Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has introduced legislation that would modify EPA regulations regarding on-farm fuel storage. The bill, known as the Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship (FUELS) Act, is co-sponsored by Committee Chairman Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK).

“I am proud to introduce the Senate-version of the FUELS Act, which would provide relief for farms and ranches with on-farm fuel storage from unnecessary regulations meant for oil refineries,” said Sen. Fischer.

According to Fischer, EPA’s Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations were originally designed for major oil refineries, but over the past several years, the agency has threatened to subject the agriculture community to these regulations. The FUELS Act would exempt farms with 10,000 gallons or less of storage from the SPCC rule. In addition, it would exempt farms with an aggregate above ground storage of 10,001 to 42,000 gallons and/or no history of spills, and all aggregate above ground storage tanks for animal feed ingredients, regardless of capacity.

In 2014, Senator Fischer successfully brokered a bipartisan provision in the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 that addressed the EPA’s SPPC rule by providing an immediate 6,000-gallon exemption for agriculture producers. The provision also required the EPA to conduct a study to review and determine the most appropriate level of exemption for on-farm fuel storage between 2,500 and 6,000 gallons, based on significant risk of discharge to water. In June 2015, the EPA published its study on the SPCC rule, which raised further concerns that farms would still be significantly impacted by SPCC requirements.