It certainly looks like EPA has been busy with their review of the proposed amendments to the RMP Rule. To that fact, they have released this Q&A explaining what they are keeping, what they eliminated, and what they revised in their NEW FINAL RULE. This new FINAL RULE is set to take effect on 2/19/2019 and includes several implementation deadlines for some specific tasks. As usual, I am sure there will be some who are still not happy with this latest revision because it does not go far enough and there will be some who are still not happy with this latest revision because it still goes too far. None the less, it actually seems there was a lot of thought put into this latest revision; especially in the flexibility of some of the requirements. Here’s what EPA offers us in guidance as to what they will expect…
NOTE: I have NOT revised any of the content, only the formatting and color coding of the new/revised requirements
The United States Environmental Protection Agency – Office of Land and Emergency Management
August 2017
Questions & Answers
Q. Why are changes to the RMP rule necessary? What are the impacts from accidents at RMP facilities?
A. While numerous chemical plants are operating safely, in the last 10 years, RMP data show that there have been more than 1,517 reportable accidents, 473 of which had offsite impacts. The reportable accidents were responsible for
- 59 deaths,
- 17,099 people were injured or sought medical treatment,
- almost 500,000 people evacuated or sheltered-in-place, and
- over $2 billion in property damages
EPA’s changes to the RMP rule will help protect local first responders, community members and employees from death or injury due to chemical facility accidents.