For several years the Environmental Protection Agency has been working on Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure rules. On Dec. 5, EPA finalized amended SPCC requirements (see story page 44). The amendment document itself, which can be viewed at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-WASTE/2008/December/Day-05/f28159.pdf, is 89 pages long and like many regulations, it requires diligent study to decipher. The final rule becomes effective Feb. 3, with a compliance date of July 1.

Neither the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council nor I am by any means expert on the new SPCC rule, yet considering how the rule affects nearly every operator, I felt it imperative to alert readers to key points. The points expressed here represent my personal interpretation and should not be misconstrued as PTTC’s official interpretation. I encourage readers to seek counsel from professionals engaged in SPCC work to understand exactly what the new rule says. Qualifiers aside, here are the high points from my perspective, of what has been finalized.

The amendments revise the definition of a production facility. “Production facility” means all structures, piping or equipment used in the production, extraction, recovery, lifting, stabilization,  separation or treating of oil (including condensate) and associated storage or measurement, and are located in an oil or gas field, at a facility. An owner or operator is not compelled by the definition of a facility to aggregate separate facilities located in a “single geographic” oil field into a single facility. However, if an operator so chooses, there is the flexibility to consolidate.

The amendments exclude oil production facilities from sized secondary containment requirements for loading/unloading racks, noting though that loading/unloading activities will remain subject to general secondary containment requirements.

The rule provides an alternative for flow-through process vessels at oil production facilities to comply with the general secondary containment requirement and additional oil spill prevention measures in lieu of sized secondary containment requirements.

The amendments provide an alternative for flowlines and intrafacility gathering lines at oil production facilities for contingency planning in lieu of all secondary containment requirements, while establishing more prescriptive requirements for flowline/intrafacility gathering line maintenance programs.

The new rule exempts produced water containers when a petroleum engineer certifies, as part of the SPCC plan, that based on the efficiency of the oil/water separation technology used, the contents of a produced water container, if completely discharged, would not contain oil amounts that might be harmful. The capacity of the exempted containers will not be counted in oil storage capacity.

For those produced water containers that cannot meet the exemption criteria, the operator has the option to apply general secondary containment requirements and conduct visual inspections, maintenance and corrective action in lieu of sized secondary containment when a petroleum engineer describes them in the SPCC plan and certifies that a practice is established to remove the amount of free-phase oil from the produced water container on a scheduled and routine basis. These containers are counted toward the aggregate storage capacity.

Both options require certification and are not amendments that can be self-certified.

For an oil production container to be permanently closed, all liquid and sludge must be removed from the container and connecting lines (i.e., they must be cleaned), all piping/connecting lines must be disconnected and blanked off, all valves excepting vent valves must be closed and locked, and there must be conspicuous signage that the container is permanently closed, with the date of closure noted. Once permanently closed, a container is no longer required to be counted toward the total facility storage capacity, nor is it subject to the other requirements under the SPCC rule. It does not have to be removed from the facility. Permanently closed containers may be brought back into service.

As the new rule was being shaped over the past half-dozen years, industry has provided significant feedback to EPA. That  feedback was heard and several changes were incorporated in the final rule. The SPCC rule is now “what it is,” and it’s time for operators to demonstrate good environmental stewardship through willing compliance. I have confidence industry will do so.