By Amanda Czepiel, J.D. BLR Legal Editor

On December 17, 2012, the EPA published in the Federal Register its intent to renew an existing Information Collection Request (ICR) concerning the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations. This is routine agency procedure, as the current ICR is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2013. However, the big news in this announcement is that the EPA expects the number of SPCC-regulated facilities to increase by approximately 43,000 by 2016.

In the current approved ICR, the EPA estimated that there were approximately 640,000 SPCC-regulated facilities in 2010, with the largest sectors being oil and gas (O&G) production, with 215,000 affected facilities, and farms, with 149,000 affected facilities. For this proposed ICR, the EPA applied the same growth rates as it used in the previous ICR. The Agency found that it expects the farm sector to see a reduction in affected facilities, but the O&G production sector will see its regulated numbers rise. Overall, the EPA estimates that there will be approximately 657,000 SPCC-regulated facilities in 2014, approximately 670,000 regulated facilities in 2015, and approximately 683,000 regulated facilities in 2016, big increases from the number of regulated facilities in 2010.

Before the EPA submits the ICR to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment, the agency is collecting public input. Comments on the proposed information request must be submitted to the EPA by February 15, 2013.