12/15/2006
CONTACT: Melissa Sharp, (202) 554-9000
Small business afforded more time and control over certifying their oil spill prevention and containment plans
Washington, D.C.--On December 12, the Environmental Protection Agency signed a final rule to amend the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule passed in 2002. The new regulations will benefit all small businesses that store fewer than 10,000 gallons of oil on their property. The National Federation of Independent Business and its Legal Foundation submitted comments last February to the EPA supporting this proposal and are very pleased with the outcome of the final rule.
The new rule will now allow any small business with fewer than 10,000 gallons of oil stored on their property to self-certify their mandatory oil spill prevention and containment plan. Under the old scheme, these facilities were required to pay for a professional engineer to certify their plan.
"The ability for small facilities to self-certify their plans, rather than hire a professional engineer, will save small businesses--like farms, construction sites, and car dealerships--thousands of dollars," said Elizabeth Gaudio, senior executive counsel at NFIB's Legal Foundation. "The self-certification provision makes sense for these facilities which store less than 10,000 gallons of oil. These businesses are less likely to have a major discharge of oil at their facilities and deserve to be able to self-certify their own prevention and containment plans."
In addition to the opportunity to self-certify their own plans, the EPA indicated that it plans to extend the deadline for when small businesses must submit their plans to the EPA. Under the old rule, the prevention and containment plans were due by October 2007. Small firms now have until July 2009 to certify their plans.
For more information on the new SPCC rule visit http://www.epa.gov/oilspill/.
