EPA Posts New Compliance Advisory Companies Boosting Oil Storage

The Environmental Protection Agency on December 22 posted a new compliance advisory on Compliance Concerns Associated with Increasing Oil Storage. This three-page compliance advisory is written to help existing facilities that may be increasing oil (including but not limited to crude oil and refined oil products) storage capacity or new facilities creating new oil storage capacity. The compliance advisory explains the Clean Water Act requirements that apply, such as Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure and Facility Response Plan requirements.

Compliance advisories address select provisions of EPA regulatory requirements using plain language. According to EPA, nothing in a compliance advisory is meant to replace or revise any EPA regulatory provisions or any other part of the Code of Federal Regulations, the Federal Register, or applicable statutes.

EPA has also worked with the Environmental Compliance Information for Energy Extraction Portal to develop a new “Technical Topic” — “Storage of Crude Oil.” This page provides information about the potential requirements that may apply to oil storage activities under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Emergency Response Authorities. The page also provides resources for the storage of crude oil on tribal lands.