Milk Storage Tanks Exempt From Oil Spill Rule
US - The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) has welcomed the decision of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make milk storage tanks exempt from oil spill prevention rules.
4 June 2010
2 minute read
IDFA has learned that the EPA will not require milk silos, tanks and other equipment to comply with the Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure Rule (SPCC) when the rule's obligations go into effect in November. It is expected that EPA will issue a final rule giving a permanent exemption to milk storage tanks up to one million gallons in size soon.
Connie Tipton, IDFA president and CEO, said: "We are pleased that the EPA has looked at this issue carefully, listened to our concerns and responded with a common sense approach. We appreciate the agency's action to provide a permanent exemption for milk from spill prevention regulations that were put in place to target traditional oil spills."
IDFA has worked with the EPA on oil-related environmental issues since Congress enacted the Edible Oil Regulatory Reform Act in 1995, which requires federal agencies to distinguish how government regulations apply to non- petroleum classes of oil.
The SPCC regulations have been in place since 11 December 1973 but have not been applied to milk specifically. In 2009, EPA proposed to amend the SPCC requirements to codify that milk silos, tanks and other equipment are exempt.
IDFA has been asking for an interpretation that milk is not oil, or in the alternative, a dairy exemption since 2005 and supported the EPA's proposed rule last year.
Last week, members of the House of Representatives' Dairy Caucus urged the EPA to confirm the exemption for milk.
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