EPA Publishes RMP Accidental Chemical Release NPRM
Today the EPA published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register (87 FR 53556-53616) for Accidental Release Prevention Requirements: Risk Management Programs Under the Clean Air Act; Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention. This is the rulemaking for which the EPA published an initial 60-day ICR notice earlier this week. The proposed revisions to the RMP regulations include several changes and amplifications to the accident prevention program requirements, enhancements to the emergency preparedness requirements, increased public availability of chemical hazard information, and several other changes to certain regulatory definitions or points of clarification.
Overview
The EPA provides a broad overview of the intent of the regulation revisions in the preamble to the rule. It provides a discussion of each of the following areas of concern:
Prevention Program
Under the area of prevention program changes, the EPA is looking at changes to the RMP program in the following areas (links to discussion in the preamble):
Hazard evaluation amplification,
Prevention program provisions (including inherently safer technology/design),
Root cause analysis,
Third-party compliance audits, and
None of these ideas are new, they have been discussed by the environmental community for years. For example, I have a page on my blog site that provides a pretty comprehensive listing of my blog posts on the inherently safer technology (IST) issues. This is, however, the first time that many of them have been reduced to federal regulatory language.
Emergency Response
Under the area of emergency response and information availability changes, the EPA is looking at changes to the RMP program in the following areas (links to discussion in the preamble):
Proposed Regulations To Address Community Notification of RMP Accidents,
Community emergency response plan amplifications,
Emergency response exercises,
Request for Comment on Potential Non-Rule RMP Access Policy Changes
Other Areas for Technical Clarifications
Under the area of technical clarification changes, the EPA is looking at changes to the RMP program in the following areas (links to discussion in the preamble):
Process safety information,
Program 2&3 RAGAGEP compliance requirements,
Retention of hot work permits,
Storage incident to transportation,
Retail facility exemption, and
Public Comments
The EPA is soliciting public comments on this NPRM. Comments may be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.Regulations.gov; Docket # EPA-HQ-OLEM-2022-0174). Comments need to be submitted by October 31st, 2022. I expect that there will be a number of requests for an extension of that time.
NOTE: I plan on more detailed coverage of the details of this rulemaking as part of the preparation of my comments for consideration by the EPA.