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Environmental News

Volume 8, Issue 27

July 10, 2007

Question of the Week

Is My Oil/Water Separator Subject to SPCC Planning?

Q. My facility has an oil/water separator that we use for separating wastewater from oil being recovered. We get rid of the wastewater, which is sent on to a publicly owned treatment works (POTW), and keep the oil. Is the oil/water separator itself subject to Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) planning requirements? Must we count the separator toward the overall storage capacity at our facility and provide it with secondary containment?

A. According to SPCC regulations, oil/water separators may be used for three different purposes: to treat wastewater, as secondary containment to meet the 40 CFR part 112 SPCC requirements, or as part of the oil production, recycling, or recovery process. Only the first category of separators (those used in wastewater treatment) is fully exempt from SPCC requirements. Since your oil/water separator is being used in oil production, it is indeed subject to a number of SPCC requirements, including being counted toward your facility’s overall capacity.

Oil/water separators that are used in oil production at onshore facilities are subject to the requirements for oil production facility bulk storage containers in 40 CFR 112.9(c). This means that your oil/water separator’s storage capacity counts toward the total storage capacity of your facility, and must be included when determining if your facility is regulated by SPCC rules. Additionally, oil/water separators at onshore facilities are subject to the secondary containment requirements at 112.9(c)(2). At offshore facilities, oil/water separators are subject to the provisions of 112.11(b) or 112.11(d), and, again, must be counted toward facility storage capacity.

Oil/water separators that are used for wastewater treatment, on the other hand, are exempt from all SPCC requirements, per 40 CFR 112.1(d)(6). Essentially, a separator that is used to get the oil out of wastewater (rather than getting the wastewater out of oil, as yours is used) is considered to be used for wastewater treatment, and is not subject to secondary containment, or counted toward a facility’s overall storage capacity. Additionally, oil/water separators that are themselves used as SPCC secondary containment are not counted toward the facility’s storage capacity, nor do they require additional containment.

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EPA News

07/03/2007—Elk Grove Milling, Inc. Pays $12,500 to Settle Pesticide Violations
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a $12,500 settlement with Elk Grove Milling, Inc., a pesticide production facility, to resolve alleged production and distribution of an unregistered, mislabeled horse feed containing Rabon, an organophosphate used to control flies in horse feces. Read more...

07/02/2007—U.S. Announces Clean Air Act Settlement with Electric Utility
East Kentucky Power Cooperative, a coal-fired electric utility based in Winchester, Ky., will spend approximately $650 million on pollution controls and pay a $750,000 penalty to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act at its three plants, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have announced. Read more...

06/26/2007—Chemical Spill Reporting Violations: EPA Settles Indiana, Michigan and Ohio Cases
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 recently settled administrative cases involving hazardous chemical release reporting violations in Rensselaer, Ind., Remus, Mich., and Mark Center, Ohio. All three cases involved anhydrous ammonia, which is commonly used in commercial refrigeration systems and as fertilizer. The chemical causes burns to the skin and irritation to the eyes, nose and throat and may be fatal if inhaled for long periods of time. Anhydrous ammonia releases greater than 100 pounds must be immediately reported. Read more...

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Recent EPA Rules, Standards, and Interpretations

06/13/2007—Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Nonattainment New Source Review (NSR): Removal of Vacated Elements
The EPA is amending its regulations to eliminate the pollution control project (PCP) and clean unit (CU) provisions included in its December 31, 2002 rulemaking entitled "Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Nonattainment New Source Review (NSR): Baseline Emissions Determination, Actual-to-future-actual Methodology, Plantwide Applicability Limitations, Clean Units, Pollution Control Projects.'' This final rule conforms the regulations to the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, New York v. EPA, 413 F.3d 3 (D.C. Cir. 2005), vacating the PCP and CU provisions. Read more...

06/13/2007—Amendments to New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Electric Utility Steam Generating Units and Industrial-Commercial-Institutional Steam Generating Units
EPA is amending the new source performance standards (NSPS) for electric utility steam generating units and industrial-commercial- institutional steam generating units. These amendments to the regulations are to add compliance alternatives for owners and operators of certain affected sources, revise certain recordkeeping and reporting requirements, correct technical and editorial errors, and update the grammatical style of the four subparts to be more consistent across all of the subparts. Read more...

06/12/2007—Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Allocation of Essential Use Allowances for Calendar Year 2007
With this action, EPA is allocating essential use allowances for import and production of Class I stratospheric ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) for calendar year 2007. Essential use allowances enable a person to obtain controlled Class I ODSs as part of an exemption to the regulatory ban on the production and import of these chemicals, which became effective as of January 1, 1996. EPA allocates essential use allowances for exempted production or import of a specific quantity of Class I ODSs solely for the designated essential purpose. The allocations in this action total 167.0 metric tons (MT) of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) for use in metered dose inhalers (MDIs) for 2007. Read more...

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