When Self-Certifying Your SPCC Plan is Not Enough

Kathy McKinney-Tovar, STC Senior Analyst, Vallejo, CA

Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCC) Plans have received a lot of attention recently as owners/operators have worked to bring them in line with SPCC amendments.  A significant amendment to the SPCC Rule allows owners/operators of facilities that meet the criteria of a "qualified facility" under 40 CFR 112.3(g) to self-certify their SPCC plans instead of being required to use a professional engineer (PE) to certify such Plans. 

The SPCC regulations at 40 CFR 112.6 clearly explain the circumstances under which owners/operators of qualified facilities may self-certify their SPCC Plans. However, the preamble to the 2006 SPCC amendments cautions that the SPCC regulations do not preempt any state or local requirements for PE certification and that self-certification may not be allowed under state laws or regulations:

"...to the extent that a State has adopted a law, such as one based on the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, that requires that a PE to perform certain functions, including certifying Plans, nothing in today's rule affects whether a facility owner or operator would be required to utilize a PE to meet the state or local requirements since today's rule does not pre-empt any State or local requirements" (71 FR 77273). 

So if you need to prepare an SPCC Plan for a qualified facility, have you asked yourself if self-certification meets the state's spill prevention planning agency or PE licensing board's requirements? For facilities that are required to have a PE-certified SPCC Plan, do you know if the state requires the PE who certifies the plan also to be licensed by that state?

Although EPA posted a list of PE licensing boards on its website (http://www.epa.gov/osweroe1/content/spcc/tier1temp.htm), it does not indicate the state's requirements. With no outside "go to" source for each state's decision regarding PE certification for qualified facilities, STC began researching each state's requirements for PE certification.

By checking not only with the PE licensing boards but also with the state agency responsible for spill prevention planning, STC has learned that some states require SPCC Plans for qualified facilities to be certified by a PE licensed by their state, whereas other states follow EPA's lead and do not require PE certification for qualified facilities.  A third category of states has not made a yes/no determination; instead, that determination must be made on a case-by-case basis.  In the latter category, states are typically looking for information to determine if the preparation of the Plan and/or activities required to implement the Plan meets their definition of the "practice of engineering."  Fortunately, most of these states welcome inquiries from the public and will assist them in making that determination.  As part of its research, STC has also asked state PE licensing boards if PEs who certify SPCC Plans must be licensed by the state where the facility is located. 

STC has completed its research for 28 states to date. The results of this research have been compiled as an internal reference document. In addition, an overview of these state requirements have been added to the Environmental State Differences Summaries and Checklists: Audit Edition, authored by STC and available from Specialty Technical Publications of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 

Kathy McKinney-Tovar is an STC Senior Analyst located in Vallejo, CA and has over 20 years experience in the consulting industry assisting businesses with environmental compliance, regulatory issues, and due diligence. She has extensive project management experience and technical knowledge across a wide range of environmental programs. Kathy has performed multi-media environmental compliance audits throughout the U.S. at aerospace and cogeneration facilities, hazardous waste TSDFs, oil terminals, semiconductor, electronics, pharmaceutical, explosives, chemical and paint manufacturing facilities and office buildings, and has assisted numerous industrial clients in the development of customized environmental auditing protocols and training programs.

For more detailed information about state PE licensing board requirements, contact Kathy at