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Regulatory Alert - RA 04-07 - EPA Publishes Final Risk Management Program Amendments

Member Pipeline - Regulatory - Alert (RA 04-07)

To: Members & Affiliates
From: National Office
Date: April 12, 2004
Subject: EPA Publishes Final Risk Management Program Amendments
Reference: RA 04-07

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On April 9, 2004, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) published a final rule amending the Agency’s risk management program submittal requirements for chemical facilities, including publicly owned treatment works (POTWs), covered under Clean Air Act Section 112(r) (69 Fed. Reg. 18819). AMSA submitted comments (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/outreach/2003-09-15RMPCmts.pdf) to EPA on September 15, 2003, on the proposed changes, and the final amendments are consistent with the Association’s recommendations and will reduce administrative burden and cost while ensuring plant security.

Background on Risk Management Program Regulations
The Agency first promulgated risk management planning regulations as part of the accidental release prevention provisions of the Clean Air Act on June 20, 1996 (61 Fed. Reg. 31668). The 1996 regulations require owners and operators of stationary sources to submit risk management plans (RMPs) to federal, state, and local emergency planning and response agencies and to be made available to the public. On July 31, 2003, EPA published proposed changes to its risk management planning regulations (68 Fed. Reg. 45123). Again, AMSA submitted comments to EPA in September 2003 on the proposed changes, as did various AMSA member agencies.

Summary of Final Risk Management Program Changes
EPA has developed a factsheet detailing all of the RMP reporting deadlines and the changes to the reporting requirements promulgated in the final rule. The factsheet can be found on EPA’s web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/oswer/ceppoweb.nsf/vwResourcesByFilename/RMP2004_factsheet.pdf/$File/RMP2004_factsheet.pdf.

The amendments to the RMP submittal requirements, all of which were supported in AMSA’s comments, are outlined below:

Wastewater utilities are not required to resubmit a complete RMP within six months of a reportable accident for wastewater utilities, as was initially proposed by EPA. Instead, a much more limited update of Chapter 6 of the RMP with the appropriate accident information must be filed within the six month period.

Changes in emergency contact information must be made in the RMP documents within a month, which will ensure effective communication between EPA and RMP facilities.

Facilities are no longer required to include a summary of the offsite consequence analysis in the RMP executive summary, which will help ensure plant security.

The final rule also adds three new data elements to the RMP: (1) emergency contact email address, so that EPA can reach RMP facilities in a secure, rapid manner; (2) purpose and type of any submission that revises or otherwise affects previously submitted RMPs; and (3) name, address, and telephone number of the contractor/consultant who prepared the RMP (if any). Each of these elements is designed to enhance communication efforts between the Agency and RMP facilities.

EPA believes that these final revisions will save staff time, reduce administrative burden, and increase plant security.

EPA Could Consider OSHA Data Requirement in Future Rule
EPA’s proposal sought comment on, but did not propose, a requirement to include occupational injury and illness data in RMP submissions. In its comments, AMSA expressed concern that this would increase POTWs’ burden since facilities already report this data to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and that EPA could obtain the necessary data from OSHA. Noting that the majority of stakeholders did not support the requirement, the Agency reserved judgment on this issue, which means they may address it in a future rulemaking, at which time AMSA would again provide its input.

The final rule is available on EPA’s web site at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2004_register&docid=fr09ap04-8.pdf. For more information, please see EPA’s RMP web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/oswer/ceppoweb.nsf/content/RMPS.htm?OpenDocument. If you have questions, please contact Will Pettit, AMSA’s Regulatory Analyst, at 202/833-3280 or wpettit@amsa-cleanwater.org.