EPA Amends Risk Management Program Rules for Chemical Plants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule amending the agency’s Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations in an effort to improve process safety and bolster response efforts when release events occur, the EPA announced by press release Wednesday.

“We think this will increase the safety of communities living adjacent to chemical processing plants, while ensuring that they’re integrated within the way that chemical plants operate, because the plants provide an essential service to communities around the country,” said Mathy Stanislaus, EPA assistant administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management, at a press event on Dec. 21, news website The Hill reported.

The amendments to the RMP in the EPA’s Accidental Release Prevention regulations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) strengthen accident prevention program requirements, improve emergency preparedness to better coordinate efforts between facilities and first responders, expand public access to information on the risks present at RMP facilities, and enhance third-party audits at the facilities.

“This rule will help prevent chemical accidents, such as the explosion in West Texas in 2013, and their devastating effects,” the EPA release said. “While numerous chemical plants are operated safely, in the last 10 years more than 1500 accidents were reported by RMP facilities.”

Over the past decade, about 60 American workers died as a result of chemical-related incidents, 17,000 cases led to injuries or workers seeking medical treatment, and some 500,000 people were evacuated or had to shelter-in-place during a chemical incident, according to the agency’s data. In addition, over $2 billion in property damages at RMP facilities were logged during the period.

To finalize the new rule, the EPA said it met with stakeholders, solicited public comments, held listening sessions and webinars, and incorporated the “extensive” comments into the proposed rule.

“This rule is based on extensive engagement with nearly 1800 people over the last two and a half years,” said Stanislaus in the agency release. “These changes are intended to protect the lives of emergency responders and the public, while preserving information security.”

For more information about the final RMP rule, visit the EPA’s website.

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