EPA issued several letters this week clarifying the NEW “public information” requirements in their FINAL AMENDMENTS of their RMP rule. Here are the questions that EPA answered in their letters:
- What is the process for responding to information requests from the public?
- How does EPA’s final rule preserve security while enhancing the ability to local communities to be prepared for an accident?
- What information does the final rule require sharing with the LEPC and emergency response officials?
- What Information Sharing requirements are changed from the proposed to final rule?
- What Information Sharing requirements are included in the final rule?
What is the process for responding to information requests from the public?
The facility owner or operator must provide ongoing notification that certain chemical hazard information is available upon request and provide instructions on how to submit a request for information. After receiving a request, the facility owner or operator must provide the information to the requestor within 45 days of the request.
CLICK HERE for this letter
How does EPA’s final rule preserve security while enhancing the ability to local communities to be prepared for an accident?
The current rule requires that the risk management plan (also referred to as an RMP) be available to the public; however, access to this information is currently restricted to Federal Reading Rooms or through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. EPA proposed, and is finalizing with modifications, a requirement for information relevant to public awareness of safety risks to be available to the public UPON REQUEST. Residents of the nearby community will need relevant information for their emergency preparedness including effective notification of accidental release, and evacuation and shelter-in-place information. The information required to be provided under the final rule includes publicly available information that community residents, owners and managers of health and day care facilities, and other community members need in order to properly respond to chemical plant accidents with appropriate actions such as evacuation or sheltering-in-place. EPA believes that this approach to notifying the public that information is available upon request strikes an appropriate balance between various concerns, including information availability, community right-to-know, minimizing facility burden, and minimizing information security risks.
EPA is also requiring owners or operators to provide instructions for requesting the information elements and the location of other available information related to community emergency preparedness.
The final rule will uphold security, increase relevant, shared knowledge for first responders and improve accessibility for community awareness and self-protection. The final rule will not jeopardize security and/or CBI by utilizing the internet as a means of information sharing.
CLICK HERE for this letter
What information does the final rule require sharing with the LEPC and emergency response officials?
As part of the local coordination activities, the final rule specifies what information must be provided to local emergency planning and response organizations, including:
- emergency response plan if one exists;
- emergency action plan;
- updated emergency contact information;
- and any other information that local emergency planning and response organizations identify as relevant to local emergency response planning.
EPA proposed that owners and operators of all RMP-regulated facilities provide certain information to LEPCs or local emergency response officials upon request. Many commenters did not support the requirement, citing various reasons such as: a lack of data supporting the Agency’s concern that LEPCs are not receiving the information they need to develop local emergency response plans; unnecessary redundancy with existing requirements, such as data reported under the Emergency Planning Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA); data proposed is too broad and does not provide useful information pertinent to emergency response planning; the data may overwhelm LEPCs with technical information with concern that most LEPCs lack the expertise needed to use this information to develop local emergency response plans; and security concerns regarding how the information is maintained and handled by the LEPC or emergency response officials.
Based on these comments, EPA decided NOT to finalize the proposed requirement and instead added language to the emergency response coordination provisions of the rule, which requires the owner or operator to provide “any other information that local emergency planning and response organizations identify as relevant to local emergency planning.” This allows LEPCs and other local emergency officials to obtain the information they require to meet their emergency response planning needs. It also allows local emergency planners and response officials to ask questions of facility personnel about the risks associated with the chemical hazards at the facility and about appropriate mitigation and response techniques to use in the event of a chemical release. Additionally, it further allows the facility owner or operator and the LEPC to identify information that may need to be maintained securely and discuss strategies to secure the information or to provide only information that is pertinent to emergency response planning without revealing security vulnerabilities.
CLICK HERE for this letter
What Information Sharing requirements are changed from the proposed to final rule?
For LEPCs, the final rule eliminated the proposed requirements for information sharing with LEPCs and instead added language to the emergency response coordination section (provisions under § 68.93) to emphasize existing Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) authority.
For the public, the final rule eliminated the proposed requirement to share chemical hazard information on the facility’s website. Instead the requirement is to provide existing public information directly to community members that request the information so that they can plan to properly protect themselves by ensuring plans are in place to effectively shelter in place, and evacuate.
As proposed, EPA is requiring facilities to hold a public meeting after a reportable accident, but, in response to comments received, changed the timeframe for the public meeting from within 30 days of the accident, to 90 days. It is for the facility to determine the agenda and depth of detail to be discussed at the public meeting(s).
CLICK HERE for this letter
What Information Sharing requirements are included in the final rule?
The rule will preserve security and help enable local communities to protect themselves. It requires facilities to share emergency planning information with LEPCs during annual coordination activities.
The rule also requires facilities to provide certain, existing chemical information to the public upon request. The information includes:
- chemical hazard information,
- accident history,
- dates of past emergency response exercises,
- emergency response program information, and
- LEPC contact information.
In response to comments received regarding security concerns, the rule does NOT require that this information be posted on the internet. The rule also requires all facilities to hold a public meeting for the local community within 90 days of an RMP reportable accident. The information and level of detail shared at a public meeting is for the facility to decide.
CLICK HERE for this letter