involving a radioactive or infectious material, or thereis a release of a marine pollutant.Spillsand incidents that have or may result in a spillalong a highway must be reported to the nearest lawenforcement agency immediately. The ColoradoState Patrol and CDPHE must also be notified assoon as possible. In the event of a spill of hazardouswaste at a transfer facility, the transporter must notifyCDPHE within 24 hours if the spill exceeds 55 gallonsor if there is a fire or explosion.The National Response Center should be notified assoon as possible after discovery of a release of ahazardous liquid or carbon dioxide from a pipelinesystem if a person is killed or injured, there is a fire orexplosion, there is property damage of $50,000 ormore, or any nearby water body is contaminated.The National Response Center and the ColoradoPublic Utilities Commission Gas Pipeline SafetySection must be notified assoon as possible, but notmore than two hours after discovery of a release ofgas from a natural gas pipeline or liquefied naturalgas facility if a person is killed or injured, there is anemergency shutdown of the facility, or there isproperty damage of $50,000 or more. The ColoradoPublic Utilities Commission should also be notified ifthere is a gas leak froma pipeline, liquefied naturalgas system, master meter system or a propanesystem that results in the evacuation of 50 or morepeople from an occupied building or the closure of aroadway.Oil and Gas ExplorationAll Class I major events on federal lands, includingreleases of hazardous substances in excess of theCERCLA reportable quantity and spills of more than100 barrels of fluid and/or 500 MCF of gas released,must be reported to the Bureau of Land Management(BLM) immediately. Spills of oil, gas, salt water, toxicliquids and waste materials must also be reported tothe BLM and the surface management agency.Spills of exploration and production (E&P) waste onstate or private lands in excess of 20 barrels, andspills of any size that impact or threaten to impactwaters of the state, an occupied structure, or publicbyway must be reported to the Colorado Oil and GasConservation Commission as soon as practicable, butnot more than 24 hours after discovery. Spills of anysize that impact or threaten to impact waters of thestate must be reported to CDPHE immediately. Spillsthat impact or threaten to impact a surface waterintake must be reported to the emergency contact forthat facility immediately after discovery. Spills ofmore than five (5) barrels of E&P waste must bereported in writing to the Oil and Gas ConservationCommission within 10 days of discovery.REPORTING NUMBERSNational Response Center (24-hour)1-800-424-8802CDPHE Colorado Environmental Release andIncident Reporting Line (24-hour)1-877-518-5608Radiation Incident Reporting Line (24-hour)303-877-9757Colorado State Patrol (24-hour)303-239-4501Division of Oil and Public Safety(business hours)303-318-8547Oil and Gas Conservation Commission(business hours)303-894-2100Colorado Public Utilities Commission GasPipeline Safety Section (business hours)303-894-2851Local Emergency Planning Committees(to obtain list, business hours)720-852-6603EnvironmentalSpill ReportingColorado Department of PublicHealth and EnvironmentDenver, CO 80246-1530http://www.cdphe.state.co.usJanuary 20094300 Cherry Creek DriveSouthWhen a release of a hazardous material or othersubstance occurs to the environment, there area number of reporting and notificationrequirements that must be followed by thecompany or individual responsible for therelease. Most spills are covered by more thanone reporting requirement, andallrequirementsmust be met. In addition to verbal notification,written reports are generally required. Thisbrochure briefly explains the majorrequirements. A more detailed description isprovided in the “Reporting EnvironmentalReleases in Colorado” Guidance Document,available on the web.Releases that must be reported to the ColoradoDepartment of Public Health and Environment(CDPHE) may be reported to the ColoradoEnvironmental Release and Incident ReportingLine.ENVIRONMENTAL SPILL REPORTINGCERCLA, EPCRA and RCRAThe Comprehensive Environmental Response,Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and theEmergency Planning and Community Right-to-KnowAct (EPCRA) require thata release of a reportablequantity or more of a hazardous substance to theenvironment be reported immediately to theappropriate authorities when the release isdiscovered.Under CERCLA, reportable quantities wereestablished for hazardous substances listed ordesignated under other environmental statutes.These include:all hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) listed underSection 112(b) of the Clean Air Act.all toxic pollutants designated under Section307(a) or Section 311(b)(2)(A) of the CleanWater Act.all Resource Conservation and Recovery Act(RCRA) characteristic and listed hazardouswastes.any element, compound, or substancedesignated under Section 102 of CERCLA.EPCRA established a list of extremely hazardoussubstances (EHS) thatcould cause seriousirreversible healtheffects from accidental releases.Many substances appear on both the CERCLA andEPCRA lists. EPCRA extremely hazardoussubstances that are also CERCLA hazardoussubstances have the same reportable quantity (RQ)as under CERCLA. EPCRA extremely hazardoussubstances that are notlisted under CERCLA have areportable quantity that is equal to their thresholdplanning quantity (TPQ). A list of CERCLA reportablequantities is included in 40CFR Section 302.4. A listof EPCRA threshold planning quantities is included in40 CFR Part 355 Appendices A & B.CERCLA-reportable releases must be reportedimmediately to the National Response Center (NRC),while EPCRA-reportable releases must be reportedimmediately to the National Response Center, theState Emergency Response Commission (SERC) andthe affected Local Emergency Planning Committee(LEPC). If the release is an EPCRA extremelyhazardous substance, but not a CERCLA hazardoussubstance, and there isabsolutely no potential toaffect off-site persons, then only the State EmergencyPlanning Commission (represented by CDPHE forreporting purposes) and the Local EmergencyPlanning Committee need to be notified.In the case of a release of hazardous waste stored intanks, RCRA-permitted facilities and large quantitygenerators must also notify CDPHE within 24 hours ofany release to the environment that is greater thanone (1) pound.Radiation ControlEach licensee or registrant must report to theRadiation Incident Reporting Line in the event of lost,stolen or missing licensed or registered radioactivematerials or radiation machines, releases ofradioactive materials, contamination events, and firesor explosions involving radioactive materials.Releases of radionuclides are reportable underCERCLA.Clean Water ActThe Clean Water Act requires the person in charge ofa facility or vessel to immediately report to theNational Response Center all discharges of oil ordesignated hazardous substances to water. Oilmeans oil of any kind or form. Designated hazardoussubstances are included in the CERCLA list.The Clean Water Act also requires that facilities with aNational Pollutant Discharge Elimination System(NPDES) permit report to the National ResponseCenter within 24 hours of becoming aware of anyunanticipated bypasses or upsets that cause anexceedance of the effluent limits in their permit andany violations of their maximum daily discharge limitsfor pollutants listed in their permit.A release of any chemical, oil, petroleum product,sewage, etc., which may enterwaters of the state ofColorado (which include surface water, ground waterand dry gullies and storm sewers leading to surfacewater) must be reported immediately to CDPHE. Anyaccidental discharge to the sanitary sewer systemmust be reported immediately to the local sewerauthority and the affected wastewater treatment plant.For additional regarding releases to water, please see“Guidance for Reporting Spills under the ColoradoWater Quality Control Act and Colorado DischargePermits” athttp://www.cdphe.state.co.us/op/wqcc/Resources/Guidance/spillguidance.pdf.Clean Air ActHazardous air pollutants (HAPs) are designated ashazardous substances under CERCLA. If a facilityhas an air permit but the permit does not allow for ordoes not specify the release ofa substance, or if thefacility does not have an air permit, then all releasesin excess of the CERCLA / EPCRA reportablequantity for that substance must be reported to theNational Response Center and CDPHE. If the facilityreleases more of a substance than is allowed underits air permit, the facility mustalso report the release.Discharges of a substance that are within theallowable limits specified in the facility’s permit do notneed to be reported.Regulated Storage TanksOwners and operators ofregulated storage tanksystems must report a release or suspected releaseof regulated substances tothe Division of Oil andPublic Safety at the Colorado Department of Laborand Employment within 24 hours. Under thisprogram, the reportable quantity for petroleumreleases is 25 gallons or more, or any amount thatcauses a sheen on nearby surface water. Spills ofless than 25 gallons of petroleum must beimmediately contained and cleaned up. If cleanupcannot be accomplished within 24 hours, the Divisionof Oil and Public Safety must be notifiedimmediately.Spills of hazardous substances from tanks in excessof the CERCLA or EPCRA reportable quantity mustbe reported immediately to the National ResponseCenter, CDPHE and the local fire authority, and to theDivision of Oil and Public Safety within 24 hours.Transportation and PipelinesThe person in physical possession of a hazardousmaterial must notify the National Response Centeras soon as practical, but not to exceed 12 hours afterthe incident, if as a direct result of the hazardousmaterial, a person is killed or injured, there is anevacuation of the general public lasting more than anhour, a major transportation artery is shut down for anhour or more, the flight pattern of an aircraft is altered,there is fire, spillage or suspected contamination