
	Oil Program

Where You Live

About the Oil Program

Reporting Oil Spills

Preventing Oil Spills

Preparing for Oil Spills

Responding to Oil Spills

Learning Center

Laws and Regulations

Since 1968, Congress has responded to the health and environmental threats posed by inadvertent releases of oil and hazardous substances by passing five major pieces of legislation. These laws, and the regulations developed to implement them, are the foundation of EPA's Emergency Response Program.

The tables below list the current laws and regulations and provide links to general overviews, the legislative and regulatory text, and summaries of key provisions. The summaries will soon be linked to the relevant legal text.

Links to legislative and regulatory text will take you to other Web sites where the text resides. Use the "Back" button in your browser to return to this EPA site.

LAWS DEFINING EPA'S EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM

Overview	Full Text	Summary of Key Provisions
Clean Water Act	CWA	Oil & Hazardous Substances
Oil Pollution Act	OPA	Oil & Hazardous Substances
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, & Liability Act	CERCLA or Superfund	Hazardous Substances
Superfund Amendments & Reauthorization Act	SARA	Hazardous Substances
Emergency Planning & Community Right-to-Know	EPCRA or SARA Title III	Hazardous Substances

REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING EPA'S EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM

Overview	Full Text	Summary of Key Provisions
National Contingency Plan	40 CFR 300 (PDF, 1.6M, 276 pages)	Oil & Hazardous Substances
Oil Pollution Prevention	40 CFR 112 (PDF, 982K, 90 pages) Abstract	Oil Pollution Prevention Key Provisions SPCC Rule Cross-Reference Applicability of SPCC Rule Sections to Facilities and Oil Types (PDF, 54K, 3 pages) Abstract Final Rule to Extend Deadlines under the SPCC Rule - August 11, 2004 (PDF, 76K, 6 pages) Final Revised SPCC Rule - July 17, 2002 (PDF, 987K, 112 pages) Facility Response Plan (FRP) Rule - July 1, 1994 Original SPCC Rule - December 11, 1973 (PDF, 1.5M, 8 pages)
Discharge of Oil	40 CFR 110	Discharge of Oil Key Provisions
Extremely Hazardous Substances	40 CFR 355	Hazardous Substances
Local Governments Reimbursement	40 CFR 310	Hazardous Substances
Reportable Quantities Requirement	40 CFR 302	Hazardous Substances

Links to the text of each regulation are referenced by its location in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). For example, "40 CFR 300" means that the regulation is in Volume 40, Part 300 of the CFR.

		OSWER Home \| Superfund Home \| Oil Program


		EPA Home \| Privacy and Security Notice \| Contact Us