Except as provided in 40 CFR §112.6 for qualified facilities, a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) must review and certify an SPCC Plan for it to be effective to satisfy the requirements of Part 112 (§112.3(d)).  When reviewing and certifying a facility’s SPCC Plan, must the PE be licensed in the same state in which the facility is located?

Pursuant to the federal SPCC regulations, it is not necessary that the PE be registered or licensed in the same state as the facility because the SPCC program is national in scope and, therefore, state expertise is unnecessary.  While states may prescribe more stringent requirements than EPA, a PE may familiarize himself with any particular requirements that a state may impose and address them in the SPCC Plan.  Furthermore, violations of PE ethics may be handled by the licensing board of the PE’s state no matter where the work is performed.  Although the SPCC regulations do not require that a PE be licensed in the same state in which the facility is located, state regulations may preclude a PE from applying his seal if he is not licensed in that state.