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1.0 INTRODUCTION Section 311(j)(1)(C) of the Clean Water Act required that regulations be issued to establish procedures, methods, equipment, and other requirements to prevent discharges of oil from vessels and facilities and to tiO6 contain such discharges from entering "navigable waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines, or into or upon the waters of the contiguous zone, or in Lands Act or he Deepwater Po t activitiesnnection with under of 974, or that may affect natural resources belonging to, appertaining to, or under the exclusive management authority of the United States (including resources under the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act)." These regulations were promulgated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and are found in 40 CFR Part 112, Oil Pollution Prevention. One of the requirements of these regulations is that certain containment areas be "sufficiently impervious" to prevent a spill from reaching navigable waters. Specifically, the regulations in 40 CFR 112 require secondary containment systems, "including walls and floor, must be capable of containing oil and must be constructed so that any discharge from a primary containment system, such as a tank, will not escape the containment system before cleanup occurs." (40 CFR 112.7(c)) With regard to bulk storage containers, the regulations similarly require that "diked areas are sufficiently impervious to contain discharged oil" according to 40 CFR 112.8(c)(2). However, the regulations are silent as to what constitutes "sufficiently impervious." At one time, U.S. EPA proposed a 72 -hour impermeability standard for containment. This proposal ultimately was withdrawn. In the preamble to the July 17, 2002 regulations, U.S. EPA stated: "... we have decided to withdraw the proposal for the 72 -hour impermeability standard and retain the current standard that diked areas must be sufficiently impervious to contain oil... the purpose of secondary containment is to contain oil from reaching waters of the United States. The rationale for the 72 -hour standard was to allow time for the discovery and removal of an oil spill. We believe that an owner or operator of a facility should have flexibility in how to prevent discharges ... and that any method of containment that achieves that end is sufficient." ERM 1-1 110870\CHEVRON\SPCC -JULY 2010