New guy Ohio SPCC Question

[Newbie99]

Question: If I hold a PE in Ohio, will I need to obtain licensing to write/approve SPCC plans in other states such as Indiana? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much for your assistance in advance.

 

[bimr]

If you practice engineering in a particular state, you are required to be registered in that state. This requirement has nothing to do with a SPCC plan, it is just a state law.

Some SPCC plans do not require certification by a professional engineer:

The Oil Pollution Prevention Regulation requires that all applicable facilities have a fully prepared, facility-specific, and implemented Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures Plan. Some SPCC plans must be certified by a registered professional engineer. Following a December 2006 change to the Federal regulation, if a facility meets certain requirements and has a storage capacity of less than 10,000 gallons, the SPCC plan may not need to be certified by a registered professional engineer. The requirements are: the facility must not have had (1) a single discharge of oil to navigable waters exceeding 1,000 U.S. gallons or (2) two discharges of oil to navigable waters each exceeding 42 U.S. gallons within any twelve-month period, in the three years prior to the SPCC Plan certification date, or since becoming subject to 40 CFR Part 112 if facility has been in operation for less than three years. Facilities are required to implement the SPCC plan by carrying out the SPCC measures established for the type of facility or operation, such as preparing to contain a spill within dikes or berms. If containment measures cannot be implemented, a spill contingency plan must be developed and incorporated into the SPCC plan.

 

[greenone]

EPA does not have a requirements as to where the PE is registered. However, depending on your state/state of practice, the state may require the plan to be certified by an in-state PE. California, for one, wants the PE to be registered in CA.

When I worked for the really big multinational/multi-state transport company, we hired one engineering firm to write all the plans, and the one guy stamped them all-he was not registered in 50 states.

 

[bimr]

greenone, it is against the law to practice engineering without a license. This has nothing to do with an SPCC plan. This has nothing to do with the EPA. The EPA is not responsible for enforcement of state laws requiring licensure.

Practicing engineering without a license is akin to driving a car without a license. Everything is good until you are caught.

Would you retain an attorney who is not licensed to practice?

 

[BigH]

Its about time that if you have a license in one state, you would get comity to practice in any other. Talk about regulation against interstate commerce. I think that it is non-sense that an Engineer who lives, say in Philadelphia, has to hold licenses in PA, NY, DE, NJ which are all within 100 miles of his base. As it now stands, the others are correct. But the time is coming that something has to change.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

BigH -

I COMPLETELY agree with you - however I am registered in 42 states and it costs about $2000 - $3000 every year to stay current!!

 

[greenone]

bimr-No one was practicing engineering without a license. Since SPCC is a federal requirement, they oversee the program in many states, because the locals don't want to enforce on their own. A PE did stamp the plans.

 

[bimr]

If you practice engineering in a particular state, you are required by that state to be registered in that state. This requirement has nothing to do with preparing the SPCC plan or the EPA. Licensing is the responsiblity of the states, not the federal government.

If you are not licensed to work in a state and you do work in that state, then you are practicing engineering without a license which is an illegal activity. You business card can not say PE unless you have a license in the state where you are working.

Your statement "one guy stamped them all-he was not registered in 50 states." is not consistent with the state laws of licensing of professional engineering.

For example, if you prepare a plan in California, inspect the project in California, produce documents to be used in California; you are in effect practicing engineering in California. Therefore you must be licensed in California. Otherwise you are practicing without a license.

 

[BigH]

MTE - why not just go for the other 8?

 

[darthsoilsguy2]

The argument for NO:

Engineer must be left out of the RFP or however you were contacted, you must have and state your non-engineering qualifications in the proposal and the report, and define your understanding that this is not practicing engineering in the proposal and the report. Read the definition of practicing engineering in the Indiana statute to tailor this wording. If you can't pull that off, than it's engineering.

Of course your company needs to have a business license in that state. also if the client is public entity, they may redlight the whole thing because they are bound to have engineers do "engineering" and the easier decision is to file your proposal in the trash can than open up the debate.

Our company does SPCC, but we typically have them signed by a PE because she is one. i've read quite a few and whether or not this permitting document really is engineering is a good question. It sure doesn't feel like engineering and it wouldn't suprise me if it gets reviewed by non-engineers at the EPA.

@greenone - i think you're confusing people with the "stamp" statement. I'm guessing the corporate office is located in a state where he/she has a stamp and submitted a multi-facility plan, or they just signed it with the understanding the stamp being gratuitous.