EPA’s Proposed Revisions for the Risk Management Program Regulations Under the Clean Air Act
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a separate, pending proposal addressing RMP requirements. In the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, Congress required OSHA to adopt the PSM standard to protect workers and required EPA to protect the community and environment by issuing the RMP rule. The PSM and RMP rules were written to complement each other in accomplishing these Congressional goals. Since the E.O. 13650, EPA has published amendments to the RMP rule in 2017 and 2019. Any comments on the EPA's RMP proposal should be submitted in writing to the docket for that rulemaking and will not be discussed during OSHA's stakeholder meeting.
On August 31, 2022, EPA published proposed revisions to its Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations under the Clean Air Act. EPA is proposing to reestablish the requirements for a safer technologies and alternatives analysis, root cause analysis incident investigation, and third-party compliance auditing. EPA is also proposing to add new requirement for employee participation. Finally, the agency is proposing to emphasize its existing requirements to address natural hazards, loss of power and facility siting in hazard evaluations. In its emergency response provisions EPA is proposing to include reestablishing the 10-year frequency to conduct a field exercise and mandating the current recommended exercise evaluation report elements. EPA’s proposed changes to the information availability provisions includes allowing the public to request specific chemical hazard information.
Previously, in 2015, before EPA originally proposed some of the revisions in this rule, the agency convened a Small Business Advocacy Review Panel to consider the impacts on small entities. However, in this proposed rule, the agency certifies the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The agency has modified some of the provisions that were originally proposed but this rule includes new provisions including the employee participation requirement.
Comments are due on October 31, 2022.
Background on the Small Business Roundtable: Roundtable meetings are open to all interested persons, with the exception of the press, in order to facilitate open and frank discussion about the impacts of Federal regulatory activities on small entities. Agendas and presentations are available to all, including the press. Anyone who wants to receive roundtable agendas or presentations, or to be included in the distribution list, should forward such requests to david.rostker@sba.gov. The purpose of these Roundtable meetings is to exchange opinions, facts and information and to obtain the attendees’ individual views and opinions regarding small business concerns. The meetings are not intended to achieve or communicate any consensus positions of the attendees.