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Growing public awareness and concern
for controlling water pollution led to enactment of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (33
U.S.C. 1251 et seq.). As amended in 1977 (P.L. 95-217), this law
became commonly known as the
Clean Water Act (CWA). The CWA is the principle law governing
pollution control and water quality of the Nation’s waterways. The
object of the CWA is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and
biological integrity of the Nation’s waters (33 U.S.C. 1251), and
provides standards and enforcement, a number of regulatory programs with
permits and licenses, grants and revolving funds, as well as general
provisions and provisions for research and related programs.
The CWA establishes conditions and
permitting for discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United
States under the
National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and gave
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to implement
pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for
industry and set water quality standards for all contaminants in surface
waters. The CWA made it unlawful for any person to discharge any
pollutant from a point source into waters of the United States, unless a
NPDES permit was obtained under its provisions.
Under Sections 301, 302, 304, and 306
of the CWA, the EPA issues technology-based effluent guidelines that
establish discharge standards based on treatment technologies that are
available and economically achievable. Each EPA Region issues permits
that meet or exceed the guidelines and standards. It also funded the
construction of sewage treatment plants under the construction grants
program and recognized the need for planning to address the critical
problems posed by nonpoint source pollution.
The EPA regulates all waste streams generated from
offshore oil and gas activities, primarily by general permits. The EPA
may not issue a permit for a discharge into ocean waters unless the
discharge complies with the guidelines established under
Section 403(c) of the CWA. The intent of these guidelines is to
prevent degradation of the marine environment and require an assessment
of the effect of the proposed discharges on sensitive biological
communities and aesthetic, recreational, and economic values.
The MMS meets its legal responsibility by working with
the EPA and offshore operators to ensure that all applicable CWA
regulations are being followed. For example, in the Pacific region, MMS
inspectors pick up NPDES-required samples from offshore operators and
deliver them to the EPA. In the Gulf of Mexico region, MMS inspectors
examine discharge records on the platform to evaluate compliance.
Direct dischargers (an OCS operator, for example) must
comply with the
effluent limitations guidelines and the new source performance
standards in the NPDES permits; indirect dischargers must comply with
the pretreatment standards. The most recent effluent limitations
guidelines for the oil and gas extraction point‑source category were
published in 1993. The EPA also published new guidelines for the
discharge of
synthetic-based drilling fluids (SBF) on January 22, 2001 [66 FR
6850 (January 22, 2001)]
Existing point source dischargers (exploratory wells
and grandfathered development and production facilities) are regulated
using technology based effluent limitations guidelines (ELG) [40 CFR
Part 435]. Regulated wastes include drilling fluids and cuttings,
produced water, sanitary wastes, and deck drainage among others. Three
broad categories of pollutants are identified in the guidelines:
conventional, toxic, and non-conventional, which are described below.
The level of required discharge control is dependent on the category of
the pollutant.
Conventional pollutants
are contained in the sanitary wastes of households, businesses, and
industries. These pollutants include fecal coliform, total suspended
solids, biochemical oxygen demand, pH, and oil and grease (e.g.,
hydrocarbons, fats, oils, waxes, and high-molecular fatty acids).
Toxic pollutants
are pollutants or combinations of pollutants, including disease-causing
agents, which after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation
or assimilation into any organism, either directly from the environment
or indirectly by ingestion through food chains, will, on the basis of
information available to the Administrator of EPA, cause death, disease,
behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological
malfunctions, (including malfunctions in reproduction) or physical
deformations, in such organisms or their offspring. Toxic pollutants
also include those pollutants listed by the Administrator under CWA
Section 307(a)(1) or any pollutant listed under Section 405(d) which
relates to sludge management.
Non-conventional pollutants
are all pollutants that are not included in the list of conventional or
toxic pollutants in 40 CFR Part 401, such as chemical oxygen demand
(COD), total organic carbon (TOC), nitrogen, and phosphorus.
New point sources and existing point sources of
pollutants have different NPDES regulations. New sources are subject to
more rigorous effluent limits than existing sources based on the idea
that it is cheaper to minimize effluent pollutants if environmental
controls are considered during plant design than if an existing facility
is retrofitted. New source discharges must comply with standards based
on the performance of demonstrated technology with the greatest degree
of effluent reduction. These new source performance standards (NSPS)
should represent the most stringent numerical values attainable. NSPS
are based upon the best available demonstrated control technology and
are at least as stringent as best available technology.
The NPDES guidelines define a new source as any area
in which significant site preparation work is done. EPA interprets
“significant site preparation” for offshore effluent guidelines as “the
process of clearing and preparing an area of the ocean floor for
purposes of constructing or placing a development or production facility
on or over the site.” Thus, development and production facilities at a
new site would be new sources. Development and production facilities are
existing sources if significant site preparation work took place before
NSPS became effective. Exploratory wells are not considered new sources
because site preparation is not considered significant.
Originally published in 1973 under the
authority of section 311 of the CWA, the
Oil Pollution Prevention regulation sets forth requirements for
prevention of, preparedness for, and response to oil discharges at
specific non-transportation-related facilities. To prevent oil from
reaching navigable waters and adjoining shorelines, and to contain
discharges of oil, the regulation requires these facilities to develop
and implement Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plans
and establishes procedures, methods, and equipment requirements
(Subparts A, B, and C).
The
Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) amended the CWA, and
provided new requirements for contingency planning by government and
industry under the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution
Contingency Plan. OPA 90 also increased penalties for regulatory
noncompliance, broadened the response and enforcement authorities of the
federal government, and preserved state authority to establish laws
governing oil spill prevention and response.
On July 1, 1994, EPA finalized the revisions that direct
facility owners or operators to prepare and submit plans for responding
to a worst-case discharge of oil (Subpart D).
OPA 90 gave the Secretary of the Interior authority
over offshore facilities and associated pipelines, with the exception of
deepwater ports, for State and Federal offshore waters. The Secretary in
turn delegated this OPA 90 authority to MMS. The resulting tasks for MMS
include the following: enforcing spill prevention measures, reviewing
spill response plans, inspecting spill containment and cleanup
equipment, reviewing spill financial liability limits, and certifying
spill financial responsibility.
Section 316(b) of the CWA requires
that the location, design, construction and capacity of cooling water
intake structures reflect the best technology available for minimizing
adverse environmental impact. The regulations are designed to minimize
harmful impacts on aquatic life caused by cooling water intake
structures. In
Phase III implementation of the new standards, certain existing
facilities and new offshore and coastal oil and gas extraction
facilities are included. EPA has published the third and final part of
this rule which establishes categorical requirements under section
316(b) of the CWA for new offshore oil and gas extraction facilities
that have a design intake flow threshold of greater than 2 million
gallons per day (MGD) and that withdraw at least 25 percent of the water
exclusively for cooling purposes. The Administrator signed this rule on
June 1, 2006, and it was published in the Federal Register [71 FR 35005,
June 16, 2006].
The EPA issues general and individual NPDES permits
for a five-year period. These permits are subject to renewal for
subsequent five-year periods. General permits are written for a specific
industrial category within a limited geographic area. The general permit
allows for streamlining of the permitting process for similar
activities. Individual permits enhance the protection of sensitive
resources while still allowing the development of energy resources.
Individual permits provide more opportunity for EPA evaluation and input
to OCS oil and gas facility developments.
Status of Current NPDES Permits:
The final NPDES general permit for
existing and new source discharges in the Eastern Portion of the outer
continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico,
GMG460000 (PDF) (138 pp, 264 KB PDF), was issued on December 9, 2004 and
expires on December 31, 2009. The permit applies to operators of leases
seaward of the 200 meter water depth for offshore Alabama and Florida in
the Eastern Planning Area and offshore Mississippi and Alabama in the
Mobile and Viosca Knoll lease blocks in the Central Planning Area. For
operations landward of the 200 meter water depth, individual permits are
required. More information about offshore oil and gas discharge permits
from Region 4 can be found at:
http://www.epa.gov/Region4/water/permits/oil_gas.html.
Contact Person: Margaret Metcalf (504) 731-7801
EPA Region 6 regulates discharges from
the offshore oil and gas category through a general permit. Each
operator for each facility must apply to be covered by this permit. The NPDES OCS General Permit No. GMG290000 was reissued with an effective
date of October 1, 2007, expiring at midnight of September 30, 2012 [72
Fed. Reg. No. 109, p. 31575]. The MMS inspectors perform most of
the NPDES offshore platform compliance inspections for EPA.
Additionally, the US Coast Guard Marine Safety Office conducts
inspections. More information about offshore oil and gas discharge
permits from Region 6 can be found at:
http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6en/w/offshore/home.htm.
Contact Person: Margaret Metcalf (504) 731-7801
EPA Region 9 has issued a final
general NPDES permit for offshore oil and gas facilities located in
Federal waters off the coast of Southern California. The permit
effective date is December 1, 2004 and expires on December 1, 2009.
This permit authorizes discharges from all
exploratory facilities operating within the permit area and development
and production facilities which are not new sources including the
following: Platforms A, B, C, Edith, Ellen/Elly, Eureka, Gail, Gilda,
Gina, Grace, Habitat, Harmony, Harvest, Henry, Heritage, Hermosa,
Hillhouse, Hidalgo, Hogan, Hondo, Houchin, and Irene.
More information about offshore oil and
gas discharge permits from Region 9 can be found at:
http://www.epa.gov/region09/water/npdes/permits.html.
Contact Person: Dave Panzer (805) 389-7823
EPA Region 10 has issued an Arctic Oil and Gas General
Permit which became effective on June 26, 2006 and expires on June 26,
2011. The permit applies only to oil and gas exploration facilities
located on the outer continental shelf and contiguous State waters in
the Beaufort Sea, the Chukchi Sea, Hope and Norton Planning Basins. The
permit does not apply to production facilities, which must apply for an
individual permit. EPA Region 10 has also issued a Cook Inlet Oil and
Gas Exploration general permit which became effective on July 2, 2007
and expires on July 2, 2012. More information about
offshore oil and gas discharge permits from Region 10 can be found at:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/WATER.NSF/NPDES+Permits/General+NPDES+Permits#Oil%20and%20Gas
Contact Person: Nancy Deschu (907) 334-5421 |
