Grain Journal - January/February 2009 - (Page 84) Spill Prevention Rules EPA DELAYS EFFECTIVE DATE OF NEW AMENDMENTS UNTIL APRIL 4 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Feb. 3 published a final rule in the Federal Register setting an April 4, 2009 date to implement amendments to its Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations. The April 4 date represents a 60day delay in implementation of the December 2008 amendments and was done to give the public more time to submit comments on the rule and various affected industries more time to comply with the rules. These rules are intended to prevent oil pollution including vegetable oils and animal fats commonly used in the grain and feed industries. Within the grain and feed industries, feed mills are the biggest users of vegetable oils and animal fats, sometimes with thousands of gallons worth of storage on site. However, the SPCC rules also commonly affect grain facilities with agronomy operations on site and a variety of grain processing operations, including soybean crushing plants that produce a large amount of oil. It should be noted that further delays are possible, while the new Obama administration reviews regulations that were published while the previous Bush administration was still in the White House. Following are excerpts from an EPA fact sheet published in January 2009 concerning the December 2008 amendments to the SPCC rule. Changes to the Rules The revised rule now exempts pesticide application equipment and pesticide mix containers. These are common to agronomy operations often found in connection with grain elevators. The revised rule also: • Provides a plan template for certain qualified facilities to complete and self-certify. • Extends “qualified facility” status Response No. 841 Response No. 842 84 GJ J/F
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