Milling & Baking News - May 20, 2008 - 34

Industry Activities

Oil spill plans - a slippery slope
Officially hurricane season starts
June 1., It's time to get out the facility emergency response plan for wind
damage and flooding. While you are
at it, consider checking with an insurance company to see what ideas they
have on how to reduce risk and possible premiums.
Consider taking a look at the other
response plans required for your operation for Food and Drug Administration sanitation, Occupational Safety
and Health Administration safety, Environmental Protection Agency and

broad. Note that the facility should
not count containers with less than 55
gallons, and completely buried tanks
subject to other regulation. Railroad
cars that stop on site may be considered storage tanks. Trucks and cars
(motive power containers) are not
considered storage tanks. Oil in electrical equipment is not counted. Oil in
piping may be counted.
In December 2006, the E.P.A., the
administrator, signed a final rule to
amend the S.P.C.C. rule at 40 CFR part
112. The E.P.A. amended the S.P.C.C.
rule to address a number of issues

Homeland Security. When changes are
made to meet the combined requirements, insure that the modifications
are practical and cost saving.
This article will review the requirements for the July 1, 2009, deadline
for the Spill Prevention, Control, and
Countermeasure (S.P.C.C.) rule. Facilities subject to the rule must prepare
and implement a plan to prevent any
discharge of oil into or upon navigable
waters of the United States.
The term oil is broad and, for example, includes: petroleum; fuel oil;
fats, oils or greases of animal and
fish; vegetable oils, including oil
from seeds, nuts, fruits or kernels;
and other oils, including mineral
oils. Soy and corn oils are common
at food processing facilities.
The rule applies to non-transportation-related operations that have
an aggregate aboveground storage
capacity greater than 1,320 gallons.
There must be a reasonable expectation of a discharge into navigable waters. The E.P.A.'s "reasonable" is very

raised by its 2002 final rule, including those pertaining to facilities with
smaller oil storage capacities and motive power containers. The E.P.A. removed sections of the rule on off-shore
drilling for facilities with animal fats
and vegetable oils. The rule is available at www.gpo.gov.
The S.P.C.C. plan should address
three subjects: operating procedures
the facility implements to prevent
oil spills such as written procedures
for trucks delivering vegetable and
petroleum oils; control measures installed to prevent oil from entering
navigable waters such as secondary
containment for storage tanks; and
countermeasures to contain, clean-up
and mitigate the effects of an oil spill
that has an impact on navigable waters such as having a spill kit on site.
For some, the 2006 changes allowed
for streamlined regulatory requirements such as a self-certified S.P.C.C.
plan instead of one reviewed and
certified by a professional engineer;
streamlined integrity testing require-

BY ANNE GIESECKE

bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

ments and streamlined facility security requirements.
To use these alternatives a facility
must meet requirements for its reportable discharge. The facility must have
10,000 gallons or less in aggregate
aboveground oil storage capacity. The
facility must not have had a single discharge of oil to reach navigable waters
exceeding 1,000 U.S. gallons or two
discharges of oil to navigable waters
each exceeding 42 U.S. gallons within
any twelve-month period, in the three
years prior to the S.P.C.C. plan certification date, or since becoming subject
to 40 CFR part 112 if operating for less
than three years. Oil discharges that
result from natural disasters, acts of
war, or terrorism are not included.
For security requirements the plan
must describe:
* Controlling access to the oil handling, processing and storage areas;
* Securing master flow and drain
valves;
* Preventing unauthorized access to
starter controls on oil pumps; and
* Addressing the appropriateness of
security lighting.
Most food processors have found
the professional engineers who must
sign the plan to push for extreme and
costly measures. The facility operator
should question and manage the process as well as looking for measures
that will satisfy more than one need or
requirement.
Facilities operational on or before
Aug. 16, 2002, must maintain their existing plan and amend and implement
the plan no later than July 1, 2009.
Facilities that were operational after
Aug. 16, 2002, through July 1, 2009,
must amend and implement the plan
no later than July 1, 2009. Many states
have requirements in addition to the
federal requirements so their individual web sites should be reviewed.
For additional information on the
S.P.C.C.
requirements,
including
a sample production facility plan:
web sites www.epa.gov/oilspill and
www.epa.gov/emergencies/guidance.htm#oneplan and www.epa.
gov/emergencies/content/spcc/
spcc_guidance.htm; email questions
to epacallcenter@bah.com; telephone
800-424-9346. MBN

Anne Giesecke, Ph.D., is
a contributing editor at
Sosland Publishing Co.
Milling & Baking News

May 20, 2008 / 35

http://www.gpo.gov http://www.epa.gov/oilspill http://www.epa.gov/emergencies/guid http://www.epa http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - May 20, 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Milling & Baking News - May 20, 2008