There are a myriad of federal statutes that require your company to report a spill to any of the following:
- National Response Center
- State Emergency Response Center (SERC)
- Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)
- Local Fire Department
Failure to report a spill can lead to an enforcement action as well as civil penalties. Also, failure to respond appropriately following a spill can lead to serious ramifications for your company in terms of exposure to greater clean up costs, property damages, or environmental harm.
Due to the liability exposure associated with managing and reporting spills appropriately, its wise for all corporations to have prepared an internal corporate policy for spill response. The policy would not only cover when you have a legal obligation to report a spill to regulators, but also how to communicate about a spill internally within the company.
Depending on the facts and circumstances surrounding the spill event, you are not always under a legal obligation to report a spill to the authorities. Its wise to know your regulatory obligations before making the decision to report. Otherwise, you may be inviting teams of regulators to your facility unnecessarily. (Click here for U.S. EPA’s Website on Spill Reporting)
The facts of each event are different. Therefore, each must be analyzed independently to determine your regulatory obligations. However, its wise to get familiar with the triggers for mandatory reporting.
Attached is a series of power point slides which contains information regarding the most commonly applied federal regulations that may trigger mandatory reporting to federal or state regulators. The spreadsheet shows the event, regulation, trigger level and reporting requirement.
These charts were based upon a more limited spreadsheet prepared by Region VII of U.S. EPA called the Fact Sheet on Emergency Release Reporting Requirements. They are meant for reference only and cannot substitute for analysis of each regulation and the facts surrounding your particular event. However, I hope they are useful to you in getting familiar with the mandatory reporting obligations that exist.
