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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: PMAA has learned
that the U.S. EPA will publish a proposed
rule this week to extend the current
November 10, 2010 compliance deadline for
SPCC plan revision and implementation for
one year. The EPA is proposing to extend the
SPCC compliance deadline to November 10,
2011. This is good news for petroleum
marketers who are still working on
compliance efforts. The EPA said an
extension is appropriate due to ongoing
uncertainty surrounding EPA’s regulatory
review and year long delay of final SPCC
amendments that we first published in
December 2008 but not made effective until
January 2010. The delay was caused by a
regulatory freeze imposed by President Obama
upon taking office of all pending Bush
administration rulemakings. If the proposed
rule is finalized, it will be the seventh
deadline extension of the final SPCC rule
since its original effective date on August
16, 2002. PMAA will submit written comments
in support of the extension. EPA
PROPOSED ONE YEAR EXTENSION OF CURRENT SPCC
COMPLIANCE DEADLINE
The EPA is set to issue a proposed rule
on August 3, 2010 that would extend the
upcoming SPCC compliance deadline for one
year. If the proposed rule is approved as
expected, the new compliance deadline for
SPCC plan revision and implementation would
be November 10, 2011. This will mark the
seventh time the SPCC rule has been extended
since August 16, 2002, the original
compliance deadline set by the EPA. The many
extensions over the past eight years were
due largely to an array of clarifying
amendments made by the EPA to the 2002
rulemaking. Though many of these amendments
are confusing, they do add significant
compliance flexibility for petroleum
marketers with bulk plant facilities. This
last extension was the result of a yearlong
regulatory freeze imposed by President Obama
of all pending rulemakings issued the last
days of the Bush Administration in 2008.
The current proposed rule to extend the
SPCC deadline was itself significantly
delayed and final publication threatened by
political backlash resulting from the BP oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Fortunately,
the EPA decided to remove offshore
facilities from the rule and keep the
proposed deadline extension intact for
onshore facilities such as bulk plants.
The deadline extension does not remove
any regulatory requirement for bulk plants
that were in operation before August 16,
2002. These facilities must maintain and
continue implementing an SPCC plan in
accordance with the SPCC regulations then in
effect. This means, for a facility operating
before August 16 2002, existing SPCC’s must
be maintained until revised plans are
implemented no later than November 10, 2011
– if the proposed rule is finalized - or by
November 10, 2010 if the proposed rule
extending the compliance deadline is not
finalized. Bulk plant operations coming into
operation after August 16, 2002 must have an
SPCC plan fully implemented by the final
compliance deadline as determined under the
proposed rule.
It is important to note that, unlike past
proposed rules to extend the SPCC deadline,
this current proposal invites comment on the
appropriateness of a shorter deadline
extension than the one year proposed by the
EPA. PMAA will submit written comments
supporting a full one year extension of the
SPCC deadline extension.
GOT
QUESTIONS? CONTACT Mark S. Morgan, PMAA
Regulatory Counsel
(202) 364-6767 or mmorgan@pmaa.org
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