Washington, D.C.-The U.S. EPA is currently seeking public comment on proposed modifications to the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations. According to the Agricultural Retailers Association, the modifications being proposed by EPA would primarily impact farms, but some could affect agricultural retailers as well. These include a proposal to exempt all pesticide application equipment and related mix containers used on farms, including ground boom applicators, airblast sprayers, and specialty aircraft. Equipment and mix containers may currently be subject to the SPCC rule when crop oil or adjuvant oil are added to formulations. ARA said EPA officials believe that since pesticides are regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), additional regulation of pesticide containers and application equipment under the SPCC rule is not necessary. ARA said EPA is also considering exempting farms that store oil below a certain storage capacity threshold from the SPCC requirements, and is proposing to streamline and tailor the SPCC requirements for a subset of “qualified facilities,” allowing a self-certified, simpler SPCC plan template instead of a full SPCC plan. ARA is asking member companies to register their input on the proposed modifications to Jim Thrift, ARA’s Vice President of Regulatory Policy and Corporate Relations, so that ARA can submit its comments to EPA by Dec. 14. Thrift can be contacted at jthrift@aradc.org.
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