The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a final rule that defines, among other things, tank truck loading/unloading racks as regulated under the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) requirements, according to information published December 5 in the Federal Register.
This rule (40 CFR Part 112) defines loading/unloading racks to clarify the equipment subject to provisions for facility tank car and tank truck loading/unloading racks, as well as amending provisions for the equipment. Other topics related to tank trucks include security requirement revisions, integrity testing, animal fats and vegetable oils, and containers subject to Federal Drug Administration regulations.
Among exemptions issued in the rule are hot-mix asphalt, heating oil containers at single-family residences, and non-transportation-related tank trucks from the sized secondary containment.
EPA said earlier that the compliance dates for facilities subject to the SPCC rule have been extended to November 2009. A compliance date of 2013 has been set for marginal oil production facilities. EPA said the revised compliance dates will provide owners or operators of the various kinds of facilities the opportunity to fully understand the regulatory amendments offered by revisions to the SPCC rule from 2006 and 2008.
At the same time, the amendments do not remove any regulatory requirement for owners or operators of facilities in operation before August 16, 2002, to develop, implement, and maintain an SPCC plan in accordance with the regulations then in effect. Such facilities still are required to maintain their plans during the interim until the applicable date for revising and implementing plans under the new amendments.
SPCC regulations are part of the Clean Water Act that establishes procedures, methods, equipment, and other requirements to prevent and/or contain discharges of oil from vessels and facilities into navigable waters or adjoining shorelines.