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WASHINGTON, DC 20510 

The Honorable Lisa Jackson 

Administrator 

Environmental Protection Agency 

Ariel Rios Building 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. 

Washington, DC 20460 

Dear Administrator Jackson, 

We are writing to you today with our concerns regarding the implementation timeline for the Oil 

Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule for farmers. 

First we would like to thank you for finalizing the exemption of milk and milk product 

containers from the SPCC rule on April 12, 2011. We appreciate your attentiveness to the 

feedback you received from the agriculture community. We also appreciate your willingness to 

prevent the unintended consequences of the SPCC regulations, which would have placed a 

tremendous burden on the agricultural community. 

We are writing to you today with our concerns regarding the implementation timeline for the 

SPCC rule for farmers. As you know, last year the EPA proposed extending the compliance date 

under the SPCC rule to November of 201 1. We applaud EPA's current extension for farms that 

came into business after August of 2002. We also appreciate the efforts of EPA and USDA to 

inform farmers about the new guidelines -- in particular, USDA's new pilot initiative to help 

producers comply with the new SPCC rule. However, we remain concerned that EPA has not 

yet undertaken the outreach necessary to ensure that all farms have sufficient opportunity to meet 

their obligations under the regulation. 

SPCC regulations are applicable to any facility, including farms, with an aggregate above-ground 

oil storage capacity of 1,320 gallons in tanks of 55 gallons or greater. To comply with this rule, 

farms where there is a risk of spilled oil reaching navigable waters may need to undertake costly 

engineering services, as well as infrastructure improvements, to assure compliance with the 

regulation. Despite setting stringent standards, the EPA has done little to make sure small farms 

can meet the requirements set forth in the SPCC rule. 

We strongly believe farmers want to be in compliance with the rule, but in order to do so they 

will need a longer period during which EPA undertakes a vigorous outreach effort with the 

agricultural community. Currently, the farming community in many instances lacks access to 

Professional Engineers (PEs). We have heard from many farmers who cannot find PEs willing or 

able to work on farms. In some states, no qualified professional engineers have even registered to 

provide SPCC consultation, In others, fewer than five have registered. Without access to PEs, it 

will be impossible for farmers to become SPCC compliant.
Recently released draft guidance on waters of the United States by the EPA and the U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers also appear to dramatically expand the agencies' authority with regard to 

which waters and wetlands are considered "adjacent" to jurisdictional "waters of the United 

States" under the Clean Water Act Many farm and ranch families are worried that this guidance 

could now force them to comply with the SPCC rule, with very little time to do so Additionally, 

the delay of compliance assistance documentation has put farmers far behind the curve in 

preparing for compliance Had the information and documentation been available before the 

January grower meetings, the compliance process could have begun before the time intensive 

growing season. 

Furthermore, EPA still needs to clarify exactly who is responsible for holding and maintaining 

the plan, as many farms are operated by people who do not own the land. EPA also needs to 

clarify how it plans to enforce the rule. 

The last thing we want is for confusion or an overly burdensome rule to disincentivize 

compliance Many farmers do not keep their tanks full during the entire year, and we have 

already heard from associations whose members are considering decreasing the size of their 

tanks so they will not be subject to SPCC compliance This could eliminate their ability to buy 

fuel in bulk, thus increasing their costs and the costs of food production 

Small family farms have a natural incentive to prevent any possible oil spills on their property 

No one wants more oil spills In fact, the last people who want to spill oil are family farm 

owners The impact of dealing with a costly clean-up could be devastating to the finances of a 

small farm. 

We respectfully request that you re-consider the implementation deadline, continue to dialogue 

with the agricultural commumty to answer their questions, and ensure that the rule is not overly 

burdensome or confusing. We believe this will help avoid the rule's unintended consequences. 

We appreciate your attention to this important matter. 

James M. Inhofe Kent Conrad 

United States Senator United States Senator