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JUNE 21 EPA DEADLINE FOR RISK MANAGEMENT PLANS

Release Date: 6/7/1999
Contact Information: David Sternberg (215) 814-5560

PHILADELPHIA -- June 21 is the deadline for companies and organizations to file a risk management plan and worst case scenario with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency if they manufacture, store, distribute, handle or use any of 140 chemicals, both toxic and flammable, above certain quantities.

"EPA initiated a strong public outreach effort more than a year ago to alert businesses that this was coming," says W. Michael McCabe, regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Philadelphia. "Now the deadline is here." The requirement to file a plan was mandated in 1990 by Section 112(r) of the amended Clean Air Act.

According to McCabe, some 3,000 facilities in the mid-Atlantic states will be affected including chemical and petrochemical manufacturers; petroleum refiners; the paper industry; municipal facilities including public drinking water systems, wastewater treatment works and public utilities; agricultural retailers; food processors, food wholesalers and others with refrigerated warehouses and cold storage, including dairies and ice cream producers; electric and gas utilities; and even federal facilities, military installations, and colleges and universities. Nationwide some 60,000 facilities will need to file plans.

Originally propane retailers had to file, but on May 21, EPA excluded flammable hydrocarbon fuels including propane, butane, ethane, methane and others stored in quantities of no more than 67,000 pounds. Railroads, trucking companies and pipelines are not affected because the U.S. Department of Transportation has responsibility for transportation-related chemical safety issues.

Information that includes worst case and alternative toxic release scenarios adjacent to the facility and a five-year accident history will be available to the public, but not on the Internet, because of concerns of potential use by terrorists. Details for accessing this information is now being developed jointly by the EPA with the CIA, FBI and National Security Council.

"Public awareness of the potential danger from the accidental release of toxic chemicals has increased as serious accidents have occurred around the world," adds McCabe. "Public concern intensified following the Bhopal, India crisis in 1984 that killed more than 2,000 people. A subsequent chemical release in Institute, W. Va. sent more than 100 people to the hospital and made the public aware that such accidents can and do happen in the U.S."

States may have their own programs, but program requirements must be as stringent as EPA’s and must include all substances on the regulated list. Approximately 30 percent of the companies, organizations and facilities subject to the risk management program also must comply with the Clean Air Act for emissions of air pollutants.

Small and medium-sized businesses may receive information through the Small Business Assistance Program in each state, the Federal Small Business Assistance Program, the network of Small Business Development Centers across the country, the toll-free hotline of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act and a number of electronic outlets.

To facilitate compliance, EPA has been working with industry groups to develop guidance documents that include model risk management programs for a variety of industry sectors including petroleum refining, chemical warehousing, ammonia refrigeration, waste water and water treatment operations. These documents, along with computer software disks issued by EPA and used by facilities when filing their plans, eliminate the need for small businesses to invest in computer modeling programs or retain consultants. Further information can be obtained by accessing EPA’s Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office website at <www.epa.gov/swercepp/> or by calling 800/424-9346.