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Farmers who store petroleum, gasoline, fuel oil, diesel fuel, vegetable oil, animal fats or other oils on their farm may be subject to federal regulations designed to control spills.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires a Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan for above ground tanks with a single tank capacity greater than 660 gallons or total capacity greater than 1,320 gallons. For underground tanks, the threshold is 42,000 gallons.

Many farmers are unaware that they need an SPCC plan, and it’s not something EPA inspectors typically come to the farm looking for, said environmental attorney Jack Van Kley.

"If the farm has a spill, that's when EPA asks if a farm has an SPPC plan," he said.

Farms are required to submit the plan to the U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA upon inspection or whenever there has been a spill greater than 1,000 gallons or two spills within a 12-month period. Penalties can range from up to $10,000 per violation to $10,000 per day depending on how serious the infraction.

According to the U.S. EPA, the plan must address operating procedures that prevent oil spills, control measures to prevent a spill from reaching navigable waters and countermeasures to contain, clean up and mitigate the effects of an oil spill that reaches navigable waters. The plan can be written by the owner or the operator of the facility, but it must be certified by an engineer.

Van Kley said the plan must also include an emergency contact list with phone numbers and cover personnel training. He noted that the plan is based on storage capacity, not what is actually kept in the tank.

"To avoid the requirement, stay under the threshold," he said.