Learn the Issues
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What constitutes "significant property damage on site?"
Under the hazard assessment requirements at 40 CFR Part 68, Subpart B, the owner or operator of a covered stationary source must document a five-year accident history that includes all accidental releases from covered processes that resulted in deaths, injuries, or significant property damage on site, or known offsite deaths…
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What is the definition of injury?
Under the hazard assessment requirements of 40 CFR Part 68, Subpart B, an owner or operator must document a five-year accident history including all accidental releases from covered processes that resulted in deaths, injuries, or significant property damage on site, or known offsite deaths, injuries, evacuations, sheltering in place, property…
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What level of off-site property damage triggers five-year accident history reporting?
What level of off-site property damage triggers reporting? Any level of known offsite property damage triggers inclusion of the accident in the five-year accident history. You are not required to conduct a survey to determine if such damage occurred, but if you know, or could reasonably be expected to know…
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Active mitigation systems (e.g., scrubbers) and alternative release scenarios
I run a wastewater treatment plant that is subject to the risk management program regulations in 40 CFR Part 68 for a covered process containing chlorine. A chlorine scrubber system at the plant is designed to prevent any possible releases from reaching a toxic endpoint offsite. How does this active…
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Are barracks and family housing units on military bases considered public receptors?
Barracks are not considered public receptors, family housing units are. Public receptors include any "offsite residences ... inhabited or occupied by the public at any time without restriction by the stationary source where members of the public could be exposed to toxic concentrations, radiant heat, or overpressure, as a result…
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Air dispersion models and accounting for multiple vessels
Must air dispersion models that are used to analyze worst-case release scenarios under 40 CFR §68.25 be able to account for multiple vessels and how those vessels could impact one another in the event of an accidental release? No. Models used for worst-case release scenario analysis do not need to…
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Are roads considered public receptors?
A process covered under 40 CFR Part 68 is eligible for Program 1 requirements if it meets all of the criteria listed at 40 CFR §68.10(b). One of those criteria is that the distance to a toxic or flammable endpoint for a worst-case release assessment is less than the distance…
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Are wetlands included in the definition of "environmental receptors"?
No. EPA has defined environmental receptors as natural or state parks, forests, or monuments; officially designated wildlife sanctuaries, preserves, refuges, or areas; and Federal wilderness areas, that are easily identified on local U.S. Geological survey maps (40 CFR §68.3). Therefore, wetlands would not be reported in the hazard assessment under…
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Withdrawal of an erroneous RMP submission
What should a facility do if it submitted a risk management plan (RMP) but later discovers that it was never subject to the risk management program requirements? If a facility discovers that it submitted an RMP in error and was never subject to the risk management program regulations, it should…
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Calculating release rates and quantities for alternative release scenarios
I am working on the alternative release scenario portion of my risk management plan (RMP), as required by 40 CFR §68.28. Specifically, I am trying to calculate my release rate and release quantity values. The final rule does not specify exactly how to calculate these values for the alternative release…
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Does "consider off-site consequences" mean perform an environmental impact assessment?
What does EPA mean by “consider offsite consequences”? Do we have to do an environmental impact assessment (EIA)? EPA does not expect you to do an EIA. Potential consequences to the public and the environment are already analyzed in the offsite consequence analysis. In the PHA, EPA only expects you…
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Worst case release scenario for toxic and flammable substances in same Program 1 process
Under the risk management program regulations in 40 CFR Part 68, if a Program 1 process contains a threshold amount of both a regulated toxic substance and a regulated flammable substance, should a worst case release scenario be analyzed for each of the substances in the process? Yes, a worst…
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Worst-case release scenarios for toxics and flammables in same process
The owner or operator of a stationary source subject to the risk management program regulations must analyze the worst-case release scenario involving a Program 2 or 3 process containing a regulated flammable substance and the worst-case release scenario involving a Program 2 or 3 process containing a regulated toxic substance…
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State air permitting agency assigning EPA implementation and enforcement
Can a state air permitting agency unilaterally assign to EPA the implementation and enforcement of the requirements of 40 CFR Part 68.215(e)? No, such reassignment of responsibilities can only be achieved by the state entering into a written agreement with the Administrator under which EPA will implement and enforce the…
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Is the RMP submission date the postmark date or EPA's receipt?
Initial RMPs must be "submitted" by a certain date, and RMPs must be updated at least every five years from the date of its submission. What constitutes "submission" for purposes of meeting and determining these deadlines - postmarking the RMP or EPA's receipt of the RMP by the due date…
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Would change in population data require an RMP update?
As part of the hazard assessment under 40 CFR Part 68, Subpart B, a source is required to estimate in its risk management plan (RMP) the population within a circle that has its center at the process and its radius equal to the distance to the endpoint concentration (40 CFR…
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Do Program Level 1 processes need to do five-year accident histories?
What is the relationship between the accident history criteria for Program 1 and the five-year accident history? If my process is eligible for Program 1, do I still need to do a five-year accident history? The five-year accident history is an information collection requirement that is designed to provide data…
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Is the off-site death of livestock considered environmental damage?
Under the hazard assessment requirements of 40 CFR Part 68, Subpart B, an owner or operator must document a five-year accident history including all accidental releases from covered processes that resulted in deaths, injuries, or significant property damage on site, or known offsite deaths, injuries, evacuations, sheltering in place, property…
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Inclusion of accidents under different ownership in the accident history
If a facility has recently changed ownership, is the new facility owner required to include accidents which occurred prior to the transfer of ownership in the accident history portion of the RMP submitted for the facility? Yes, accidents involving covered processes that occurred prior to the transfer of ownership should…
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Acid aerosol reducing additive as passive mitigation
A refinery uses a special proprietary additive to their hydrofluoric acid (HF) alkylation process. This HF additive has shown in tests to significantly reduce aerosol forms of HF during accidental releases, and therefore reduce the distance traveled by HF releases. The additive is present at all times during the alkylation…