[House Report 112-643]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


112th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     112-643

======================================================================



 
          FARMERS UNDERTAKE ENVIRONMENTAL LAND STEWARDSHIP ACT
                                _______
                                

 August 1, 2012.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Mica, from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 3158]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to whom 
was referred the bill (H.R. 3158) to direct the Administrator 
of the Environmental Protection Agency to change the Spill 
Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule with respect to 
certain farms, having considered the same, report favorably 
thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose of the Legislation.......................................     1
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     2
Hearings.........................................................     3
Legislative History and Consideration............................     3
Committee Votes..................................................     3
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     3
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................     3
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................     3
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     5
Advisory of Earmarks.............................................     5
Federal Mandate Statement........................................     5
Preemption Clarification.........................................     5
Advisory Committee Statement.....................................     5
Applicability to the Legislative Branch..........................     5
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation...................     5
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     6

                       PURPOSE OF THE LEGISLATION

    H.R. 3158, the Farmers Undertake Environmental Land 
Stewardship Act, or the FUELS Act, requires the Administrator 
of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in implementing 
the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures rule with 
respect to any farm, to require certification of compliance 
with such rule by: (1) a professional engineer for a farm with 
an individual tank with a storage capacity greater than 10,000 
gallons, an aggregate storage capacity of at least 42,000 
gallons, or a history that includes a spill; or (2) the owner 
or operator of the farm (via self-certification) for a farm 
with an aggregate storage capacity greater than 10,000 gallons 
but less than 42,000 gallons and no history of spills. The bill 
exempts from all requirements of such rule any farm with an 
aggregate storage capacity that is less than or equal to 10,000 
gallons and no history of spills. The bill excludes all 
containers on separate parcels that have a capacity that is 
less than 1,320 gallons from the aggregate storage capacity of 
a farm.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The EPA mandated Oil Spill Prevention, Control and 
Countermeasures program, or SPCC, requires that oil storage 
facilities with a capacity of over 1,320 gallons must make 
infrastructure improvements to reduce the possibility of oil 
spills. The regulations require farmers to construct a 
containment facility, like a dike or a basin, which must retain 
110 percent of the fuel in the container. These mandated 
infrastructure improvements--along with the necessary 
inspection and certification by a specially licensed 
Professional Engineer will cost many farmers tens of thousands 
of dollars. Sometimes compliance costs reach higher than 
$60,000.
    The SPCC program dates back to 1973, shortly after the 
Clean Water Act was signed into law. In the last decade, it has 
been rigorously applied to agriculture lands, and has been 
amended, delayed, and extended dozens of times. The Obama 
administration updated the rule in 2009 to expand regulation 
under the SPCC program--applying it to nearly all farms, and 
lifting a 2006 rule that suspended compliance requirements for 
small farms with oil storage of 10,000 gallons or less. It 
applied to crop oil, vegetable oil, animal fat, and even milk. 
Further revisions came during April of 2011 when the EPA 
decided to exempt milk.
    The 2009 rule--minus regulating milk spills--was scheduled 
to go into effect in November 2011. A few weeks before the 
November deadline, EPA issued a statement saying they would not 
begin enforcement until May of 2013. While enforcement has been 
delayed until 2013, the underlying regulation has not been 
fixed.
    The FUELS Act requires that EPA revise the SPCC regulations 
to be reflective of a producer's spill risk and financial 
resources. The exemption level would be adjusted upward from 
1,320 gallons of oil storage to an amount that would protect 
small farms: 10,000 gallons. The proposal would also place a 
greater degree of responsibility on farmers and ranchers to 
self-certify compliance if their oil storage facilities exceed 
the exemption level. If the amount exceeds 42,000 gallons, a 
professional engineer must certify the SPCC plans for a farm. 
The bill provides another layer of protection by requiring the 
producer to be able to demonstrate that he or she has no 
history of oil spills, or to fully comply with the SPCC 
regulations.
    The University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture did a 
study that concluded that, for the entire country, H.R. 3158 
would save farmers and ranchers up to $3.36 billion.

                                HEARINGS

    No hearings were held on H.R. 3158.

                 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY AND CONSIDERATION

    On October 12, 2012, Representative Rick Crawford of 
Arkansas introduced H.R. 3158, a bill to direct the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to change 
the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures rule with 
respect to certain farms.
    On July 26, 2012, the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure met in open session, and ordered the bill 
reported favorably to the House by voice vote with a quorum 
present.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the House of Representatives 
requires each committee report to include the total number of 
votes cast for and against on each record vote on a motion to 
report and on any amendment offered to the measure or matter, 
and the names of those members voting for and against. There 
were no record votes taken in connection with consideration of 
H.R. 3158, or ordering the bill reported. A motion to order 
H.R. 3158 reported favorably to the House was agreed to by 
voice vote with a quorum present.

                      COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(1) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee's oversight findings and recommendations are 
reflected in this report.

               NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND TAX EXPENDITURES

    Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives does not apply where a cost estimate and 
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974 has been timely submitted prior to the filing of the 
report and is included in the report. Such a cost estimate is 
included in this report.

               CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

    With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(3) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has 
received the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3158 from the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                     Washington, DC, July 31, 2012.
Hon. John L. Mica,
Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3158, the Farmers 
Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Susanne S. 
Mehlman.
            Sincerely,
                                         Robert A. Sunshine
                              (For Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 3158--Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship Act

    H.R. 3158 would require the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) to modify the Spill Prevention, Control, and 
Countermeasure (SPCC) rule, which regulates oil discharges into 
navigable waters and adjoining shorelines. A portion of the 
SPCC rule, effective May 10, 2013, will require farmers to 
develop an oil spill prevention plan that is certified by a 
professional engineer. Those plans could involve certain 
infrastructure changes to reduce the possibility of oil spills. 
Such plans will apply to farms that store more than 1,320 
gallons of oil products in aboveground containers or more than 
42,000 gallons of oil products in buried containers that could 
reasonably be expected to discharge oil into waters of the 
United States.
    Enacting H.R. 3158 would ease some compliance requirements 
for farmers, depending on the capacity of oil product 
containers located on a farm and whether a farm has previously 
experienced any spills. Specifically, under the bill, 
certification of compliance with the EPA rule by a professional 
engineer would only be required if the farm has an individual 
tank with a storage capacity greater than 10,000 gallons, has 
an aggregate storage capacity greater than or equal to 42,000 
gallons, or has previously experienced a spill. However, an 
owner or operator of a farm could provide self-certification 
with the SPCC rule if the farm has an aggregate storage 
capacity greater than 10,000 gallons, but less than 42,000 
gallons, and has no history of spills. Farms with an aggregate 
capacity of less than or equal to 10,000 gallons and no history 
of a spill would be exempt from all requirements of the SPCC 
rule.
    CBO estimates that enacting this legislation would have no 
significant net impact on the federal budget. Based on 
information from EPA, CBO estimates that implementing and 
enforcing the SPCC rule as it pertains to farmers under current 
law will cost $2 million over the next five years. Enacting 
this bill would exempt the majority of farms from complying 
with the rule and also would require EPA to amend the SPCC rule 
for farms and develop guidance and outreach material to educate 
affected stakeholders. CBO estimates that resources that would 
have been used to support the existing rule over the next five 
years would instead be used to implement H.R. 3158.
    Pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply to H.R. 3158 because 
enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues.
    H.R. 3158 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Susanne S. 
Mehlman. This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                    PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(4) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
performance goal and objective of this legislation is to direct 
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
change the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule 
with respect to certain farms.

                          ADVISORY OF EARMARKS

    Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives, the Committee is required to include a list 
of congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited 
tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of 
rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. No 
provision in the bill includes an earmark, limited tax benefit, 
or limited tariff benefit under clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of 
rule XXI.

                       FEDERAL MANDATE STATEMENT

    The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal 
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act (P.L. 104-4).

                        PREEMPTION CLARIFICATION

    Section 423 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 
requires the report of any Committee on a bill or joint 
resolution to include a statement on the extent to which the 
bill or joint resolution is intended to preempt state, local, 
or tribal law. The Committee states that H.R. 3158 does not 
preempt any state, local, or tribal law.

                      ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

    No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act are created by this 
legislation.

                APPLICABILITY TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act (P.L. 104-1).

             SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION

Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 states that the Act may be cited as the ``Farmers 
Undertake Environmental Lands Stewardship Act'' or the ``FUELS 
Act''.

Section 2. Applicability of Spill Prevention, Control, and 
        Countermeasure rule

    Section 2 requires the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency to implement the Spill Prevention, Control, 
and Countermeasures rule with respect to any farm such that 
certification of compliance with the rule shall be made by a 
professional engineer for a farm with (1) an individual tank 
with a storage capacity greater than 10,000, (2) an aggregate 
storage capacity greater than or equal to 42,000 gallons, or 
(3) a history that includes a spill. Self-certification by the 
owner or operator shall be required for a farm with (1) an 
aggregate storage capacity greater than 10,000 gallons but less 
than 42,000 gallons, and (2) no history of spills. The rule 
shall exempt from all requirements of such rule any farm (1) 
with an aggregate storage capacity of less than or equal to 
10,000 gallons, and (2) no history of spills. For purposes of 
calculating aggregate storage capacity, all containers on 
separate parcels that have a capacity that is less than 1,320 
gallons shall be excluded.

Section 3. Definitions

    Section 3 defines the following terms: Administrator, Farm, 
Gallon, and Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures 
Rule.

         CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    H.R. 3158 makes no changes in existing law.

                                  
