The purpose of this fact sheet is to compare some provisions of two key laws for preventing chemical process accidents in New Jersey. The facts presented are summaries of the laws. These laws are:
- The Occupational Safety and Health Act’s standard for Process Safety Management (PSM). This law is enforced by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The text of this document is available at http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=9760
- New Jersey’s Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act (TCPA) regulations, which also implement federal Clean Air Act Section 112(r). This law is enforced by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Page number references in the right-hand column below are from the Consolidated Rule Document, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Title 7, Chapter 31, Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act Program, issued March 16, 2009. This 255-page document is accessible at http://www.nj.gov/dep/rpp/brp/tcpa/downloads/TCPA_Consolidated_Rule_2009r1.pdf.
This document does NOT cover New Jersey’s unique TCPA rules on “inherently safer technology”.
Note that certain TCPA regulations cited are not operative until March 16, 2010. They are highlighted in yellow in the Consolidated Rule Document. Consult actual text of the standard and rules for the most accurate information.
| PSM | TCPA/CAA 112(r) | |
| Key Definitions | “Catastrophic release” means a major uncontrolled emission, fire, or explosion, involving one or more highly hazardous chemicals, that presents a serious danger to employees in the workplace.” | “A ‘catastrophic release’ means a major uncontrolled emission, fire, or explosion, involving one or more regulated substances that presents imminent & substantial endangerment to public health & the environment.” |
| “Highly hazardous chemical” means a substance possessing toxic, reactive, flammable, or explosive properties & specified by paragraph (a)(1) of this section, listed in Appendix A of the standard. | “Extraordinarily hazardous substance” or “EHS” means any substance or chemical on the extraordinarily hazardous substance list (Table 1) of the rule. (Also called a “regulated substance”). | |
| “Public receptor” means offsite residences, institutions (e.g., schools, hospitals), industrial, commercial, & office buildings, parks, or recreational areas inhabited or occupied by the public at any time where members of the public could be exposed to toxic concentrations, radiant heat, or overpressure, as a result of an accidental release. | ||
| “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 defined. | ||
| PSM Required Element | Overall, “Prevention Program” elements (Subpart C) are very similar to PSM requirements. | |
| 1) Employee Participation | For workers & union representatives, develop written plan on how employer will consult with them, implement consultation, & provide access to all information required to be developed. | Almost identical requirements. |
| 2) Process Safety Information | Compile information before starting a “process hazard analysis” that covers: 1) hazards of highly hazardous chemicals in the process (MSDS sheets may be used if they include all required elements); 2) technology of the process; 3) equipment in the process. | Similar, but additional information required on reactivity hazards, electrical diagrams, site plan, firewater & sewer system piping diagrams, & external forces & events data. |
| 3) Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) | Shall identify, evaluate, & control the hazards of the process. Develop a priority order & timetable. Use one or more of six listed methods or equivalent. Outline what must be covered in a PHA. Identify: process hazards, prior incidents which had potential for catastrophic consequence, engineering & administrative controls (including detection & warning methods); consequences of failure; facility siting; human factors; evaluation of range of the possible safety & health effects on employees. Update every 5 years. |
Similar PHA requirements, but additional information required on “risk assessment”.Risk assessment must also: identify equipment subject to assessment, points of possible EHS release, causes & character of release, consider toxicity, flammability, explosion, & reactivity hazards, & identify scenarios that have offsite impact. |
|
PHA Team |
PHA by Team with expertise in engineering & process operations; must include at least one employee with experience & knowledge specific to process & one member who knows specific methodology used. | Identical requirement. |
| PHA Findings | Establish a system to promptly address & document findings & recommendations & to resolve them in a timely manner. Develop a written schedule of when actions are to be completed. Communicate actions to employees. | Almost identical requirement. |
| 4) Operating Procedures | Develop & implement written operating procedures that provide instructions for safely conducting activities involved in each covered process, including startup, normal & temporary operations, & emergency shutdown, operating limits, deviations, safety systems, & accessibility & revision of the procedures, etc. | Additional requirement that “Operating procedures shall be written in English in a manner that EHS operators of the process can understand. If the EHS operators do not understand English, the operating procedures shall be written in the language that the operators can understand.” Page 56. |
| Staffing Levels | No specific reference to staffing levels. | “A statement as to the number of EHS operators required meeting safety needs for each operation with requirements for shift coverage.” “A requirement that an EHS operator is in attendance at the facility, be able to acknowledge alarms & take corrective action to prevent an accident at all times during EHS handling, use, manufacturing, storage, or generation…” with certain exceptions. Page 57. |
| Employee Access to Operating Procedures | Operating procedures shall be readily accessible to employees who work in or maintain a process. | Identical requirement. |
| 5) Training | Requires that each employee involved in operating a process must be trained with an overview of the process & its operating procedures. Must include specific safety & health hazards, emergency operations, including shutdown, & other safe work practices. | Additional requirement that the owner or operator of a covered process shall provide a written job description that includes the duties & responsibilities of each EHS operator position. The training program shall specify the qualifications required for the personnel responsible for training EHS operators. Page 59. |
| Refresher Training | Required every three years & more often if necessary for each employee involved in operating a process. “The employer, in consultation with the employees involved in operating the process, shall determine the appropriate frequency of refresher training. | Identical requirement. |
| Training Documentation | Required ascertaining that each employee involved in operating a process has received & understood training & shall prepare a record, which contains the identity of the employee, date of training, & the means used to verify that the employee understood the training. | Identical requirement. |
| 6) Contractors | When selecting a contractor, the plant employer must obtain & evaluate information on the contractor’s safety performance & program & must inform them of the known potential hazards related to the contractor’s work & explain provisions of the emergency action plan. They must also develop & implement safe work practices to control the entrance, presence, & exit of contract employees; periodically evaluate the contractor’s on-site performance & maintain a contract employee injury & illness log. Contract employers must ensure that contract employees are trained, that training is documented, that contract employees know the potential hazards of their jobs & processes & the emergency action plan, follow facility safety rules, & advise the employer of any unique hazards of the contract employer’s work. | Similar requirement. |
| 7) Pre-startup Safety Review | Applies to all new facilities & existing facilities when modification is significant enough to require change in the process equipment. The review shall confirm that before introduction of a highly hazardous chemical to a process that: construction & equipment is in accordance with design specifications & that adequate safety, operating, maintenance, & emergency procedures are in place. For new facilities, a PHA has been performed & recommendations have been resolved or implemented before startup. Modified facilities must comply with management of change. |
Additional requirements for a safety review of design for new covered processes. Additional requirement that a written report shall be prepared for each safety review (pre-startup and design). The safety review of design report requires additional information, including identification of the codes & standards upon which the process design & operations were based. Pages 62-63, 66-67. |
| 8) Mechanical Integrity | Requires an on-site employer to establish & implement written procedures for the ongoing integrity of process equipment. Requirements apply to pressure vessels & storage tanks; piping systems; relief & vent systems & devices; emergency shutdown systems; controls (including monitoring devices & sensors, alarms, & interlocks); & pumps. Employee training required. Inspection & testing procedures shall follow recognized & generally accepted good engineering practices. The employer must document each inspection & test. | The owner or operator shall maintain mechanical integrity/preventive maintenance records for the lifetime of EHS equipment. Page 115. |
| Equipment Deficiencies |
The employer shall correct deficiencies in equipment that are outside acceptable limits before further use or in a safe & timely manner when means are taken to assure safe operation. |
Additional requirement that “timely” shall mean as soon as feasibly possible but in no case shall exceed 3 months without providing a written justification including an explanation of the necessary measures taken to ensure safe operation. Pages 59-60. The owner or operator shall establish & implement written procedures to maintain the on-going integrity of process equipment & shall establish & implement a written procedure to periodically review, document, & approve delays in conducting preventive maintenance of EHS equipment. The owner or operator shall implement a system for maintaining accurate records of all inspections, breakdowns, repairs & replacements of EHS equipment with the means of data retrieval & analysis to determine the frequency of inspections & tests & to evaluate equipment reliability. Page 60. |
| 9) Hot Work Permit | Hot work permits must be issued for hot work operations conducted on or near a covered process. Must comply with OSHA’s hot work standard, 1910.119(k), include date, name of equipment, & kept on file until completion. | Hot work permits must be kept until they are reviewed by DEP in the next inspection or audit. Page 115. |
| 10) Management of Change | The on-site employer must establish & implement written procedures to manage changes (except for replacements in kind) to process chemicals, technology, equipment, & procedures; &, changes to facilities that affect a covered process. The site employer & contract employer must inform & train their affected employees on changes before start-up. Process safety information & operating procedures must be updated as necessary. | Additional requirement that if any change in the process or procedures results in an increase in rate, duration or quantity, or release frequency, the associated release scenarios & changes in rate, duration & quantity shall be identified. If a release scenario due to the change results in a criterion endpoint extending beyond the stationary source boundary, the required documentation & report shall be prepared or updated for that change prior to implementing the change. Page 61. |
| 11) Incident Investigation |
Requires employers to investigate incidents which resulted in, or could have resulted in, a catastrophic release of a highly hazardous chemical. Investigation shall begin as promptly as possible, but not later than 48 hours after the incident. Employer must form an incident investigation team. Report must include various elements. Employer must establish a system to promptly address & resolve the report findings & recommendations. The report shall; be reviewed with all affected personnel, including contract employees. Must be retained for five years. |
Additional requirement to prepare a description of the EHS accident or potential catastrophic event in chronological order, with all relevant facts. Include the identity, amount & duration of the EHS release if these facts can be reasonably determined based on the information obtained through the investigation. Also, identify the consequences, if any, of the EHS accident or potential catastrophic event including the number of evacuees, injured, & fatalities, & the impact on the community. Page 63 Additional requirement that the owner or operator must provide DEP and EPA in the Risk Management Plan with the date of the most recent incident investigation & the expected date of completion of any changes resulting from the investigation. Page 108. |
| 12) Emergency Planning & Response |
Requires employers to develop & implement a written “emergency action plan” for the entire plant in accordance with applicable parts of OSHA standard, 29 CFR 1910.38. This plan must include procedures for handling small releases. The plan must be available for inspection & copying by employees & their union. However, an employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally to employees. The plan must include, at a minimum, procedures for: reporting a fire or other emergency; emergency evacuation, including type of evacuation & exit route assignments; employees who remain to operate critical plant operations before they evacuate; to account for all employees after evacuation; for employees performing rescue or medical duties; & the name or job title of every employee who may be contacted by employees who need more information about the plan or an explanation of their duties under the plan. An employer must maintain an employee alarm system. The employee alarm system must use a distinctive signal for each purpose & comply with the requirements in § 1910.165. An employer must designate & train employees to assist in a safe & orderly evacuation of other employees. An employer must review the emergency action plan with each employee covered by the plan: when the plan is developed or the employee is assigned initially to a job; when the employee’s responsibilities under the plan change; & when the plan is changed. Covered employers may also be regulated by hazardous waste & emergency response provisions in 29 CFR 1910.120(a), (p), & (q). |
The owner or operator of a facility whose employees will not respond to accidental EHS releases shall comply with the following: (1) For facilities with any regulated toxic substance at or above the threshold quantity, the facility is included in the community emergency response plan. (2) For facilities with only regulated flammable substances at or above the threshold quantity, the owner or operator has coordinated response actions with the local fire department; & (3) Appropriate mechanisms are in place to notify emergency responders when there is a need for a response. The owner or operator shall obtain documentation from the local fire department or other outside emergency responder agencies, as applicable, that they will be responsible for responding to accidental releases at the owner or operator’s facility. The owner or operator shall develop & implement an emergency response program to protect public health & the environment. Such program shall include: (1) An emergency response plan, which shall be maintained at the stationary source & contain: (i) Procedures for informing the public & local emergency response agencies about accidental releases; (ii) Documentation of proper first-aid & emergency medical treatment necessary to treat accidental human exposures; & (iii) Procedures & measures for emergency response after an accidental release of a regulated substance; (2) Procedures for the use of emergency response equipment & for its inspection, testing, & maintenance; (3) Training for all employees in relevant procedures; & (4) Procedures to review & update, as appropriate, the emergency response plan to reflect changes & ensure that employees are informed of changes. (b) A written plan that is consistent with & as stringent as the approach in the National Response Team’s Integrated Contingency Plan Guidance (“One Plan”) & that, among other matters, includes the elements provided in paragraph (a) of this section, shall satisfy the requirements of this section if the owner or operator also complies with paragraph (c) of this section. (c) The emergency response plan developed under paragraph (a)(1) of this section shall be coordinated with the community emergency response plan developed under 42 U.S.C. 11003. Upon request of the local emergency planning committee or emergency response officials, the owner or operator shall promptly provide to the local emergency response officials information necessary for developing & implementing the community emergency response plan. Emergency response programs shall also include: 1. Initial & annual refresher emergency response training for all employees in relevant procedures to implement the emergency response plan; 2. Performance of at least one EHS ER exercise per calendar year meeting these requirements: i. The owner or operator of a facility whose employees will not respond to an EHS accident in accordance with shall invite at least one outside responder agency designated in the ER plan to participate in the ER exercise. Employees of the facility shall perform their assigned responsibilities for all ER exercises; & ii. All other owners or operators shall perform at least one full scale ER exercise in which the ER team & ER containment, mitigation, & monitoring equipment are deployed at a strength appropriate to demonstrate the adequacy & implementation of the plan. 3. A written assessment of the ER plan, of the adequacy of notification to outside agencies & the public, & of the adequacy or need for ER equipment after each ER plan implementation or each ER exercise; 4. A description of the emergency notification system at the facility which shall include the following requirements for reporting EHS accidents: i. Immediate notification to the Department’s emergency communications center at 1-877 WARN DEP (1-877-927-6337) by the emergency coordinator or designee of an EHS accident or imminent EHS accident at the stationary source. iii. Certain EHS accidental releases shall be exempt from notification requirements. Pages 71-73. |
| 13) Compliance Audits | Employers must certify that they have evaluated compliance with PSM requirements at least every three years. Prompt response to audit findings & documentation that deficiencies are corrected is required. Employers must retain the two most recent audit reports. | Additional requirement that the compliance audit report be prepared every year, and the report shall also include the scope, audit techniques, methods used & the names of the audit participants. The owner or operator shall promptly determine & document an appropriate response to each of the findings of the compliance audit & document that deficiencies have been corrected. The owner or operator shall prepare & include in the report a written schedule for implementation of corrective actions or state that such actions have been completed. Employers must retain the two most recent audit reports. |
|
Hazard Assessment (Subpart B of Chemical Accident Prevention Provisions) |
Intended to assess potential effects of an accidental release. The hazard assessment includes: 1) The potential worst-case release, defined as the release of the largest quantity of a regulated substance from a vessel or process line failure, including administrative controls & passive mitigation, that limit the total quantity involved or the release rate; 2) Alternative release scenarios, which may be more realistic scenarios for non-worst-case releases; 3) Consequence analysis, which includes the endpoint determination (how far the EHS cloud will travel before it falls below the health standard); 4) Radius of Concern, the distance the cloud will travel before the toxic endpoint is reached. Defined as the population potentially affected within a circle, with the center the release point; & 5) 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 damage, or environmental damage. Page 41. | |
|
Risk Management Plan (RMP) (Subpart G of Chemical Accident Prevention Provisions) |
The RMP Executive Summary includes a brief description of (a) The accidental release prevention & emergency response policies at the stationary source; (b) The stationary source & regulated substances handled;(c) The general accidental release prevention program & chemical-specific prevention steps; (d) The five-year accident history; (e) The emergency response program; & (f) Planned changes to improve safety. Page 104. Note: Access the RMP Executive Summary & certain other data, not including worst-case scenario information, at http://rtknet.ombwatch.org/db/rmp | |
| RMP Registration | The owner or operator of a stationary source shall revise & update the RMP as follows: (1) At least once every five years from the date of its initial submission or most recent update required by paragraphs (b)(2) through (b)(7) of this section, whichever is later; (2) No later than three years after a newly regulated substance is first listed by EPA; (3) No later than the date on which a new regulated substance is first present in an already covered process above a threshold quantity; (4) No later than the date on which a regulated substance is first present above a threshold quantity in a new process; (5) Within six months of a change that requires a revised PHA or hazard review; (6) Within six months of a change that requires a revised offsite consequence analysis. Page 105. | |
| RMP Deregistration | If a stationary source is no longer subject to this part, the owner or operator shall submit a deregistration to EPA within six months indicating that the stationary source is no longer covered. Page 109. |
This material was produced under grant SH-17813-08-60-F-34 from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. It does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government
In public sector facilities, such as water and sewage treatment plants, the PSM standard is enforced by the state Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health Program, with inspections conducted by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services and citations issued by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.