Interagency Refinery Task Force

A fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond in August 2012 raised public questions and concerns about refinery safety and emergency response in California. Following a directive from the Governor’s July 2013 report on “Improving Public and Worker Safety at Oil Refineries,” CalEPA formed an Interagency Task Force on Refinery Safety in August 2013. The Task Force membership includes ten state agencies, U.S. EPA, and local agencies from areas of the state that contain refineries. They will work collaboratively to achieve the highest possible level of safety for refinery workers and local communities, and prepare for and effectively respond to emergencies if they occur.

Proposed Regulatory Amendments

The California Office of Emergency Services and the California Department of Industrial Relations/Division of Occupational Safety and Health are proposing regulatory amendments to implement recommendations of the Governor’s Interagency Working Group on Refinery Safety.

• California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP) Program 4 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (PDF)
• California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP) Program Proposed Regulations 2016 (PDF). Comments to jack.harrah@caloes.ca.gov - SUBJECT LINE: "Cal ARP Comments"
• Fact Sheet: Proposed Regulatory Changes to Improve Oil Refinery Safety (PDF) | Hoja de Información: Los Cambios Regulatorios Propuestos para Mejorar la Seguridad en las Refinerías de Petróleo (PDF)
• Proposed California Accidental Release Prevention program refinery emergency preparedness and response preregulatory amendments (May 2016)
• Proposed Area Plan refinery emergency preparedness and response preregulatory amendments (May 2016)
• Additional information for the California Accidental Release Prevention program
• Process Safety Management for Petroleum Refineries
• Cost-Benefit Analysis of Proposed California Oil and Gas Refinery Regulations
  The Department of Industrial Relations commissioned the study to assess the impacts of the proposed California Process Safety Management and California Accidental Release Prevention safety and prevention amendments as part of the regulatory process. The costs and benefits are addressed in four categories: the costs to industry (to implement the regulation), the costs to society (pass-through of certain industry costs), benefits to industry, and benefits to society.

Public Meetings

• Public Meeting Materials

News: US EPA Issues New Rule

The US EPA issued a final rule with additional emission control requirements for storage tanks, flares and coking units at petroleum refineries. This final rule will significantly improve air quality in neighborhoods near petroleum refineries by further controlling toxics air emissions and requiring continuous fenceline monitoring of the toxic air pollutant benzene. Learn more

Goals

1. Implement the recommendations in the Governor’s Interagency Working Group on Refinery Safety’s report, Improving Public and Worker Safety at Oil Refineries (PDF, 3.8 MB). Appendix (PDF, 12.3 MB). Incremento en la Seguridad Pública y del Trabajador en Refinerías de Petróleo (PDF).
2. Enhance coordination of oversight, enforcement, outreach and response activities by regulatory agencies.
3. Establish refinery safety forums in northern, central and southern California for ongoing dialogue among industry, labor, community, environmental groups and regulators to enhance public and worker knowledge and safety.

Members

• California Environmental Protection Agency
• California Air Resources Board
• Department of Toxic Substances Control
• State Water Resources Control Board
• Department of Industrial Relations
• Division of Occupational Safety and Health
• Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
• California Department of Public Health
• California Emergency Medical Services Authority
• Office of the State Fire Marshal
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 9
• Certified Unified Program Agencies with refineries
  • Contra Costa County Environmental Health
  • El Segundo Fire
  • Kern County Environmental Health
  • Los Angeles County Fire
  • City of Los Angeles Fire
  • San Luis Obispo County Environmental Health
  • Solano County Environmental Health
• Local Air Pollution Control Districts with refineries
  • Bay Area Air Quality Management District
  • San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District
  • San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District
  • South Coast Air Quality Management District