Yes, as I posted a couple of weeks ago, the RMP Amendments are now in effect (at least those with compliances dates that have passed – some have dates further out). One such requirement that seems to be causing a stir is “3rd Party Audits” for Program 2 and 3 Level RMP processes (e.g. 68.59 and 68.80). LinkedIn and other social media platforms have less than scrupulous contractors/consultants telling everyone their next 3-year RMP compliance audit must all be done by a “third-party”… NOTHING could be further from the truth! The requirement(s) for a “third-party audit” are applicable under the following circumstances AND ONLY under these circumstances:
(using the requirements for Program 3 level processes – emphasis by me)
§68.80 Third-party audits.
(a) Applicability. The owner or operator shall engage a third-party to conduct an audit that evaluates compliance with the provisions of this subpart in accordance with the requirements of this section when either criterion of §68.79(f) is met.
We turn to §68.79 Compliance audits for this criteria and it says:
(f) Third-party audit applicability. The NEXT required compliance audit shall be a third-party audit when one of the following conditions apply:
(1) An accidental release meeting the criteria in §68.42(a) (i.e. Five-year accident history) from a covered process at a stationary source has occurred; or
(2) An implementing agency (i.e EPA) requires a third-party audit due to conditions at the stationary source that could lead to an accidental release of a regulated substance, or when a previous third-party audit failed to meet the competency or independence criteria of §68.80(c).
In other words, a 3rd Party Audit is ONLY going to be required when:
- an accidental release from covered processes resulted in
- DEATHS, INJURIES, or SIGNIFICANT PROPERTY DAMAGE ON SITE, or
- KNOWN OFFSITE DEATHS, INJURIES, EVACUATIONS, SHELTERING IN PLACE, PROPERTY DAMAGE, or ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE.
- EPA does an inspection and finds a lot of crap wrong and they don’t have the resources (time or technical) to dig further and thus they order you to hire a competent 3rd party auditor.
BOTTOM LINE, the amendments allow you to continue doing your 3-year compliance audits as scheduled as you have been doing- NOTHING HAS CHANGED as long as you don’t trip either of the two (2) criteria above!
However, if you have a release/accident from your process that MEETS the definition of a 5-year accident we now have two (2) actions that are triggered:
- UPDATE your RMP within 6-months (see §68.195), and
- your next scheduled 3-year audit MUST be a 3rd Party Audit and it MUST be done within 12 months of the incident. In other words, if the incident occurred 11 months from your next 3-year audit then you can stay on schedule with your three-year audits and do the next audit as a 3rd party audit. But if the incident occurred shortly after your most recent 3-year audit, you will NOT be able to wait; as the 3rd party audit has to be done within 12-months of the incident. But here is the kicker, MANAGE your 3rd party audit per the 3rd party requirements AND then RESET your 3-year audit schedule based on the time of this 3rd party audit.
These 3rd Party audits in NO WAY replace the 3-year Compliance Audits. They are intended to heighten the audit process when there is evidence that previous audits may not have been thorough enough to uncover failures of the management system. They are an “ADDITIONAL” audit that in some situations we can do in place of a scheduled 3-year compliance audit and in some situations, we would have to do sooner rather than wait more than 12 months.
Becareful where you seek wise advice!