[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 40, Volume 21]

[Revised as of July 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 40CFR112.2]



[Page 22-26]

 

                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT

 

         CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)

 

PART 112_OIL POLLUTION PREVENTION--Table of Contents

 

 Subpart A_Applicability, Definitions, and General Requirements for All 

                    Facilities and All Types of Oils

 

Sec.  112.2  Definitions.



    For the purposes of this part:

    Adverse weather means weather conditions that make it difficult for 

response equipment and personnel to clean up or remove spilled oil, and 

that must be considered when identifying response systems and equipment 

in a response plan for the applicable operating environment. Factors to 

consider include significant wave height as specified in Appendix E to 

this part (as appropriate), ice conditions, temperatures, weather-

related visibility, and



[[Page 23]]



currents within the area in which the systems or equipment is intended 

to function.

    Alteration means any work on a container involving cutting, burning, 

welding, or heating operations that changes the physical dimensions or 

configuration of the container.

    Animal fat means a non-petroleum oil, fat, or grease of animal, 

fish, or marine mammal origin.

    Breakout tank means a container used to relieve surges in an oil 

pipeline system or to receive and store oil transported by a pipeline 

for reinjection and continued transportation by pipeline.

    Bulk storage container means any container used to store oil. These 

containers are used for purposes including, but not limited to, the 

storage of oil prior to use, while being used, or prior to further 

distribution in commerce. Oil-filled electrical, operating, or 

manufacturing equipment is not a bulk storage container.

    Bunkered tank means a container constructed or placed in the ground 

by cutting the earth and re-covering the container in a manner that 

breaks the surrounding natural grade, or that lies above grade, and is 

covered with earth, sand, gravel, asphalt, or other material. A bunkered 

tank is considered an aboveground storage container for purposes of this 

part.

    Completely buried tank means any container completely below grade 

and covered with earth, sand, gravel, asphalt, or other material. 

Containers in vaults, bunkered tanks, or partially buried tanks are 

considered aboveground storage containers for purposes of this part.

    Complex means a facility possessing a combination of transportation-

related and non-transportation-related components that is subject to the 

jurisdiction of more than one Federal agency under section 311(j) of the 

CWA.

    Contiguous zone means the zone established by the United States 

under Article 24 of the Convention of the Territorial Sea and Contiguous 

Zone, that is contiguous to the territorial sea and that extends nine 

miles seaward from the outer limit of the territorial area.

    Contract or other approved means means:

    (1) A written contractual agreement with an oil spill removal 

organization that identifies and ensures the availability of the 

necessary personnel and equipment within appropriate response times; 

and/or

    (2) A written certification by the owner or operator that the 

necessary personnel and equipment resources, owned or operated by the 

facility owner or operator, are available to respond to a discharge 

within appropriate response times; and/or

    (3) Active membership in a local or regional oil spill removal 

organization that has identified and ensures adequate access through 

such membership to necessary personnel and equipment to respond to a 

discharge within appropriate response times in the specified geographic 

area; and/or

    (4) Any other specific arrangement approved by the Regional 

Administrator upon request of the owner or operator.

    Discharge includes, but is not limited to, any spilling, leaking, 

pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, or dumping of oil, but excludes 

discharges in compliance with a permit under section 402 of the CWA; 

discharges resulting from circumstances identified, reviewed, and made a 

part of the public record with respect to a permit issued or modified 

under section 402 of the CWA, and subject to a condition in such permit; 

or continuous or anticipated intermittent discharges from a point 

source, identified in a permit or permit application under section 402 

of the CWA, that are caused by events occurring within the scope of 

relevant operating or treatment systems. For purposes of this part, the 

term discharge shall not include any discharge of oil that is authorized 

by a permit issued under section 13 of the River and Harbor Act of 1899 

(33 U.S.C. 407).

    Facility means any mobile or fixed, onshore or offshore building, 

structure, installation, equipment, pipe, or pipeline (other than a 

vessel or a public vessel) used in oil well drilling operations, oil 

production, oil refining, oil storage, oil gathering, oil processing, 

oil transfer, oil distribution, and waste treatment, or in which oil is 

used, as described in Appendix A to this part. The boundaries of a 

facility depend on



[[Page 24]]



several site-specific factors, including, but not limited to, the 

ownership or operation of buildings, structures, and equipment on the 

same site and the types of activity at the site.

    Fish and wildlife and sensitive environments means areas that may be 

identified by their legal designation or by evaluations of Area 

Committees (for planning) or members of the Federal On-Scene 

Coordinator's spill response structure (during responses). These areas 

may include wetlands, National and State parks, critical habitats for 

endangered or threatened species, wilderness and natural resource areas, 

marine sanctuaries and estuarine reserves, conservation areas, 

preserves, wildlife areas, wildlife refuges, wild and scenic rivers, 

recreational areas, national forests, Federal and State lands that are 

research national areas, heritage program areas, land trust areas, and 

historical and archaeological sites and parks. These areas may also 

include unique habitats such as aquaculture sites and agricultural 

surface water intakes, bird nesting areas, critical biological resource 

areas, designated migratory routes, and designated seasonal habitats.

    Injury means a measurable adverse change, either long- or short-

term, in the chemical or physical quality or the viability of a natural 

resource resulting either directly or indirectly from exposure to a 

discharge, or exposure to a product of reactions resulting from a 

discharge.

    Maximum extent practicable means within the limitations used to 

determine oil spill planning resources and response times for on-water 

recovery, shoreline protection, and cleanup for worst case discharges 

from onshore non-transportation-related facilities in adverse weather. 

It includes the planned capability to respond to a worst case discharge 

in adverse weather, as contained in a response plan that meets the 

requirements in Sec.  112.20 or in a specific plan approved by the 

Regional Administrator.

    Navigable waters means the waters of the United States, including 

the territorial seas.

    (1) The term includes:

    (i) All waters that are currently used, were used in the past, or 

may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including 

all waters subject to the ebb and flow of the tide;

    (ii) All interstate waters, including interstate wetlands;

    (iii) All other waters such as intrastate lakes, rivers, streams 

(including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, 

sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, or natural ponds, 

the use, degradation, or destruction of which could affect interstate or 

foreign commerce including any such waters:

    (A) That are or could be used by interstate or foreign travelers for 

recreational or other purposes; or

    (B) From which fish or shellfish are or could be taken and sold in 

interstate or foreign commerce; or,

    (C) That are or could be used for industrial purposes by industries 

in interstate commerce;

    (iv) All impoundments of waters otherwise defined as waters of the 

United States under this section;

    (v) Tributaries of waters identified in paragraphs (1)(i) through 

(iv) of this definition;

    (vi) The territorial sea; and

    (vii) Wetlands adjacent to waters (other than waters that are 

themselves wetlands) identified in paragraph (1) of this definition.

    (2) Waste treatment systems, including treatment ponds or lagoons 

designed to meet the requirements of the CWA (other than cooling ponds 

which also meet the criteria of this definition) are not waters of the 

United States. Navigable waters do not include prior converted cropland. 

Notwithstanding the determination of an area's status as prior converted 

cropland by any other Federal agency, for the purposes of the CWA, the 

final authority regarding CWA jurisdiction remains with EPA.

    Non-petroleum oil means oil of any kind that is not petroleum-based, 

including but not limited to: Fats, oils, and greases of animal, fish, 

or marine mammal origin; and vegetable oils, including oils from seeds, 

nuts, fruits, and kernels.

    Offshore facility means any facility of any kind (other than a 

vessel or public vessel) located in, on, or under any of the navigable 

waters of the United



[[Page 25]]



States, and any facility of any kind that is subject to the jurisdiction 

of the United States and is located in, on, or under any other waters.

    Oil means oil of any kind or in any form, including, but not limited 

to: fats, oils, or greases of animal, fish, or marine mammal origin; 

vegetable oils, including oils from seeds, nuts, fruits, or kernels; 

and, other oils and greases, including petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, 

synthetic oils, mineral oils, oil refuse, or oil mixed with wastes other 

than dredged spoil.

    Oil Spill Removal Organization means an entity that provides oil 

spill response resources, and includes any for-profit or not-for-profit 

contractor, cooperative, or in-house response resources that have been 

established in a geographic area to provide required response resources.

    Onshore facility means any facility of any kind located in, on, or 

under any land within the United States, other than submerged lands.

    Owner or operator means any person owning or operating an onshore 

facility or an offshore facility, and in the case of any abandoned 

offshore facility, the person who owned or operated or maintained the 

facility immediately prior to such abandonment.

    Partially buried tank means a storage container that is partially 

inserted or constructed in the ground, but not entirely below grade, and 

not completely covered with earth, sand, gravel, asphalt, or other 

material. A partially buried tank is considered an aboveground storage 

container for purposes of this part.

    Permanently closed means any container or facility for which:

    (1) All liquid and sludge has been removed from each container and 

connecting line; and

    (2) All connecting lines and piping have been disconnected from the 

container and blanked off, all valves (except for ventilation valves) 

have been closed and locked, and conspicuous signs have been posted on 

each container stating that it is a permanently closed container and 

noting the date of closure.

    Person includes an individual, firm, corporation, association, or 

partnership.

    Petroleum oil means petroleum in any form, including but not limited 

to crude oil, fuel oil, mineral oil, sludge, oil refuse, and refined 

products.

    Production facility means all structures (including but not limited 

to wells, platforms, or storage facilities), piping (including but not 

limited to flowlines or gathering lines), or equipment (including but 

not limited to workover equipment, separation equipment, or auxiliary 

non-transportation-related equipment) used in the production, 

extraction, recovery, lifting, stabilization, separation or treating of 

oil, or associated storage or measurement, and located in a single 

geographical oil or gas field operated by a single operator.

    Regional Administrator means the Regional Administrator of the 

Environmental Protection Agency, in and for the Region in which the 

facility is located.

    Repair means any work necessary to maintain or restore a container 

to a condition suitable for safe operation, other than that necessary 

for ordinary, day-to-day maintenance to maintain the functional 

integrity of the container and that does not weaken the container.

    Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure Plan; SPCC Plan, or 

Plan means the document required by Sec.  112.3 that details the 

equipment, workforce, procedures, and steps to prevent, control, and 

provide adequate countermeasures to a discharge.

    Storage capacity of a container means the shell capacity of the 

container.

    Transportation-related and non-transportation-related, as applied to 

an onshore or offshore facility, are defined in the Memorandum of 

Understanding between the Secretary of Transportation and the 

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, dated November 24, 

1971, (Appendix A of this part).

    United States means the States, the District of Columbia, the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Pacific 

Island Governments.

    Vegetable oil means a non-petroleum oil or fat of vegetable origin, 

including



[[Page 26]]



but not limited to oils and fats derived from plant seeds, nuts, fruits, 

and kernels.

    Vessel means every description of watercraft or other artificial 

contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation 

on water, other than a public vessel.

    Wetlands means those areas that are inundated or saturated by 

surface or groundwater at a frequency or duration sufficient to support, 

and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of 

vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. 

Wetlands generally include playa lakes, swamps, marshes, bogs, and 

similar areas such as sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, prairie 

river overflows, mudflats, and natural ponds.

    Worst case discharge for an onshore non-transportation-related 

facility means the largest foreseeable discharge in adverse weather 

conditions as determined using the worksheets in Appendix D to this 

part.