ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM AT KSC

Permitting & Compliance - Pollution Incident - Reporting & Notification

Reporting Requirements

Hazardous materials in amounts varying from several ounces of relatively benign substances to thousands of gallons of toxic, flammable and/or explosive materials are received and handled throughout KSC each day. All releases must be reported to the Environmental Program Branch (EPB) as “pollution incidents,” because the environmental impact that may result is regulated by federal or Florida Codes or because the circumstances of the release, such as the location or nature of the release, may result in violations of Code.

At the Kennedy Space Center and NASA/KSC-operated facilities located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), releases must be reported verbally to the EPB at 867.9005 within the work shift discovered. In cases where the EPB cannot be reached, such as second, third shift or on the weekend or where support is required the Support Operations Office shall be notified at 853.5211. The Operations Officer shall notify the appropriate personnel.

The EPB shall be responsible for determining if the release is a reportable quantity of a reportable substance. The EPB shall be the KSC point-of-contact for all notification and correspondence about any release to off-site authorities. Substances which require EPB to contact off-site authorities include:

  • Petroleum Products:
    • Brevard County, verbal, followed by written appropriate FDEP form. Maps are desirable
    • National Response Center, verbal, if discharged to surface waters
  • Extremely hazardous substances:
    • State Emergency Response Commission, verbal
  • CERCLA hazardous substances:
    • National Response Center, verbal
    • State Emergency Response Commission, verbal
  • Industrial Wastewater Emergency Overflow:
    • FDEP, verbal, written as requested
  • Sewage releases:
    • FDEP, verbal, written with next monthly report
  • Air releases of emissions exceeding permitted limits:
    • FDEP, verbal, followed by written report at FDEP’s discretion
  • PCB’s:
    • National Response Center, verbal

Releases at KSC shall be reported using the KSC Incident Reporting and Notification Form (PIR), KSC Form 21-555 and is available in KSC Electronic Forms. The following are general exemptions from the written reporting and notification form requirement:

  • Quantity of hazardous material released is 4 ounces or less and is not reportable to off-site regulatory agencies
  • Release occurs inside a facility and does not reach the outside environment and is not reportable to off-site regulatory agencies
  • Release is considered a fugitive emission or is contained as a standard operational procedure or scheduled activity (e.g., drips from disconnection of fluid lines) and does not exceed the reportable quantity (RQ) threshold
  • Release occurs on impervious surface and is cleaned up without aid from JBOSC spill response and with no impact to soil or water. (Exception is a release from a storage tank system to its secondary containment, which must be reported.)

Within three working days of the incident, the responsible party must submit a KSC PIR (KSC Form 21-555)) as completely as possible based on the best available knowledge of the incident. The Pollution Incident Report shall be kept by the EPB. The EPB shall provide to the submitting Organization a completed PIR Form indicating whether there is any additional information required or follow-on actions. The completed PIR will be the OR’s copy for record and indicated the PIR has been reviewed by the EPB. Besides being an internal account of spills at KSC, the PIR is a mechanism for identifying sites requiring remediation. A detailed description of the incident on the report form is necessary to support the EPB request for funding from NASA Headquarters to investigate and remediate the site.

A database of PIR’s is maintained by EPB and is used to store information on reported releases. Compiling information in this manner allows for the evaluation of incidents for trends and to rapidly answer questions concerning spills reported at the Center. Refer to KDP-KSC-P-1728 for PIR process requirements. PIR data is also used to support other environmental programs at KSC such as:

  • Compliance and Enforcement Support
  • Permit Nonconformance
  • Environmental Planning
  • Statistical and Trend Analysis
  • Academic Research
  • Property Transfer/Site Audits

If you need further assistance, please contact Pat Lynn 321.867.4735.