Laws & Regulations

If a facility or vessel discharges oil to navigable waters or adjoining shorelines, the owner/operator is required to follow certain federal reporting requirements. This fact sheet outlines those reporting requirements.

General Duty Clause Fact Sheet

Clean Air Act Section 112(r)(1), also known as the General Duty Clause (GDC), makes the owners/operators of facilities with regulated hazardous substances responsible for managing chemicals safely.

Fact Sheet: Clean Air Act Section 112(r): Accidental Release Prevention / Risk Management Plan Rule

EPA is required to publish regulations and guidance for chemical accident prevention at facilities that pose the greatest risk of harm from accidental releases of regulated flammable and toxic substances above threshold quantities.

Topical Backgrounder: Evaluating Chemical Hazards in the Community: Using RMP's Offsite Consequence Analysis

Part of a May 1999 series on the Risk Management Program Rule and issues related to chemical emergency management. Explains hazard versus risk, worst-case and alternative release scenarios, flammable endpoints and toxic endpoints.

Topical Backgrounder: How Safe Am I? Helping Communities Evaluate Chemical Risks

Part of the May 1999 Guides to Environmental Risk Management Series created by the National Safety Council. Explains how RMPs will help prevent emergency chemical releases, reduce risk from exposure to hazards, and minimize consequences.

Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Advisory: Hydrogen Fluoride

This advisory recommends ways Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) and chemical facilities can reduce risks posed by the presence of hydrogen fluoride (HF), a strong inorganic acid used to manufacture CFCs, in their communities.

Chemical Safety Alert: Catastrophic Failure of Storage Tanks

Aboveground, atmospheric storage tanks can fail when flammable vapors in the tank explode and break either the shell-to-bottom or side seam, resulting in hazardous release accidents. Proper maintenance practices can help prevent accidents.

RMP Guidance for Chemical Distributors - Chapter 10: Implementation

The implementing agency is the federal, state, or local agency taking the lead for implementation and enforcement of part 68. They will review Risk Management Plans, select some for audits, and conduct on-site inspections.

RMP Guidance for Warehouses - Appendix D: OSHA Guidance on PSM

This text is taken directly from OSHA's appendix C to the Process Safety Management standard (29 CFR 1910.119). Compiled information required by this standard, including material safety data sheets (MSDS), is essential to process hazards analysis (PHA).

RMP Guidance for Chemical Distributors - Appendix A: 40 CFR part 68/Selected NAICS Codes

The full text of Part 68, Chemical Accident Prevention provisions, includes hazard assessment, emergency response, threshold quantities for regulated substances, reporting requirements, and the Risk Management Plan.

RMP Guidance for Chemical Distributors - Introduction

If you handle, manufacture, use, or store any of the toxic and flammable substances (e.g., chlorine, ammonia) listed in Appendix A above the specified threshold quantities in a process, you are required to develop and implement a risk management plan.