Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act (APSA): Farms

APSA does not define “farm” but references the federal Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCC) rule as described in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 40, Part 112 (40 CFR 112) and APSA “borrows” its definition from there for consistency. The SPCC rule defines a farm as “a facility on a tract of land devoted to the production of crops or raising of animals, including fish, which produced and sold, or normally would have produced and sold, $1,000 or more of agricultural products during a year” (40 CFR 112.2).

APSA applies to a farm that:

• Stores, contains, handles, or treats petroleum oil or petroleum products for a period of time, including on a temporary basis.
• Stores at least 1,320 gallons of petroleum in aboveground tanks or containers.
• Stores at least 2,500 gallons of oil, including petroleum, animal and vegetable oils and oil products, in aboveground tanks or containers. 

If your farm meets all of these criteria, then your farm may be subject to APSA.

Refer to question 8 below to determine your farm's storage capacity.

Visit the website on "How Do I Know If My Farm Is Regulated Under APSA?", which includes a flowchart, for additional information. 

Effective January 1, 2016, SB 612 (Stats. 2015, Ch. 452) aligned the applicability threshold for a farm under APSA with the applicability threshold for a farm under the federal SPCC requirements. APSA regulates a tank or tank facility located on and operated by a farm regardless of its location with respect to navigable waters or adjoining shorelines.

The WRRDA of 2014 changed the applicability provisions and the criteria for self-certification of SPCC Plans for farms. It also required certain actions by USEPA. WRRDA went into effect as soon as it was signed into law by President Obama on June 10, 2014. For information on WRRDA, visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) website on SPCC for agriculture and refer to the WRRDA fact sheet for additional details.

Under WRRDA, a farm is not required to have an SPCC Plan if it has:

• An aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity less than 2,500 gallons

       OR

• An aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity greater than 2,500 gallons and less than 6,000* gallons; AND

• No reportable discharge history.

A farmer can self-certify the SPCC Plan if the farm has:

• An aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity greater than 6,000* gallons but less than 20,000 gallons;
• No individual tank with a capacity greater than 10,000 gallons; AND
• No reportable discharge history.

Pursuant to WRRDA, the USEPA published a study in June 2015, which recommended that the ceiling for the exemption for farms be set at 2,500 gallons of oil. The USEPA is expected to promulgate a rule amending the SPCC requirements to adjust the applicability thresholds for farms and incorporate other WRRDA requirements. However, until the federal SPCC rule is amended, the provisions provided by WRRDA remain in effect.

Note:

*The 6,000-gallon threshold may be adjusted by USEPA, following a study to determine the appropriate exemption.

A farm is conditionally exempt from the requirement to prepare an SPCC Plan in California under the APSA program provided that the owner or operator of the farm:

• Has no single petroleum storage tank with a capacity larger than 20,000 gallons,
• Has an aggregate petroleum storage capacity not exceeding 100,000 gallons,
• Conducts daily inspections of their aboveground petroleum storage tanks,**
• Allows UPA inspectors to conduct periodic inspections, and
• Installs secondary containment if requested to do so by the UPA. [HSC Section 25270.4.5(b)]

The APSA conditional exemption is specific to the California APSA program only. Federal SPCC requirements may still apply, including requirements to prepare and implement an SPCC Plan, irrespective of a farm’s qualification for the APSA conditional exemption. Refer to the USEPA website on SPCC for agriculture or contact USEPA for more information.

Note:

**Pursuant to SB 612, for purposes of the conditions of exemption under APSA, “daily” means every day that contents are added to or withdrawn from the tank, but no less than five days per week. The number of days may be reduced by the number of state or federal holidays that occur during the week if there is no addition to, or withdrawal from, the tank on the holiday. The UPA may reduce the frequency of inspections to not less than once every three days at a tank facility that is conditionally exempt if the tank facility is not staffed on a regular basis, provided that the inspection is performed every day the facility is staffed.

A farm that does not meet the conditions of exemption under APSA may be required to do the following:

• Prepare and implement an SPCC Plan applying good engineering practices to prevent petroleum releases using the same format required by 40 CFR 112,
• Conduct periodic inspections of each aboveground petroleum storage tank, and
• Comply with current federal regulations found in 40 CFR 112. [HSC Section 25270.4.5(a)]

A farm that is regulated under APSA, regardless of whether the facility is conditionally exempt, is required to file an annual tank facility statement (or a hazardous materials business plan [HMBP]) into the statewide information management system (CERS) and pay the Unified Program state surcharge for the APSA program (HSC Section 25270.6). Contact your UPA representative for additional requirements.

Under APSA, each owner or operator of an APSA tank facility, including a farm, is required to submit a complete HMBP to CERS to meet the tank facility statement reporting requirement (HSC Section 25270.6(a)(2)).  A complete HMBP includes the following elements (HSC Section 25505(a)): 

• Facility information (business activities and owner/operator information), 
• Hazardous materials inventory and site map, 
• Emergency response plans and procedures, and 
• Employee training program

First, calculate your total aboveground oil storage capacity subject to the federal SPCC rule.

DO NOT count:

• All containers on separate parcels that have a capacity that is 1,000 gallons or less;
• Containers storing heating oil used solely at a single-family residence;
• Pesticide application equipment or related mix containers(with adjuvant oil) ;
• Any milk and milk product container and associated piping and appurtenances;
• Underground storage tanks (UST) regulated under the UST Program by the UPA;
• Containers holding animal feed ingredients approved for use in livestock feed by the Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA);
• Permanently closed containers; and
• Motive power oil containers.

Next, calculate your total aboveground petroleum storage capacity subject to APSA. 

DO NOT count:

• Containers such as pressure vessels or boilers, hazardous waste tanks (identified on a hazardous waste facilities permit), oil production tanks, certain oil-filled electrical equipment; and
• Containers of non-petroleum based oils.

Lastly, review your reportable discharge history. Under the federal SPCC rule, “reportable discharge history” means a single oil discharge, as described in Section 112.1(b) of 40 CFR 112, that exceeds 1,000 gallons or two oil discharges, as described in Section 112.1(b) of 40 CFR 112, that each exceed 42 gallons within any 12-month period – (i) in the three years prior to the certification date of the SPCC Plan (as described in Section 112.3 of 40 CFR 112); or (ii) since becoming subject to 40 CFR 112, if the facility has been in operation for less than three years.