FUELS Act

Bill: 114-hr-3129
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Crawford, Eric A. "Rick" [R-AR-1]
Introduced: 2015-07-21
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures

Agricultural conservation and pollution

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Environmental regulatory procedures

Oil and gas

Water quality
Latest action: action_date: 2015-07-22
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

Summaries:
action_date: 2015-07-21
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship Act or the FUELS Act </b></p> <p>This bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ease the application of the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule on certain farms. </p> <p>The rule requires certain non-transportation-related facilities to prevent, prepare, and respond to oil discharges that may reach navigable waters or adjoining shorelines. Among other requirements, the rule requires those facilities to: (1) certify compliance with their SPCC plans; and (2) based on the plan, construct containment facilities that would hold the contents of aboveground oil storage tanks if they should spill. </p> <p>The bill increases the oil storage thresholds that necessitate compliance with those requirements by raising the aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity thresholds for: (1) farms required to have an SPCC plan, (2) farms that self-certify their SPCC plan, and (3) farms that require a certification of their SPCC plan from a professional engineer.</p> <p>The bill also raises the aboveground oil storage capacity of containers that must be included in calculating the aggregate aboveground storage capacity. </p>

tv_txt: I 114th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 3129 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 21, 2015 Mr. Crawford (for himself, Mr. Hensarling , Mr. Cramer , Mr. Pompeo , Mr. Duncan of South Carolina , Mr. DesJarlais , Mr. Mullin , Mr. Abraham , Mr. Huelskamp , Mr. Jones , Mr. Kline , and Mr. Latta ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to change the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule with respect to certain farms.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship Act or the FUELS Act . 2. Applicability of Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule (a) In general The Administrator, in implementing the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule with respect to any farm, shall— (1) require certification of compliance with such rule by— (A) a professional engineer for a farm with— (i) an individual tank with an aboveground storage capacity greater than 10,000 gallons; (ii) an aggregate aboveground storage capacity greater than or equal to 42,000 gallons; or (iii) a history that includes a spill, as determined by the Administrator; or (B) the owner or operator of the farm (via self-certification) for a farm with— (i) an aggregate aboveground storage capacity greater than 10,000 gallons but less than 42,000 gallons; and (ii) no history of spills, as determined by the Administrator; and (2) exempt from all requirements of such rule any farm— (A) with an aggregate aboveground storage capacity of less than or equal to 10,000 gallons; and (B) no history of spills, as determined by the Administrator. (b) Calculation of aggregate aboveground storage capacity For the purposes of subsection (a), the aggregate aboveground storage capacity of a farm excludes all containers on separate parcels that have a capacity that is less than 1,320 gallons. 3. Definitions In this Act, the following terms apply: (1) Administrator The term Administrator means the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. (2) Farm The term farm has the meaning given such term in section 112.2 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations. (3) Gallon The term gallon refers to a United States liquid gallon. (4) Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule The term Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule means the regulation promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency under part 112 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.