Spill Prevention and Response FAQs

Secondary containment is a means of preventing discharges into waterbodies. Specifically, it provides temporary containment of spilled chemical if the primary container fails. It gives you time to abate the source of the spill and remove the accumulated chemical before it reaches a waterbody.

However, secondary containment may be passive or active. Passive means it does not require deployment or action by the facility owner or operator but remains in place regardless of the facility operations. Examples include dikes, berms, curbing, retention ponds, drip pans, and so on. Active secondary containment measures require deployment or other specific action by the facility owner or operator before or after a discharge. Examples include using sorbent pads or deploying drain covers.

OSHA, EPA, and DOT do not specifically require a spill kit, but:

• It’s important for employees who are expected to respond to chemical releases to have the equipment necessary (or required) to handle their duties; and
• An employer is required to ensure that leaks and spills are quickly cleaned up, to prevent employee chemical exposure and to maintain walking-working surfaces that are free of hazards.

Many secondary containment regulations call for passive, not active, methods. In fact, they may have specific size and design provisions. This means spill kits may not be a compliant means of secondary containment, but instead they may only supplement passive systems.

However, some secondary containment regulations may allow for active secondary containment, and where that is the case, it is up to the facility owner or operator to determine if a spill kit is the best way to meet those requirements.

Note that spill kits are not the answer for all leak and spill situations. That’s because spill kits often have limited absorption or containment capacity. Chemical storage can pose a spill risk during off-hour periods when personnel may not be onsite to act. Also, precipitation and cold temperatures may affect the performance of spill kit components.

In addition to reviewing the applicable regulations, a facility owner or operator may wish to seek out a professional engineer and related consensus standards for recommendations. Some regulations “related” to spill kits include:

• 29 CFR 1910.22 — General Requirements for Walking-working Surfaces;
• 29 CFR 1910.120 — Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER);
• 29 CFR 1910.178 — Powered Industrial Trucks;
• 29 CFR 1910.1200 — Hazard Communication; and
• 40 CFR 112 — Oil Pollution Prevention.

A kit’s supplies will vary depending on the release size and chemical type for which the kit is intended. Determine what equipment and supplies are required or needed, and the locations that need them for the most likely spill volume expected. Typical items that might be found in spill kits, carts, and control stations include:

• Patch and plug kits to stop leaks;
• Loose sorbent materials like sawdust or kitty litter;
• Materials packaged in pillows and socks designed to absorb liquids;
• Absorbent towels, pads, and/or mats;
• Drain covers or spill mats used to block or prevent the flow of spills;
• Booms for spills that float on water or sorbent-filled booms used for land-based spills;
• Temporary dikes, berms, curbing, or other barriers;
• Brooms, mops, shovels, scoops, scrapers, and squeegees;
• Flashlights, hammers, wrenches, or other non-sparking hand tools;
• Acid and base neutralizers;
• Environmental monitoring and sampling equipment;
• Salvage bags, buckets, and/or drums to contain or collect spill material and waste;
• Signs, tags, labels, barricade tape, and writing equipment;
• Two-way radio, cell phone, phone numbers, and/or other communication equipment;
• Medical and first-aid supplies;
• Fire-fighting equipment; and
• Coveralls, gloves, goggles, face shields, boots, boot covers, respirators, masks, or other personal protective equipment and chemical protective clothing.

PPE and CPC selection should consider the hazards or suspected hazards, the routes of exposure, exposure limits, ambient temperatures, and the demands of the task. Weigh performance factors of PPE, such as permeation, degradation, penetration, durability, and mobility. Your written spill plan, safety data sheets, and an initial size up of the spill, too, should allow you and your responders to select the best ensembles for the spill. When selecting PPE and CPC, take a look at:

• 29 CFR 1910.120(c)(5), (g), (p)(1), (p)(8), (q)(3), (q)(10), and Appendix B;
• 29 CFR 1910 Subpart I for PPE; and
• The Appendix to NFPA 1990, Standard for Protective Ensembles for Hazardous Materials and CBRN Operations.

The owner or operator of a stationary source must report any accidental release resulting in a fatality, serious injury, or substantial property damage. A release amount (of any substance) that results in any of those consequences would qualify for reporting. The following definitions come into play:

• Accidental release means an unanticipated emission of a regulated substance or other extremely hazardous substance into the ambient air from a stationary source.
• Extremely hazardous substance means any substance that may cause death, serious injury, or substantial property damages, including but not limited to any “regulated substance” at or below any threshold quantity set by the EPA Administrator.
• Regulated substance means any substance listed pursuant to the authority of 42 U.S.C. 7412(r)(3).
• Serious injury means any injury or illness that results in death or inpatient hospitalization.
• Stationary source means any building, structures, equipment, installations, or substance-emitting stationary activities which belong to the same industrial group, which are located on one or more contiguous properties, which are under the control of the same person (or persons under common control), and from which an accidental release may occur.
• Substantial property damage means an estimated property damage at or outside the stationary source equal to or greater than $1,000,000.

The HAZWOPER Standard, 29 CFR 1910.120 or 1926.65 defines:

• Incidental spill as one where the hazardous substance can be absorbed, neutralized, or otherwise controlled at the time of release by employees in the immediate release area, or by maintenance personnel. An incidental release does not pose a “significant” safety or health hazard to employees in the immediate vicinity or to the employee(s) cleaning it up, nor does it have the potential to become an emergency within a short time frame.
• Emergency release as an occurrence that results or is likely to result, in an uncontrolled release of a hazardous substance that requires a response effort by employees from outside the immediate release area or by other designated responders (i.e., mutual-aid groups, local fire departments, etc.).

The HAZWOPER Standard does not cover incidental spill situations, but other regulations such as those for hazard communication and personal protective equipment may apply to incidental spills.

OSHA has said that when, as a consequence of a spill, the following conditions, or similar conditions, may develop, they would normally be considered emergency situations requiring an emergency response effort:

• Except for maintenance personnel, the response comes from outside the immediate area;
• The release requires evacuation of employees in the area;
• The release poses, or has the potential to pose, conditions that are immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH);
• The release poses a serious threat of fire or explosion (exceeds or has the potential to exceed the lower explosive limit or lower flammable limit);
• The release requires immediate attention because of an imminent danger;
• The release may cause high levels of exposure to toxic substances;
• The situation presents an oxygen-deficient atmosphere;
• There is uncertainty about whether the employees in the work area can handle the severity of the hazard with the personal protective equipment and other provided equipment, and the exposure limit could easily be exceeded; or
• The situation is unclear, or data are lacking on important factors.

Learn more in Appendices A and B of OSHA directive CPL 02-02-073.

At a minimum, four people are required — two working as a team inside the unknown or potentially IDLH (immediately dangerous to life or health) atmosphere, and two working outside this atmosphere for assistance or rescue. One of the persons working outside the atmosphere would also be the on-scene incident commander who is also the safety officer. For more information, see 1910.120(q)(3), the Incident Command System (ICS) discussion in Appendix C to 1910.120, and Section XI.D. of CPL 02-02-073.

Under HAZWOPER 29 CFR 1910.120(q)(6) and 1926.65(q)(6), you’ll find initial and refresher training requirements for five major levels depending on their expected duties:

• Awareness — Those likely to witness or discover a spill of hazardous substances and who are trained to notify proper authorities;
• Operations — Those who respond to spills in a defensive manner, without trying to stop a spill;
• Hazmat technician — Those who respond aggressively to stop a spill of hazardous substances, approaching the point of the spill as needed;
• Hazmat specialist — Those who respond with and in support of the hazmat technician level but who have specific knowledge of various hazardous substances; and
• Commander — Those who assume control of the incident scene beyond the first-responder awareness level.

These training levels are only required if you have your own workers handle an “emergency response” release. If you choose to evacuate ALL of your employees in an emergency release situation, you are required to instead meet the Emergency Action Plan and training requirements of 1910.38 or 1926.35, for general industry or construction, respectively.

Note that 29 CFR 1910.120(q) and 1926.65(q) have other training levels for skilled support personnel, specialist employees, and post-emergency responders. Furthermore, 29 CFR 1910.120 (and 1926.65) have training under paragraphs (e) and (p), for those who work at hazardous waste cleanup sites or in hazardous waste treatment, storage, and/or disposal operations, respectively.

For your HAZWOPER training needs, please check out our HAZWOPER training solutions.

If the date for refresher training has lapsed, the need to repeat initial training must be determined based on the employee's familiarity with safety and health procedures used on the site. If refresher training is appropriate, the employee should take the next available refresher training course, and there should be a record in the employee's file indicating why the training has been delayed and when the training will be completed.

In OSHA’s view, HAZWOPER online or computer-based training can only be “part” of an effective HAZWOPER emergency response refresher training program. Online or computer-based training, by itself, is not sufficient to meet the intent of the agency’s emergency response training requirements for HAZWOPER, 1910.120 for general industry or 1926.65 for construction. Therefore, online or computer-based training must be supplemented by site-specific elements, hands-on training and exercises, and an opportunity for trainees to ask questions of a qualified trainer. When using online or computer-based training as a tool to help with refresher training under 1910.120(q)/1926.65(q), it is important to do all of the following:

• Ensure your trainer is qualified, in accordance with 1910.120(q)(7)/1926.65(q)(7).
• Augment the online training with site-specific elements.
• Tailor your training to the employees’ assigned duties.
• Include hands-on training to re-familiarize trainees with equipment, personal protective equipment, and safe practices.
• Provide trainees with immediate and direct access to a qualified trainer as they are taking the course curriculum.
• Offer an opportunity for trainees to ask questions of the qualified trainer.
• Ensure that the trainees receive refresher training with sufficient content and sufficient duration to maintain their competencies listed for their particular level(s) under 1910.120(q)(6).
• Ensure the employer makes a “statement of the training” in line with the requirements of 1910.120(q)(8)/1926.65(q)(8). (NOTE: The online or computer-based training course curriculum may not necessarily provide HAZWOPER certification or HAZWOPER statements of training; the online or computer-based training course curriculum certificate might only acknowledge the completion of the online training itself).

Facilities covered under the oil SPCC provisions at 40 CFR 112 include those that meet all of the following applicability criteria:

• Are considered a non-transportation-related facility;
• Are engaged in drilling, producing, gathering, storing, processing, refining, transferring, distributing, using, or consuming oil;
• Could be reasonably expected to discharge oil in quantities that may be harmful into navigable waters or adjoining shorelines; and
• Have a total aggregate capacity of either:
  • Aboveground oil storage greater than 1,320 gallons in containers 55 gallons or greater; or
  • Completely buried storage tanks greater than 42,000 gallons in containers 55 gallons or greater.

Learn about J. J. Keller's Environmental Services.

No. The spill prevention, control, and countermeasure (SPCC) plan is regulated under 40 CFR 112, Oil Pollution Prevention. It is intended to help prevent the discharge of oil of any kind at non-transportation facilities that fall under the applicability criteria of Part 112. Oil means oil of any kind or in any form, including, but not limited to: fats, oils, or greases of animal, fish, or marine mammal origin; vegetable oils, including oils from seeds, nuts, fruits, or kernels; and, other oils and greases, including petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, synthetic oils, mineral oils, oil refuse, or oil mixed with wastes other than dredged spoil.

The National Response Center, or NRC, is a part of the federally established National Response System and staffed 24 hours a day by the U.S. Coast Guard. It is the designated federal point of contact for reporting all oil, chemical, radiological, biological, and etiological discharges into the environment, as well as railroad incidents, anywhere in the United States and its territories. The NRC also takes maritime reports of suspicious activity and security breaches within the waters of the United States and its territories. Contact the National Response Center at 800-424-8802. Visit the NRC website at https://nrc.uscg.mil/.

Both the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) require reporting when a hazardous substance or material is released in a reportable quantity (RQ) over a 24-hour period. However, under CERCLA and 40 CFR 302, owners and operators of facilities immediately notify the National Response Center (NRC) when a qualifying release occurs. CERCLA’s designated hazardous substances include:

• Hazardous substances listed in table 302.4,
• Regulated unlisted solid waste that exhibits characteristics of hazardous waste (40 CFR 261 Subpart C),
• Hazardous substances or toxic pollutants under the Clean Water Act,
• Hazardous wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act,
• Hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act, and
• Imminently hazardous substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

Under EPCRA and 40 CFR 355, owners and operators of facilities must immediately notify the local/tribal emergency planning committees (LEPCs) and state emergency response commissions (SERCs) of any likely affected areas when a CERCLA-defined hazardous substance or extremely hazardous substance (listed in Appendices A and B to 40 CFR 355) is accidentally released. Additionally, owners and operators must provide a follow-up emergency notice as soon as possible.

This question relates to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and 40 CFR 355. Specifically, the RQ that triggers emergency release notification (under EPCRA Section 304 and 40 CFR 355) was developed as a quantity that when released, poses potential threat to human health and the environment. The RQs were developed using several criteria, including aquatic toxicity, mammalian toxicity, ignitability, reactivity, chronic toxicity, potential carcinogenicity, biodegradation, hydrolysis, and photolysis.

The threshold planning quantities (TPQs) for emergency planning provisions (under EPCRA Section 302 and 40 CFR 355) were designed to help states and local communities focus their planning efforts. The TPQs are based on acute mammalian toxicity and potential for airborne dispersion and represent those quantities of substances that can cause significant harm should an accidental release occur.

There is no statutory or regulatory definition of the term “immediate” within the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) or Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). However, note that the "Legislative History of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986" (Volume 2, October 1990, pp. 600-01), states that ordinarily, delays in making the required notifications should not exceed 15 minutes after the person in charge has knowledge of the release. Immediate notification requires shorter delays whenever practicable. If facilities are concerned about whether notification for a given release met the “immediate” standard, they may want to contact the EPA Office of Enforcement Compliance and Assurance (OECA).

Although reports are sometimes passed on to the NRC by state and local government agencies, a person responsible for reporting under CERCLA relies on such state or local "relay" of information at his or her own risk. This relay of information does not automatically satisfy CERCLA reporting requirements and state or local agencies cannot be responsible for an individual's compliance with a federal statute. CERCLA Section 103(a) specifically requires the person in charge of a vessel or facility to report immediately to the NRC a release of a hazardous substance whose amount equals or exceeds the assigned RQ. If the appropriate information is not received within an appropriate timeframe at the NRC, the person responsible for CERCLA reporting still may be found not to have complied with the Section 103 notification requirements.

No. Proper and timely reporting of a release in accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Section 103 or 40 CFR 302 does not preclude liability for cleanup costs, natural resource damages, and costs of any necessary health studies conducted under CERCLA Section 104(i). It does, however, eliminate potential penalties for failure to notify the NRC.

Yes. A release of a CERCLA hazardous substance below its RQ does not preclude liability from any damages that may result, including the costs of cleaning up that release or for any natural resource damages, should such costs be determined to be appropriate under CERCLA or any other applicable law.

No. The introduction of any pollutant into a POTW, when the pollutant is specified in and in compliance with applicable pretreatment standards of CWA Section 307(b) or (c) — and enforceable requirements in a pretreatment program submitted by a state or municipality for federal approval under CWA Section 402 — is one of the releases permitted under other federal programs as defined by CERCLA Section 101(10)(J). Such releases are exempt from CERCLA Section 103(a) reporting requirements.