1. (a) The owner or operator of an oil terminal facility, exploration facility, production facility, railroad, tank vessel, or oil barge shall take all appropriate measures to prevent spills or overfilling during a transfer of oil, including reduced loading rates at the beginning and end of a transfer.

2. (b) Unless it is technically unfeasible to do so, an oil containment boom appropriate for local conditions must be deployed in an effective manner around a tank vessel or oil barge during the transfer of

   1. (1) crude oil;
   2. (2) other persistent product; and
   3. (3) oily ballast water.
3. (c) Except for crude oil washing, tank cleaning operations may not be conducted during cargo offloading.
4. (d) The owner or operator shall ensure that each person involved in a transfer is capable of clearly communicating orders to stop a transfer at any time during the transfer.
5. (e) A positive means must be provided to stop a transfer in the shortest possible time consistent with the best commercially available technology.
6. (f) Before beginning a transfer to or from an area not protected by secondary containment, the owner or operator shall ensure that all valves in the transfer system have been checked to ensure that they are in the correct position, and that all manifolds not in use are blank flanged or capped. Where feasible, the owner or operator shall also inspect for damage or defects all piping and hoses used in the transfer before and at least once during each transfer.
7. (g) The lowermost drain and all outlets of any tank car or tank truck must be visually examined for leakage before filling and before departure. All tank car or tank truck manifolds must be blank flanged or capped, and valves must be secured before leaving the transfer area.
8. (h) All aboveground transfer piping that is used to transfer oil to or from docks or vessels must be visually checked before and during each transfer or monthly, whichever is less frequent.

9. (i) For purposes of (b) of this section, deployment of an oil containment boom is technically unfeasible if

   1. (1) expected tidal currents and other local environmental conditions preclude the effective configuration and operation of the oil containment boom due to entrainment or splash over; or
   2. (2) the physical facility layout precludes the effective configuration of the oil containment boom around the tank vessel or oil barge.

10. (j) In this section, "transfer" means any movement of oil by means of pumping, gravity, or displacement

    1. (1) within an oil terminal facility; or
    2. (2) between an oil terminal, exploration, or production facility and a railroad tank car, tank truck, tank vessel, or oil barge.

(Eff. 5/14/92, Register 122; am 10/28/2000, Register 156; am 12/14/2002, Register 164; am 12/30/2006, Register 180; am 10/27/2018, Register 228)

Authority: AS 46.03.020, AS 46.04.030, AS 46.04.055, AS 46.04.070