Changes to EPA's Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Program
Alex Sherrin, U.S. EPA New England Oil Program, Boston, MA

Resolving the Munitions Challenge -- One Item at a Time
Leonard Pinaud, MassDEP, Lakeville, MA
Mark Begley, Environmental Management Commission, Camp Edwards, MA
Lynne A. Jennings, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Boston, MA
Michael Ciaranca, Massachusetts Army National Guard, Camp Edwards, MA

Sea Level Rise and Coastal Rhode Island
Janet Freedman, Coastal Resources Management Council, Wakefield, RI

Changes to EPA’s Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Program

Alex Sherrin, U.S. EPA New England Oil Program, One Congress Street (HBR), Boston, MA 02114, Tel: 617-918-1252 , Fax: 617-918-0252, Email: sherrin.alex@epa.gov

For more than three decades, EPA’s Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Program has prevented the discharge of oil into the waters of the United States from oil storage facilities across the nation.  Facilities subject to the SPCC Regulation must prepare written SPCC plans detailing the facility’s spill prevention and control measures.  Substantial revisions to the SPCC Regulation were passed in 2002, 2006, 2007, and 2008.   

The SPCC Regulations continue to evolve.  On February 3, 2009, recent amendments to the SPCC rule will be made effective.  The purpose of these amendments is to provide increased clarity, to tailor requirements to particular industry sectors, and to streamline certain requirements for those facility owners or operators subject to the rule.  Specifically, this final rule: Exempts hot-mix asphalt (HMA) containers, pesticide application equipment and related mix containers, and heating oil containers at single-family residences from the SPCC rule; and amends the definition of “facility” to clarify the existing flexibility associated with describing a facility's boundaries, among numerous other changes.  The compliance date for these regulations is November 2009.

This presentation will review these changes and discuss compliance tools and educational resources available to the regulated community. 

Web Resources:           

EPA Oil Program                      
www.epa.gov/oilspill

SPCC Guidance 
www.epa.gov/oilspill/guidance.htm

Proposed Amendments & SPCC Plan Template              www.epa.gov/oilspill/spcc_oct07.htm

Resolving the Munitions Challenge -- One Item at a Time

Leonard J. Pinaud, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, 20 Riverside Drive, Lakeville, MA, 02347, USA, Tel: 508-946.2871, Fax: 508-947.6557, Email: leonard.pinaud@state.ma.us
Mark Begley, Environmental Management Commission, West Inner Road, Bldg. 1204, Camp Edwards, Massachusetts 02542-5003, USA, Tel: 508-968.5127, Email: mark.begley@state.ma.us
Lynne A. Jennings, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1 Congress Street, Suite 1100, Boston, MA, 02114-2303, USA, Tel: 617-918.1210, Email: jennings.lynne@epamail.epa.gov
Michael Ciaranca, Ph.D., Massachusetts Army National Guard, Environmental and Readiness Center, West Inner Road, Bldg. 1204, Camp Edwards, Massachusetts 02542-5003, USA, Tel: 508-968.5154, Email: michael.ciaranca@us.army.mil

The Northern 15,000 acres of the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR) is the site of an ongoing soil, groundwater and Munitions and Explosives of Concern (MEC) investigation and cleanup.  The Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve and Camp Edwards in the Northern 15,000 acres of the MMR is the location of current and past military training and weapons testing activities.  Addressing MEC at Camp Edwards remains one of the largest challenges at Camp Edwards and is a key priority for a number of reasons including potential impacts to groundwater, explosives safety and a decontamination requirement contained within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts lease with the Department of Defense (DOD).  Addressing MEC and stewardship of the land and water is a requirement under the various unique regulatory drivers at the MMR: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrative Orders under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA); the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (MCP) under chapter 21E; and the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) and chapter 47.  A multi-agency regulator-DOD team was convened in 2007 to tackle the issue of how to address MEC at Camp Edwards through the creation of an Unexploded Ordnance Working Group (UXOWG).  The UXOWG is responsible for developing appropriate MEC cleanup objectives and specific tasks and timelines.  Since inception, the UXOWG has demonstrated teamwork and good stewardship and continues to build the public trust.  Lessons learned from innovative methods or combinations of methods for investigation, discrimination and disposal of MEC, developing habitat protection strategies during investigation and cleanup activities and the benefit of cost savings from techniques proven and implemented are some of the tangible results from the formation of the MMR UXOWG.

Sea Level Rise and Coastal Rhode Island

Janet Freedman, RI Coastal Resources Management Council, 4808 Tower Hill Road, Wakefield, RI 02879, USA, Tel: 401-783-3370, Fax: 401-783-3767, Email: jfreedman@crmc.ri.gov

The earth’s atmosphere and oceans are warming and sea levels are rising. Evidence for human induced climate change is unequivocal (IPCC 2007). Climate change will result in wide scale systematic changes in the terrestrial and marine environment. Future increases in relative sea level, coupled with increased frequency of severe storm events, will displace coastal populations, threaten infrastructure, intensify coastal flooding and ultimately lead to the loss of recreation areas, public space, and coastal wetlands. The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council is the regulatory agency that is responsible for the protection of the state’s coastal resources. Title 46 Chapter 23 of the General Laws of Rhode Island charges the Council to preserve, protect, develop and where possible, restore the coastal resources of the state for this and succeeding generations through comprehensive and coordinated long range planning and management. Recognizing that climate change and sea level rise must be considered for future protection and management of the state’s coastal resources, CRMC adopted climate change and sea level rise policy into the Coastal Resources Management Program. The policy incorporates the best scientific data currently available but recognizes the level of uncertainty, particularly the uncertainty associated with sea level rise due to contribution of the ice sheets. For planning and management purposes the Council anticipates a three to five foot rise in sea level by 2100.

Standards are currently being developed for adaptation to the impacts of climate change and sea level rise. These new standards will consider the design life when permitting activities and alterations within the coastal zone. Past practices used to remediate the waste disposal facilities need to be reexamined to insure proactive stewardship of coastal ecosystems under changing conditions.    

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