Reduction in the Release of Volatile Organic Compounds Regulations (Petroleum Sector) (SOR/2020-231)

Marginal note:Inspection — equipment components

• 6 (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), all equipment components at a facility that are listed in its inventory must be inspected for leaks three times per calendar year. Each inspection of an equipment component must be carried out in one of the following manners at least one month, but not more than six months, after the most recent inspection of that equipment component under this subsection:

  • (a) visually, if the component is a heavy-liquid component; and

  • (b) using a leak detection instrument that meets the requirements of subsection 5(1) or (2), as applicable, if the component is not a heavy-liquid component.

• Marginal note:Before 2027 — difficult to inspect

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), before 2027, all equipment components at a facility that are designated in its inventory under subsection 4(3) as “difficult to inspect” must be inspected for leaks once per calendar year. Each inspection of an equipment component must be carried out in one of the following manners, at least three months after the most recent inspection of that equipment component under this subsection:

  • (a) visually, if the component is a heavy-liquid component; and

  • (b) using a leak detection instrument that meets the requirements of subsection 5(1) or (2), as applicable, if the component is not a heavy-liquid component.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (3) The following components are exempt from the inspections required by subsections (1) and (2):

  • (a) a pump that has a dual mechanical seal system with a barrier fluid system and that meets the following requirements, namely,

    • (i) the dual mechanical seal system is

      • (A) operated with a barrier fluid system in which the fluid is at all times at a pressure that is greater than the stuffing box pressure,

      • (B) equipped with a barrier fluid degassing reservoir that is connected by a closed-vent system to a process gas system, a fuel gas system or a control device, or

      • (C) equipped with a system that purges the barrier fluid into a process gas system and prevents the release of any VOCs into the environment,

    • (ii) the barrier fluid contains less than 10% VOCs by weight, as determined in accordance with ASTM International standard E260, Standard Practice for Packed Column Gas Chromatography, or E169, Standard Practices for General Techniques of Ultraviolet-Visible Quantitative Analysis, or with other generally accepted engineering practices, and

    • (iii) the barrier fluid system is equipped with a sensor that is intended to detect any failure of the system; and

  • (b) a component that is designated in the inventory under paragraph 4(2)(e) as “unsafe to inspect”.

• Marginal note:Pumps — sensor check

  (4) The sensor referred to in subparagraph (3)(a)(iii) must be checked daily to determine whether there has been a failure of the barrier fluid system, unless the sensor is equipped with an audible alarm for the purpose of indicating such a failure or a mechanism that shuts down the pump in the event of such a failure.

• Marginal note:Pumps — visual inspection

  (5) Pumps that are listed in the inventory must also be inspected visually for leaks once per week.