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Chemical Accident Prevention Provisions Overview

Overview

When Congress passed the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, it required EPA to publish regulations and guidance for chemical accident prevention at facilities using extremely hazardous substances. The Risk Management Plan Rule (RMP Rule) was written to implement Section 112(r) of these amendments. The rule, which built upon existing industry codes and standards, requires companies of all sizes that use certain flammable and toxic substances to develop a Risk Management Program, which includes a(n):

  • Hazard assessment that details the potential effects of an accidental release, an accident history of the last five years, and an evaluation of worst-case and alternative accidental releases;
  • Prevention program that includes safety precautions and maintenance, monitoring, and employee training measures; and
  • Emergency response program that spells out emergency health care, employee training measures and procedures for informing the public and response agencies (e.g the fire department) should an accident occur.

By June 21, 1999, a summary of the facility's risk management program (known as a "Risk Management Plan" or "RMP") was to be submitted to EPA, which will make the information publicly available. The plans must be revised and resubmitted every five years.

The Risk Management Program is about reducing chemical risk at the local level. This information helps local fire, police, and emergency response personnel (who must prepare for and respond to chemical accidents), and is useful to citizens in understanding the chemical hazards in communities. EPA anticipates that making the RMPs available to the public stimulates communication between industry and the public to improve accident prevention and emergency response practices at the local level.

The regulation includes a List of Regulated Substances under section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act, including their synonyms and threshold quantities (in pounds) to help assess if a process is subject to the RMP rule or the general duty clause. States who have taken delegation of the Clean Air Act, Section 112(r) program may have additional requirements for the federally listed chemicals, and/or additional listed chemicals.

Key Provisions

Subpart A—General

§ 68.1 Scope
§ 68.3 Definitions
§ 68.10 Applicability
§ 68.12 General requirements
§ 68.15 Management

Subpart B—Hazard Assessment

§ 68.20 Applicability
§ 68.22 Offsite consequence analysis parameters
§ 68.25 Worst-case release scenario analysis
§ 68.28 Alternative release scenario analysis
§ 68.30 Defining offsite impacts—population
§ 68.33 Defining offsite impacts—environment
§ 68.36 Review and update
§ 68.39 Documentation
§ 68.42 Five-year accident history

Subpart C—Program 2 Prevention Program

§ 68.48 Safety information
§ 68.50 Hazard review
§ 68.52 Operating procedures
§ 68.54 Training
§ 68.56 Maintenance
§ 68.58 Compliance audits
§ 68.60 Incident investigation

Subpart D—Program 3 Prevention Program

§ 68.65 Process safety information
§ 68.67 Process hazard analysis
§ 68.69 Operating procedures
§ 68.71 Training
§ 68.73 Mechanical integrity
§ 68.75 Management of change
§ 68.77 Pre-startup review
§ 68.79 Compliance audits
§ 68.81 Incident investigation
§ 68.83 Employee participation
§ 68.85 Hot work permit
§ 68.87 Contractors

Subpart E—Emergency Response

§ 68.90 Applicability
§ 68.95 Emergency response program

Subpart F—Regulated Substances for Accidental Release Prevention

§ 68.100 Purpose
§ 68.115 Threshold determination
§ 68.120 Petition process
§ 68.125 Exemptions
§ 68.126 Exclusion
§ 68.130 List of substances

Subpart G—Risk Management Plan

§ 68.150 Submission
§ 68.151 Assertion of claims of confidential business information
§ 68.152 Substantiating claims of confidential business information
§ 68.155 Executive summary
§ 68.160 Registration
§ 68.165 Offsite consequence analysis
§ 68.168 Five-year accident history
§ 68.170 Prevention program/Program 2
§ 68.175 Prevention program/Program 3
§ 68.180 Emergency response program
§ 68.185 Certification
§ 68.190 Updates
§ 68.195 Required corrections

Subpart H—Other Requirements

§ 68.200 Recordkeeping
§ 68.210 Availability of information to the public
§ 68.215 Permit content and air permitting authority or designated agency requirements
§ 68.220 Audits

Appendix A to Part 68—Table of Toxic Endpoints

For More Information



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