Clean Water Act regulate oil spills in the United States (LAW) Essay

Clean Water Act regulate oil spills in the United States (LAW) - Essay Example e section of CWA that prohibits the discharge of threshold amounts of oil or hazardous substances into navigable waters of the United States is Section 311(b)(3) (Oil Spills/SPCC 1). Section 311(j) of CWA reduces the chances of oil spill and prevents the accidental release of stored oil in navigable waters by mandating facilities to prepare Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) plans by storing oil in significant quantities (Oil Spills/SPCC 1). The SPCC plans must be in accordance with the National Contingency Plan (NCP) (Chapter Eight 4). For facilities that have a greater risk of oil spills from storage are required to develop plans to respond rapidly in case of oil spills and clean up. The SPCC plans have to be implemented by the facilities that have the total oil product storage of aboveground greater than 1320 gallons or underground more than 4200 gallons or aboveground storage of more than 660 gallons (Pollution Control 4). The SPCC plans must be in agreement with 40 CFR 112.7 and reviewed and certified by Registered Professional Engineer (Pollution Control 4). It must be reviewed by the facilities every three years or every time there is a change in the operator (Pollution Control 4). The copy of SPCC plan must be available with the operator who is attending 8 hours/day (Pollution Control 4). Periodic training must be provided to facility personnel, operator, and management for the spill prevention and response to oil spills (Pollution Control 4). Above storage tanks more than 660 gallons must be provided with secondary containment (Pollution Control 4). Appropriate cleanup equipments must be used to prevent oil spills from reaching navigable waters (Pollution Control 4). For drained water from the diked areas, a control valve must be used to lock when in use (Pollution Control 4). In case of oil spill or discharge in navigable water or in waters of contiguous zone, it must be brought to the notice of management authority of the United