Revisions to the Risk Management Program Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention Requirements

Introduction

On February 27, 2024, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) signed final Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention (SCCAP) Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations. The amendments include changes and enhancements to accident prevention program requirements, emergency preparedness requirements, and increased public availability of chemical hazard information for facilities subject to the “Chemical Accident Prevention Provisions,” codified at 40 CFR Part 68.

Background

The 1990 Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments include Section 112(r), the accidental release prevention rule, to “provide for the prevention and mitigation of accidental chemical releases.”¹ The U.S. EPA published the initial RMP regulation in 1996 with risk management requirements for covered sources. The rule requires owners and operators of stationary sources that produce, process, handle, or store regulated hazardous substances in amounts above threshold quantities, as promulgated under Section 112(r), to develop and implement an RMP. An RMP includes development of a hazard assessment, an accident prevention program, and an emergency response program. An RMP must be established prior to any regulated substances being present on-site above threshold quantities at a facility. Once an RMP is established and a risk management plan is submitted to the U.S. EPA, it is subject to review and renewal every five years, and includes documentation of a five-year accident history at the facility. The purpose of the RMP regulations is to require facilities to:

• Identify the potential effects of an accidental release of a regulated substance,
• Identify the proactive actions established to prevent an accident, and
• Establish emergency response procedures in the event an accident occurs.

Development of an RMP includes consideration of the program level specific to each process at the facility. There are three program levels under the RMP rule, with Program 1 applying to “extremely safe facilities,” Program 2 applying to facilities subject to threshold quantities that trigger Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or U.S. EPA planning requirements, and Program 3 applying to facilities that do not meet Program 1 requirements, but are subject to OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) requirements. RMP requirements are specific to the applicable program level, but generally include:

• Conducting a hazard assessment,
• Developing a prevention program,
• Establishing an environmental emergency-response program, and
• Operating an overall management system.

Threshold quantities vary by the specific regulated substance, between 500 and 20,000 pounds onsite for toxic chemicals and 10,000 pounds onsite for flammable substances. U.S. EPA estimates approximately 11,740 facilities have filed current RMPs and are potentially affected by the amended RMP regulations.

Amendments to the Risk Management Program Regulations

Amendments to the RMP rule were published in January 2017 and contained new provisions addressing prevention program elements, such as a Safer Technology and Alternatives Analysis (STAA), incident investigation root cause analysis (RCA), emergency response coordination with local responders, and availability of information to the public. Most of the amendments, however, were rescinded in December 2019. In August 2022, EPA proposed amendments to the RMP regulations aimed at restoring many of the requirements in the 2017 rule in response to Executive Order (EO) 13990, “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis” ² directing Federal agencies to review existing regulations and take action to address Administration priorities, including improving resilience to climate change impacts and environmental justice (EJ).

The 2024 amendments to the RMP rule implement changes the U.S. EPA considers as better focused prevention programs compared to the 2017 amendments and promotes better information availability, employee participation, and emergency response compared to the 2019 reconsideration. U.S. EPA believes many, if not most, regulated sources will respond by implementing enhanced prevention measures to avoid accidents, but increased public and employee participation will help prevent sources from evading accident-prevention requirements. U.S. EPA believes the “prevention-focused” nature of these revisions could provide additional protection to human health and the environment. Amendments included in the 2024 RMP rule include:

• Hazard Evaluation Amplifications – Program 2 and 3 regulated processes, which already were required to conduct hazard reviews of regulated substance processes, must now address:
  • Natural hazards (defined as meteorological, environmental, or geographical phenomena that have the potential for negative impact, and accounting for impacts due to climate change).
  • Loss of power, including, for covered processes, a requirement for monitoring equipment to have standby or backup power.
  • Stationary source siting, including the placement of processes, equipment, buildings, and their potential hazards posed to the public.
• Prevention Program Provisions – Several modifications intended to enhance community safety are included in the 2024 RMP rule, including:
  • Program 3 regulated processes in either the petroleum and coal products industries (NAICS code 324) or chemical manufacturing industry (NAICS code 325) must consider the practicability of applying safter technologies and alternatives, which includes inherently safer technologies or design (IST/ISD). Additionally, facilities in NAICS code 324 using hydrofluoric acid (HF) in an alkylation unit must consider safer alternatives to HF alkylation.
  • For Program 3 regulated processes, the implementation of at least one passive risk reduction measure, or an IST/ISD or a combination of active and procedural measures that would be equal to, or greater than, the risk reduction from a passive method.
  • A root cause analysis must be performed and completed within 12 months for Program 2 and 3 processes following an RMP-reportable accidental release.
  • A third-party compliance audit must be performed, no later than three years after the previous compliance audit, following an RMP-reportable accidental release.
  • Employees knowledgeable in a Program 3 process must be included in the implementation of Process Hazard Assessments (PHAs), incident investigations, and compliance audits, and be given authority to recommend to the operator in charge that a process be partially or completely shut down based on the potential for a catastrophic release.
• Emergency Response – RMP facilities should partner with community emergency response agencies to ensure a community notification system is established for reporting accidental chemical releases, and coordinate with local officials to establish an appropriate frequency, at a minimum of once every ten years, for conducting a simulated accidental release field exercise.
• Information Availability – RMP facilities must provide specific chemical hazard and emergency preparedness information within 45 days of receiving a request from the public living, working, or spending significant time within six miles of the facility fenceline.
• Clarifications to Regulatory Definitions – Updates to process safety information, hot work permit documentation (hot work permits must be retained for three years), and Recognized and Generally Accepted Good Engineering Practices (RAGAGEP) compliance requirements.

Potential Impacts to Regulated Facilities

Facilities regulated under CAA Section 112(r) will be required to comply with modifications to the chemical accident prevention regulations within timeframes established by the 2024 RMP rule. STAA, root cause analysis, employee participation, and information availability requirements must be met within three years for impacted facilities. A revised emergency response field exercise must be performed by March 15, 2027, or within ten years from a previous exercise conducted between March 15, 2017 and August 31, 2022. A revised risk management plan must be submitted within four years.

How Can ALL4 Assist?

ALL4 has a staff of experienced Environmental and Safety Consultants familiar with RMP and PSM regulations, hazard assessments, prevention programs, and emergency response planning. We are able to provide facilities with evaluations and recommendations to stay current and compliant with revised CAA Section 112(r) requirements. ALL4 can evaluate your facility’s RMP status, help you develop a timeline for implementing and complying with the new requirements, and work with you to address your compliance needs. Contact Ryan Cleary at rcleary@all4inc.com or (919-230-0716) for more information.

¹Accidental Release Prevention Requirements; Risk Management Programs Under Clean Air Act Section 112(r)(7); Amendments, 64 Fed. Reg. 964 (January 6, 1999).

²The White House; Executive Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-protecting-public-health-and-environment-and-restoring-science-to-tackle-climate-crisis/ (January 20, 2021).