control small oil spillage around pumps, glands, valves, flanges, 
expansion joints, hoses, drain lines, separators, treaters, tanks, and 
allied equipment. Drains on the facility should be controlled and 
directed toward a central collection sump or equivalent collection 
system sufficient to prevent discharges of oil into the navigable waters 
of the United States. Where drains and sumps are not practicable oil 
contained in collection equipment should be removed as often as 
necessary to prevent overflow.
    (iii) For facilities employing a sump system, sump and drains should 
be adequately sized and a spare pump or equivalent method should be 
available to remove liquid from the sump and assure that oil does not 
escape. A regular scheduled preventive maintenance inspection and 
testing program should be employed to assure reliable operation of the 
liquid removal system and pump start-up device. Redundant automatic sump 
pumps and control devices may be required on some installations.
    (iv) In areas where separators and treaters are equipped with dump 
valves whose predominant mode of failure is in the closed position and 
pollution risk is high, the facility should be specially equipped to 
prevent the escape of oil. This could be accomplished by extending the 
flare line to a diked area if the separator is near shore, equipping it 
with a high liquid level sensor that will automatically shut-in wells 
producing to the separator, parallel redundant dump valves, or other 
feasible alternatives to prevent oil discharges.
    (v) Atmospheric storage or surge tanks should be equipped with high 
liquid level sensing devices or other acceptable alternatives to prevent 
oil discharges.
    (vi) Pressure tanks should be equipped with high and low pressure 
sensing devices to activate an alarm and/or control the flow or other 
acceptable alternatives to prevent oil discharges.
    (vii) Tanks should be equipped with suitable corrosion protection.
    (viii) A written procedure for inspecting and testing pollution 
prevention equipment and systems should be prepared and maintained at 
the facility. Such procedures should be included as part of the SPCC 
Plan.
    (ix) Testing and inspection of the pollution prevention equipment 
and systems at the facility should be conducted by the owner or operator 
on a scheduled periodic basis commensurate with the complexity, 
conditions and circumstances of the facility or other appropriate 
regulations.
    (x) Surface and subsurface well shut-in valves and devices in use at 
the facility should be sufficiently described to determine method of 
activation or control, e.g., pressure differential, change in fluid or 
flow conditions, combination of pressure and flow, manual or remote 
control mechanisms. Detailed records for each well, while not 
necessarily part of the plan should be kept by the owner or operator.
    (xi) Before drilling below any casing string, and during workover 
operations a blowout preventer (BOP) assembly and well control system 
should be installed that is capable of controlling any well-head 
pressure that is expected

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to be encountered while that BOP assembly is on the well. Casing and BOP 
installations should be in accordance with State regulatory agency 
requirements.
    (xii) Extraordinary well control measures should be provided should 
emergency conditions, including fire, loss of control and other abnormal 
conditions, occur. The degree of control system redundancy should vary 
with hazard exposure and probable consequences of failure. It is 
recommended that surface shut-in systems have redundant or ``fail 
close'' valving. Subsurface safety valves may not be needed in producing 
wells that will not flow but should be installed as required by 
applicable State regulations.
    (xiii) In order that there will be no misunderstanding of joint and 
separate duties and obligations to perform work in a safe and pollution 
free manner, written instructions should be prepared by the owner or 
operator for contractors and subcontractors to follow whenever contract 
activities include servicing a well or systems appurtenant to a well or 
pressure vessel. Such instructions and procedures should be maintained 
at the offshore production facility. Under certain circumstances and 
conditions such contractor activities may require the presence at the 
facility of an authorized representative of the owner or operator who 
would intervene when necessary to prevent a spill event.
    (xiv) All manifolds (headers) should be equipped with check valves 
on individual flowlines.
    (xv) If the shut-in well pressure is greater than the working 
pressure of the flowline and manifold valves up to and including the 
header valves associated with that individual flowline, the flowline 
should be equipped with a high pressure sensing device and shut-in valve 
at the wellhead unless provided with a pressure relief system to prevent 
over pressuring.
    (xvi) All pipelines appurtenant to the facility should be protected 
from corrosion. Methods used, such as protective coatings or cathodic 
protection, should be discussed.
    (xvii) Sub-marine pipelines appurtenant to the facility should be 
adequately protected against environmental stresses and other activities 
such as fishing operations.
    (xviii) Sub-marine pipelines appurtenant to the facility should be 
in good operating condition at all times and inspected on a scheduled 
periodic basis for failures. Such inspections should be documented and 
maintained at the facility.
    (8) Inspections and records. Inspections required by this part 
should be in accordance with written procedures developed for the 
facility by the owner or operator. These written procedures and a record 
of the inspections, signed by the appropriate supervisor or inspector, 
should be made part of the SPCC Plan and maintained for a period of 
three years.
    (9) Security (excluding oil production facilities). (i) All plants 
handling, processing, and storing oil should be fully fenced, and 
entrance gates should be locked and/or guarded when the plant is not in 
production or is unattended.
    (ii) The master flow and drain valves and any other valves that will 
permit direct outward flow of the tank's content to the surface should 
be securely locked in the closed position when in non-operating or non-
standby status.
    (iii) The starter control on all oil pumps should be locked in the 
``off'' position or located at a site accessible only to authorized 
personnel when the pumps are in a non-operating or non-standby status.
    (iv) The loading/unloading connections of oil pipelines should be 
securely capped or blank-flanged when not in service or standby service 
for an extended time. This security practice should also apply to 
pipelines that are emptied of liquid content either by draining or by 
inert gas pressure.
    (v) Facility lighting should be commensurate with the type and 
location of the facility. Consideration should be given to: (A) 
Discovery of spills occurring during hours of darkness, both by 
operating personnel, if present, and by non-operating personnel (the 
general public, local police, etc.) and (B) prevention of spills 
occurring through acts of vandalism.

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    (10) Personnel, training and spill prevention procedures. (i) Owners 
or operators are responsible for properly instructing their personnel in 
the operation and maintenance of equipment to prevent the discharges of 
oil and applicable pollution control laws, rules and regulations.
    (ii) Each applicable facility should have a designated person who is 
accountable for oil spill prevention and who reports to line management.
    (iii) Owners or operators should schedule and conduct spill 
prevention briefings for their operating personnel at intervals frequent 
enough to assure adequate understanding of the SPCC Plan for that 
facility. Such briefings should highlight and describe known spill 
events or failures, malfunctioning components, and recently developed 
precautionary measures.