The delays are over and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator signed a notice amending certain requirements of the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule in order to address additional areas of regulatory reform that have been raised by the regulated community. The November 2009 amendments modify the December 2008 rule by removing the provisions to:

• exclude farms and oil production facilities from the loading/unloading rack requirements;
• exempt produced water containers at an oil production facility;
• and provide alternative qualified facilities eligibility criteria for an oil production facility.

EPA is either taking no action or providing minor technical corrections on the majority of the December 2008 provisions. Because of the uncertainty surrounding the final amendments to the December 5, 2008 rule and the delay of the effective date, EPA will propose to extend the compliance date.

The Final Rule is effective January 14, 2010.

Please Note: On November 13, 2009, the Final Rule on SPCC Amendments was published in the Federal Register. RCP will have the complete amended final rule available on January 14, 2010.