When the engineer who certified your oil spill plan has retired or can't be found, a new licensed PE can review it, certify what needs certifying, and put you back on solid ground
Maybe an inspector, an insurer, or a lender asked to see your Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan. Or maybe you just changed a tank and went looking for the plan, and you noticed the engineer whose seal is on the certification page retired a few years ago. Their firm might have closed, or nobody can find them. Now you're wondering whether the plan still counts and who can sign off on anything new.
The short answer is that you haven't lost anything. Any licensed Professional Engineer (PE) can review your plan and certify amendments from here on, and the engineer who wrote it doesn't have to be involved. Below we cover whether your existing certification still holds, who can step in, what a new PE's review involves, and why this is a good time to clean up problems that have built up over the years. If you'd rather hand the whole thing off, you can reach out to RMA and we'll help you sort out the next step.
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TL;DR
A retired or missing engineer doesn't cancel your SPCC Plan or its certification. Any PE licensed in New Jersey can review the plan and certify technical amendments, and the original engineer doesn't have to be involved. The review usually means a site visit, a check of the plan against your current tanks and piping, and a list of anything to fix. It's also the easiest time to correct outdated tank lists, drawings, and containment calculations before an inspector finds them.
Does a Retired or Missing PE Make My New Jersey SPCC Plan Invalid?
No. Under the federal SPCC rule (40 CFR 112.3(d)), a licensed PE has to review and certify your plan for it to count, and that certification is a snapshot. It says the engineer examined the facility, found the plan adequate, and confirmed that inspection and testing procedures were set up, all as of the date on the certification page. Nothing in the rule says the certification expires when the engineer retires, the firm closes, or the license goes inactive. Your plan is still your plan. EPA Region 2 enforces SPCC in New Jersey, and an inspector from that office will expect to see a plan with a PE certification, which you still have. We cover the agencies involved in who enforces SPCC plans.
The real exposure is the gap between that snapshot and your facility today. If you've added, removed, or moved a tank, replaced piping, changed what's stored, or altered your secondary containment since the engineer signed, the plan needs an amendment, and a PE has to certify technical amendments (40 CFR 112.5). You have six months to prepare an amendment after the change and another six months to implement it. When the engineer who knew your plan is gone, changes like these tend to pile up uncertified because nobody knows who to call. That's the gap to look for first.
| Change at your facility |
Does a PE need to certify it? |
| Adding, removing, or relocating a tank or container |
Yes, this is a technical amendment |
| Replacing or rerouting oil piping |
Yes, this is a technical amendment |
| Changing walls, dikes, or drainage around containment |
Yes, this is a technical amendment |
| Changing the product stored or how a tank is used |
Often, if it changes your spill risk; a PE makes the call |
| Updating a contact name or phone number |
No, you can make this change yourself |
Who Can Certify or Amend My New Jersey SPCC Plan Now?
Any licensed PE who's willing to put their seal on it. The engineer who wrote the plan doesn't have to be involved, and EPA's own guidance acknowledges that the certifying PE may not be the one who certified the plan originally. In that case the new engineer's certification simply covers the amendment they reviewed. In New Jersey, anyone practicing engineering has to hold a New Jersey license, and a PE on retired status can't practice here, so confirm that whoever you're considering is current with the State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.
Some firms keep a PE on staff, and others work with a trusted outside engineer. Either approach works. What counts is that a licensed PE visits the facility, reviews the plan, and signs it. It also helps to find someone with real oil storage experience, since engineering firms vary a lot in how well they know Part 112. Our article on professional engineers and SPCC plan requirements explains what to look for.
You may not need a PE at all. A facility with 10,000 gallons or less of total aboveground oil storage and a clean discharge history can often self-certify its plan as a qualified facility (40 CFR 112.3(g)), with a few limits on container size and on certain alternative measures. If that's you, the missing engineer is a non-issue, and we'd rather tell you that than sell you something. Our piece on the PE-certified SPCC plan shows where that line falls.
One more layer applies to some New Jersey facilities. If yours is a "major facility" under NJDEP's N.J.A.C. 7:1E rules, you also have Discharge Prevention, Containment and Countermeasure (DPCC) and Discharge Cleanup and Removal (DCR) plans, and those carry their own certification and amendment requirements separate from the federal SPCC plan. Mention that to whoever you hire so nothing gets missed, and see our overview of SPCC plans in New Jersey for how the state and federal pieces fit together.
What Does a New PE's SPCC Plan Review Involve?
A PE can't just stamp a plan from an office chair. The certification under 40 CFR 112.3(d)(1) says the engineer is familiar with Part 112, that they or their agent visited and examined the facility, that the plan follows good engineering practice and the rule, that inspection and testing procedures are in place, and that the plan is adequate for your facility. So expect a site visit.
The process runs in a straightforward order. You send over the current plan, your tank and container list, any drawings, your inspection records, and a list of changes since the last certification. The PE or someone working for them walks the site, compares what's there against what the plan says, and writes up whatever doesn't match. You fix what needs fixing, the plan gets revised, and the PE certifies it. How long the visit takes depends on how many containers and how much piping your site has.
You usually have a choice of scope. The PE can certify only the amendments you need, in which case the certification applies to those changes and nothing else. Or the PE can review the whole plan and certify it fresh, which gives you a current certification page from an engineer you can reach. If the original certification is many years old and the facility has changed a lot, the full review tends to be the cleaner route. Either way, the certification doesn't take the work off your plate. The rule says the owner or operator still has to implement the plan (40 CFR 112.3(d)(2)), and the six-month amendment clock runs from the change itself, so it's better to start before an inspection forces the issue.
Why Is a New PE Review a Good Chance to Fix Old SPCC Plan Problems?
You're already bringing in a PE to walk the site, so it's the cheapest time to find out what has drifted. Plans that outlast their original engineer tend to share the same handful of problems. The tank list doesn't match what's on site. The facility diagram shows a layout from years ago. Secondary containment sizing hasn't been rechecked against the current tanks (our guide to how big your SPCC oil spill containment needs to be walks through the sizing basics). Inspection records have gaps, and the annual discharge prevention briefings for oil-handling employees aren't documented. And the five-year review, which the rule requires you to document with a signed statement, was never done or never written down. If that last one sounds familiar, read SPCC plan 5-year reviews and what to do when your SPCC plan is over 5 years old.
None of this is unusual, and none of it means you've failed. These are the kinds of gaps that show up in inspections and enforcement, and our article on top SPCC plan violations and fines covers what they can cost. Finding them yourself, with a PE in the room, is a far better way to learn about them. Our look at the most overlooked SPCC plan requirements is a useful checklist to read before the visit.
If the plan is in decent shape, a new PE review and a round of corrections may be all you need. If it's thin or badly out of date, a rebuild is often cleaner than patching, and we'll tell you which one you're looking at. For the training gap, our online training library includes SPCC training for the people who handle oil at your site.
How Does RMA Help When the PE on Your SPCC Plan Is Gone?
We're a family-run firm based in New Jersey, so NJDEP and EPA Region 2 are familiar territory. When a plan's PE has retired or can't be found, we start by reading the plan and telling you plainly where it stands: fine as it is, in need of corrections before a PE can certify it, or better rebuilt so we can stand behind it. Then we help you get through to a certified plan. If you're a qualified facility that can self-certify, or you already have an engineer you trust, we'll say so and point you the right way.
A rebuilt SPCC plan generally runs from $2,500 to $15,000, depending on the size of the facility, the number of containers, and how complex your containment is. Our article on SPCC plan costs breaks down what drives that range.
If you'd like to talk it through, you can call us at 888-RMA-0230, email us, or fill out the form on our website. There's no pressure and no obligation, and we're glad to answer questions even if you end up handling it another way. Whenever you're ready, just contact RMA about your SPCC plan.
