Title: Reporting Oil Spills: Everything You Need To Know
Headings: Reporting Oil Spills: Everything You Need To Know
Reporting Oil Spills: Everything You Need To Know
Reporting Oil Spills: Everything You Need To Know
Oil Spills: Everything You Need To Know
Understanding Oil Spills
How to Report
EPA Oil Spill Program Contacts
How Reports Are Handled
Overview of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990
Discharge of Oil Regulation (40 CFR 110)
Oil Spill Reporting Exemptions
Properly Functioning Vessel Engines
Research and Development Releases
NPDES-Permitted Releases
Discharges Permitted Under MARPOL
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Content: These proposed revisions, in addition to strengthening and clarifying previous regulatory language, outline the additional requirements for regulated oil storage and handling facilities. On July 1, 1994, EPA finalized a second set of revisions to the Oil Pollution Prevention regulations. The revisions incorporate the new requirements added by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 that direct facility owners or operators to prepare, and in some cases submit to the federal government, plans for responding to a worst-case discharge of oil. Discharge of Oil Regulation (40 CFR 110)
Under the legal authority of the Clean Water Act, the Discharge of Oil regulation, more commonly known as the "sheen rule", provides the framework for determining whether an oil spill to inland and coastal waters and/or their adjoining shorelines should be reported to the federal government. In particular, the regulation requires the person in charge of a facility or vessel responsible for discharging oil that may be "harmful to the public health or welfare" to report the spill to the federal government. The regulation establishes the criteria for determining whether an oil spill may be harmful to public health or welfare, thereby triggering the reporting requirements, as follows: Discharges that cause a sheen or discoloration on the surface of a body of water; Discharges that violate applicable water quality standards; and
Discharges that cause a sludge or emulsion to be deposited beneath the surface of the water or on adjoining shorelines. Because the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which amended the Clean Water Act, broadly defines the term "oil," the sheen rule applies to both petroleum and non-petroleum oils (e.g., vegetable oil).