Preventing Accidental Releases under the Clean Air Act

Introduction

What is the purpose of the regulation?

The purpose of section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) is to prevent and minimize consequences of accidental releases of certain hazardous substances that could harm public health and the environment. The accidental release regulations require that affected facilities identify, assess, document, and minimize their chemical hazards by developing a risk management program and submitting a risk management plan (RMP).

Will I be affected by this regulation?

Your facility must comply with the regulation if it produces, handles, processes, distributes, or stores more than the threshold quantity of a regulated substance at any given time. Facilities in Kansas that could be affected include ammonia fertilizer retailers and users, propane retailers and users, manufacturers, cold storage facilities using ammonia as a refrigerant (including dairy and food distribution facilities), chemical distributors, water treatment facilities, and small businesses. The list of regulated chemicals and their thresholds can be found in the back of this publication. The list consists of acutely toxic, flammable, and volatile substances.

What do I have to do to comply?

The EPA has developed a three-program system to address risks that different processes may pose. To determine your potential regulatory requirements, you must first identify which programs apply to individual processes at your facility (see table below).

Once you know which programs apply to your processes, refer to the checklist below for related requirements.

Management System

If you have a Program 2 or Program 3 process, you will need to develop a management system to oversee implementation of the risk managment program requirements. In addition, you will need to identify a single person or position in your facility who will have overall responsibility for developing, implementing, and ensuring integration of the program requirements.

Hazard Assessment

You will need to complete a hazard assessment for each covered process. The table below indicates the elements that you must include under each program.

For worst-case and alternative release scenarios, you will need to quantify potential exposures to human populations and identify potential environmental damage. EPA has developed the RMP Offsite Consequence Analysis Guidance document to assist you with these analyses.

You will need to revise your worst and alternative release scenarios (that is, your offsite consequence analyses) at least once every five years. If you have changes in processes, quantities stored or handled, or any changes that increase or decrease the distance to the endpoint by a factor of two or more, you will need to revise your offsite consequence analyses within six months of the change and submit a revised RMP.

You will need to provide information on your accidental releases, including types and amounts of chemicals released, duration, dates, times, and offsite consequences.

Prevention Program

OSHA’s process safety management (PSM) standard is the basis of the section 112(r) prevention program.
Program 3 processes will typically have a full PSM program in place. If you can demonstrate compliance with the PSM standard, you have also demonstrated compliance with the Program 3 prevention requirements.
The Program 2 prevention requirements address many of the PSM elements but are tailored to processes with less complex chemical uses and will involve less documentation and recordkeeping than Program 3 processes. EPA expects that many Program 2 processes will be able to demonstrate compliance with prevention requirements by following industry standards and codes, good engineering practices, and federal and state regulations.
Program 1 processes have no prevention program requirements.
The table below presents the prevention program requirements for Program 2 and Program 3 processes.

Prevention Program Requirements
Program 2	Program 3
Safety information	Process safety information
Hazard review of regulated process(es)	Process hazard analysis of regulated process(es)
Operating procedures	Operating procedures
Initial and refresher employee safety training	Initial and refresher employee safety training
Maintenance of process equipment	Mechanical integrity of process equipment
Internal audits to ensure compliance with prevention program	Internal audits to ensure compliance with prevention program
Accident investigation procedures	Accident investigation procedures
	Prestartup review procedures
	Management of changes that may affect the safety of regulated processes
	Hot work permits
	Employee participation
	Contractors

You will need to redo your hazard review or process hazard analysis whenever a major change in your process occurs and submit a revised RMP within six months of the time you made the change.

Emergency Response Program

The emergency response program outlines procedures your facility and each of your employees must follow during an accidental release. These are the components of the emergency response program for both Program 2 and Program 3 processes.

1. An emergency response plan, maintained and kept on-site, including the following elements:
   • procedures for informing the public and local emergency response agencies about accidental releases;
   • documentation of proper first-aid and emergency medical treatment for accidental human exposure;
   • procedures and measures for emergency response after an accidental release.
2. Procedures for using and maintaining emergency response equipment;
3. Training for employees in their emergency response procedures; and
4. Procedures to review and update the emergency response plan as appropriate.

Emergency response plans you have developed to comply with other federal contingency planning requirements (such as the OSHA Hazardous Waste and Emergency Operations (HAZWOPER) rule (29 CFR 1910.120)) or that have been developed in accordance with the National Response Team’s Integrated Contingency Plan Guidance (“One Plan”) can meet the emergency response program requirements, provided the plan is coordinated with the community emergency response plan under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) section 302 and includes this rule’s required elements.

If your facility’s employees will not be the ones responding to an accidental release at your facility, you are not required to develop an emergency response plan, provided the appropriate responses to your facility’s hazards have been discussed in the community emergency response plan developed under EPCRA section 302 for toxics or coordinated with the local fire department for flammables. You also must ensure that there is a mechanism to contact local emergency responders.

What are the components of the RMP?

You will need to submit a single RMP that consists of an executive summary and registration for all covered processes.

Executive Summary

The executive summary must include a brief description of the following elements:

• accidental release prevention and emergency response policies at your facility;
• regulated substances that are on-site;
• worst-case and alternative release scenarios;
• general accidental release prevention program and chemical-specific prevention steps;
• five-year accident history;
• emergency response program; and
• planned changes to improve safety.

The RMP registration requirements are based on the EPCRA section 312 Tier II form. Your registration must include:

• name and address of your facility;
• name of a contact person;
• names and quantities of regulated chemicals on-site; and
• facility SIC code.

In addition, you will need to include the following information in your RMP:

• results of your worst-case and alternative release scenarios;
• dates for the most recent reviews and updates you have performed on your prevention program; and
• answers to questions indicating that you have an emergency response plan, with actions to be taken to respond to a release and procedures to inform the public and local response agencies.

EPA, in conjunction with industry, has completed a sample RMP for the ammonia refrigeration industry and is developing similar guidance for water treatment systems and propane retailers and users. These model RMPs will explicitly cite other regulations, codes, and standards that satisfy specific elements of this rule. For example, the propane program will be based on the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Standard Code of Practice for the Storage and Handling of Liquefied Petroleum Gases (NFPA-58). If you are in compliance with NFPA-58, you will be in substantial compliance with your Program 2 requirements for propane.

What is the deadline for compliance?

If affected, you have until June 21, 1999, to register, develop and submit your RMP. After June 21, 1999, you must comply with rule requirements when a regulated substance is first present at your facility above the threshold quantity.

You must update and resubmit your RMP within six months of a change that 1) requires a revised offsite consequence analysis; 2) requires a revised hazards review or process hazards analysis; or 3) results in a change in program level of a covered process. If you are no longer covered under the rule, you must submit a revised registration to EPA within six months. Otherwise you must revise and resubmit your RMP at least once every five years.

What can I do to lessen my burden under this regulation?

You must comply with the regulatory requirements if your facility produces, handles, processes, distributes or stores a listed chemical in excess of its threshold quantity at any one time. Reducing the number and quantities of these regulated substances at your facility reduces your requirements under this regulation. In most instances, having fewer toxic, flammable, or volatile substances at your facility is inherently safer for you, your employees, your neighbors, and the environment. Inventory reduction and chemical substitution may be ways of achieving a safer and cleaner work place and complying with this regulation.

To whom do I submit my RMP?

EPA is currently making arrangements so that you will be able to submit your RMP electronically to a central electronic database in addition to hard copy. State emergency response commissions (SERC) and local emergency planning committees (LEPC), as well as the general public, will be able to access and download this information as needed.

Who can call if I have questions?

SBEAP Technical Assistance at KSU 800-578-8898 EPA Region 7 Toxic Substances Prevention and Planning 913-551-7731

Additional resources:

CAA 112(r) Frequently Asked Questions
Instructions--CAAA 112(r) RMP Data Elements
CAA 112(r) RMP Data Elements
CAA 112(r) RMP Offsite Consequence Analysis Guidance
Model RMP for Ammonia Refrigeration Units
Sample RMP for the Propane Industry
These documents, as well as text of the RMP Preamble and the RMP Final Rule, should be consulted for additional details. These are available on the Internet at http:/www.epa.gov/swercepp/acc-pre.html, by dialing EPA’s EPCRA hotline at 800-535-0202, or modem-dialing EPA’s electronic bulletin board at 919-541-5742. Or you can call SBEAP Technical Assistance at KSU 800-578- 8898.

Glossary:

• Accidental release means an unanticipated emission of a regulated substance or other extremely hazardous substance into the ambient air from a stationary source.
• Active mitigation systems means those systems that operate with human, mechanical, or other energy input and includes excess flow valves, fail-safe and automatic shut-down valves, scrubbers, flares, deluge systems, and water curtains.
• Alternative release scenario means a scenario that is more likely to occur than the worst-case scenario. These could include transfer hose releases due to splits or sudden hose uncoupling; process piping releases from failures at flanges, joints, welds, valves, valve seals, and drains or bleeds; process vessel or pump releases due to cracks, seal failure or drain, bleed, or plug failure; vessel overfilling and spill or overpressurization and venting through relief valves or rupture disks; and shipping container mishandling and breakage or puncturing leading to a spill. Active and passive mitigation measures may both be considered in the alternative release scenario evaluation, provided they are capable of withstanding the event that triggered the release and would still be functional.
• Covered process means a process that has a regulated substance which at any one time exceeds a threshold quantity.
• The endpoint for a toxic substance, as developed by the American Industrial Hygience Association (AIHA), represents the maximum airborne concentration below which individuals could be exposed for up to an hour without experiencing or developing irreversible or other serious health effects or symptoms that could impact their ability to take protective action. Toxic endpoints are listed at the end of the regulation. The endpoint for vapor cloud explosions is an overpressure of 1 psi; for alternative flammable releases, it is a radiant heat exposure level of 5 kw/m 2 for 40 seconds; and for vapor cloud fires and jet fires, it is the lower flammability limit (LFL) as specified by the NFPA or other recognized sources.
• Environmental receptor means natural areas such as national or state parks, forests, or monuments; officially designated wildlife sanctuaries, preserves, refuges, or areas; and federal wilderness areas that could be exposed at any time to toxic concentrations, radiant heat, or over-pressure greater than or equal to the endpoints designated in the regulation as a result of an accidental release.
• Hot work means work involving electric or gas welding, cutting, brazing, or similar flame or spark-producing operations.
• Injury means any effect on a human that results either from direct exposure to toxic concentrations, radiant heat, or overpressures from accidental releases or from the direct consequences of a vapor cloud explosion (such as flying glass, debris, and other projectiles) from an accidental release and that requires medical treatment or hospitalization.
• Major change means introduction of a new process, process equipment or regulated substance, an alteration of process chemistry that results in any change to safe operating limits, or other alteration that introduces a new hazard.
• Mechanical integrity means the process of ensuring that process equipment is fabricated from the proper construction materials and is properly installed, maintained, and replaced to prevent failures and accidental releases.
• Passive mitigations systems means those systems that operate without human, mechanical, or other energy input and includes building enclosures, dikes, and containment walls.
• Process means any manufacturing, storing, distributing, handling, or use of a regulated substance. Interconnected vessels holding a regulated substance are considered a process. Unconnected vessels that could potentially release a regulated substance are also considered a process. Transportation operations, including pipelines and vehicles under active shipping papers, are not considered processes under this rule.
• Public receptor means offsite residences and institutions (e.g., schools, hospitals); industrial, commercial, and office buildings; parks or recreational areas inhabited or occupied by the public at any time without restriction by your facility where members of the public could be exposed to toxic concentrations, radiant heat, or overpressure as a result of an accidental release.
• Vessel means any reactor tank, drum, barrel, cylinder, vat, kettle, boiler, pipe, hose, or other container.
• Worst-case release means the release of the largest quantity of a regulated substance from a vessel or process line failure that results in the greatest distance to an endpoint.

Regulated chemicals and their tresholds under the Accidental Release Prevention Rule

*The concentration is anticipated to change to 37% as pro-posed in the Federal Register.

Acknowledgements

This publication was written by Tim Piero with significant contributions by Sherry Davis, Dennis Murphey, Felice Stadler, and Jean Waters. Design by Rich Gardner with illustrations by Bob Davis.

The University of Kansas, Kansas State University, and Wichita State University are committed to providing programs and activities regardless of race religion, color, sex, national origin, age or disability. For information, contact Jean Waters, Pollution Prevention Institute, Kansas State University, at 785.532.6501.

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