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EPARulemakingEPA-HQ-OPA-2007-0584

Oil Pollution Prevention; Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure Rule Requirements - Amendments

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Agricultural Retailers Association filings
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Agricultural Retailers Association filed 1 comment on this docket between Dec 20, 2007 and Dec 20, 2007. 99 other organizations filed here. The comment window closed 1062d ago.

What Agricultural Retailers Association filed (1)

Dec 20, 2007· Comment submitted by James D. Thrift, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Corporate Relations, Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA)· EPA-HQ-OPA-2007-0584-0098

Mr. Craig Matthiessen, P.E. Senior Chemical Engineer Environmental protection Agency Chemical Emergency Preparedness And Prevention Office 1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC 20460 December 14, 2007 RE: Oil Pollution Prevention; Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCC) Rule Requirements- - Amendments; Proposed Rule Docket No. EPA-HQ-OPA-2007-0584-0001 Dear Mr. Matthiessen, On behalf of the U.S. agricultural industry the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) is submitting comments concerning the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed SPCC rule amendments for farms and agribusiness operations. ARA is the trade association that represents the agricultural retail crop input sector representing about 6,500 retail outlets. Since the promulgation of the 2002 rule we have worked very close with an agriculture coalition and in good faith with the EPA. We believe that the current proposal is generally positive and should be applied equally to all agribusiness sectors since retailers have an excellent low spill record and do not pose any significant environmental threat, at least according to the following data. An ARA survey with spill data was sent to EPA docket number 2004-0007 on November 19, 2004 detailing survey results that clearly indicated a very low, nearly non-existent agribusiness facility spill rate of .0039%. Our industry is located in America's farming heartland generally long distances from major navigable waterways. Because our agribusiness facilities are already highly regulated by EPA on spills and environmental contamination along with additional federal agencies as well as many local and state government groups; we strongly believe that additional SPCC regulations for retailers will not serve in the best interest of the environment or be efficient use of EPA resources and tax payer dollars to regulate a low risk sector. 1)Pesticide Application Equipment: ARA supports the EPA proposal to exempt all pesticide application equipment and related mix containers used on farms including ground boom applicators, airblast sprayers, and specialty aircraft used to apply pesticides to crops and/or soils. ARA feels this request is consistent with EPA?s regulation on the mobile refueler exemption. The American farmer is serviced by thousands of custom applicators that apply crop production chemicals to protect the nation?s food supply. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture?s Economic Research Service (USDA-ERS), in 2003, custom applicators accounted for seventy percent of all acres treated with insecticide in the cotton industry alone; and it is estimated that commercial applicators apply over two thirds of all pesticides applied to America's crop land. EPA?s latest proposal should ensure that facilities housing this equipment and all those entities servicing the needs of the farming community will be covered in these SPCC regulatory modifications. Ownership of equipment is not an environmental issue; therefore it should not be included in SPCC rules. Use of the equipment is the SPCC issue, and therefore application equipment used on farms needs to be exempt from the SPCC rule, regardless of ownership. 2) Tank size: The EPA is proposing to streamline and tailor the SPCC requirements for a subset of "qualified facilities", in Tier 1. The Facilities rule is acceptable to retailers as long as the new template is available to all of the regulated community. As a retailer I agree with EPA's Tier 1 definition: a) 10,000 gallons or less in aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity b) For the 3 years prior to Plan certification, or since becoming subject to the rule if it has operated for less than 3 years, the facility must not have had: A single discharge of oil to navigable waters exceeding 1,000 U.S. gallons, or Two discharges of oil to navigable waters each exceeding 42 U.S. gallons within any 12- month period. c) Maximum individual oil sto…

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Abstract

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is proposing to amend the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule in order to provide increased clarity, to tailor requirements to particular industry sectors, and to streamline certain requirements for a facility owner or operator subject to the rule.

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Co-filers (99)

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