Duane A. Lienemann,
UNL Extension Educator, Webster County
March 1, 2013 Edition
About three weeks ago I brought forward information on the upcoming requirements for preventing and handling spills, through the EPA’s “Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure” (SPCC) regulation which is really an amendment to the original Oil Pollution Prevention Rule, under the authority of the Clean Water Act, which was implemented in the 1970s. This “new” amended rule will take effect on May 10, 2013. There has been a lot of reaction to that news, some of which I cannot repeat on this forum, but also some very good dialogue and quite a few questions. I was really pleased to see our Nebraska Cattlemen Association become involved, and providing some good information to add to what I already told you. I will pass on the information and some white papers that may clarify some of the things that may be good news to quite a few of our farmers. The main thing is that we are all aware of this rule, and are ready should the EPA come calling.
SPCC: I want to reiterate that this EPA rule requires farms/livestock operations to make sure containers that store oil substances, including gasoline and diesel, will not impact waters of the U.S. and U.S. navigable waters if they were to leak or spill. If the storage container, upon a spill, would impact waters of the U.S. or U.S. navigable waters then the farm/livestock operation must create a plan and in some instances put in secondary containment. That is where most of the contention lies. Now here comes the good news. Many farm/livestock operations will NOT have to comply with any part of the SPCC Rule. This is because of the 3 part test to determine if you are governed by SPCC. You must meet all 3 parts before you have to comply with SPCC, which is good news. Let’s take a look at the three parts to see if you must comply: 1) Do you store more than 1,320 gallons of oil (includes gasoline and diesel) above ground or more than 42,000 gallons below ground? 2) Do you store, use, transfer or consume oil (including gasoline and diesel)? AND 3) Could it reasonably be expected that your storage container, upon a spill, would discharge oil to a U.S. navigable water or waters of the U.S.?
Part three is where most farms and livestock feeding operations will get out of the SPCC requirements. If your container, upon a spill, would not discharge the oil, including gasoline or diesel, into a U.S. navigable water or waters of the U.S. you DO NOT need an SPCC plan and you DO NOT need secondary containment. Now when determining whether part 3 applies to you can consider the following: a) Geography and location of your farm/livestock operation to navigable waters; b) Distance to these waters; c) Flow and grading of the property and any channelized paths for oil to flow to navigable waters; d) Whether precipitation would cause spilled oils to flow to navigable waters; e) You cannot consider manmade structures, however, you can consider management and control practices in place – such as conservation practices like filter strips or grassed waterways; and f) The volume, flow and nature of the oil or fuel stored.
You may not be subject to the SPCC Rule and by asking yourself a few questions you should be able to determine whether you are 1) clearly NOT governed by the SPCC Rule, or 2) have some doubts, reservations or concerns that perhaps you ARE subject to the SPCC Rule. In order to help farmers and ranchers make this determination and know what options are available the Nebraska Cattlemen has put together a brief white paper on the SPCC Rule. You can download it by going to: http://www.nebraskacattlemen.org/uimages/SPCC%20White%20Paper_1.pdf . If after reading the white paper and analyzing your operation you clearly know you are NOT governed by the SPCC Rule, the Nebraska Cattlemen have drafted a document that that farm/livestock operations can keep on file that explains your analysis. You can find this on the internet at: http://www.nebraskacattlemen.org/uimages/Not%20Required%20to%20Comply%20With%20SPCC_1.pdf or if you prefer I have copies of both documents in my office and would be glad to email it to you. If a federal EPA inspector makes an inspection visit and asks about SPCC, this write up will be what you can provide to them.
Additionally, if after reading the white paper and analyzing your operation you discover you are a Tier I SPCC facility you can utilize a sample template, fill-in-the-blank, plan that is provided by the EPA. You can find this template by going to: http://www.epa.gov/oem/docs/oil/spcc/tier1template_edit.doc . If by chance you do slip into the category that requires a plan created by a licensed engineer, I have information on a couple of firms and am in the process of getting a list of engineering firms that can help you with the process.
Pasture Rent Revisited: Evidently the worry about drought, declining grass and the prospect of “Spring” coming around the corner has generated a lot of interest in the rental of pastures. I spent two articles on this subject, but there are still some questions that have come into my office. I will try to complete the information with a few more comments. Common questions were on fences and weeds and who takes care of those. The quick answers are simply that usually fence maintenance and labor are landlord costs. But in many cases the tenant will do that, so rent adjustment may be needed. As far as weeds, in case of weed flush or especially growth of noxious weeds, who pays for the weed control? The Nebraska Noxious Weed Control Act states that it is the duty of each person who owns or controls land to effectively control noxious weeds on such land. Again if the tenant takes care of the weeds, rent adjustment may be needed. Normally pasture rental assumes a supply of water. Provisions need to be made in case regular water in a pond or dam, windmill or submersible is not available. Again adjustments may be needed. To quote a good friend on this topic: Hope for the best, plan for worst!
The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/home
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