It’s An Opportunity!

Holding a public meeting can help your facility:

& Open a risk communication dialogue with the

LEPC, local community leaders and the public;

& Explain what you are doing to reduce risk;

& Discuss your plans for Y2K compliance; and

& Identify key issues of concern in your community.

United States Chemical Emergency Preparedness

Environmental Protection and Prevention Office

Agency

United States

Federal Bureau of Investigation Office of Domestic Terrorism October 1999

Chemical Safety Information, Site Security and

Fuels Regulatory Relief Act:

Public Meetings and Other Notifications 

On Aug. 5, 1999, President Clinton signed the Chemical Safety Information, Site Security and Fuels

Regulatory Relief Act (PL 106-40). The new law primarily concerns the public availability of the Off-site

Consequence Analysis (OCA) sections of Risk Management Plans (RMPs) submitted by facilities under

regulations implementing Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The new law prohibits government

officials from disclosing to the public the OCA sections of RMPs and other related materials until at least

Aug. 5, 2000. However, the law does not prohibit facilities from sharing with the public the OCA sections

of their RMPs, and it requires most facilities to provide the public with at least a summary of their OCA

information by Feb. 1, 2000. 

Background

Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires

facilities with more than a threshold quantity of a

listed extremely hazardous substance to have a risk

management program in place and to submit a

summary of that program - the RMP - to the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by June

21, 1999.

Under Section 112(r) as originally enacted, RMPs,

including the OCA sections of RMPs, were publicly

available, since one purpose of RMPs is to inform

the public about facilities’ safety programs and to

stimulate a dialogue between the community and

industry about chemical safety. 

However, concerns were raised that widespread

electronic distribution of a database derived from

the OCA sections of RMPs could pose a security

risk. In response to this concern, the Chemical

Safety Information, Site Security and Fuels

Regulatory Relief Act was passed. 

The new law, among other things, limits public

access to the OCA sections (i.e., sections 2 through

5) of RMPs and other related materials until at least

Aug. 5, 2000. By that date, the federal government

is to complete an assessment and rulemaking to

address the future public availability of those OCA

materials. In the meantime, the new law requires

facilities submitting RMPs to provide the public

with certain related information.

Public Meetings 

If your facility was required to submit an RMP for

a Program 2 or Program 3 process, you must

announce and hold a public meeting by Feb. 1,

2000, to discuss your RMP, including the OCA

sections. If you meet the applicable definition of

"small business stationary source," you may opt to

publicly post a summary of your OCA information.

In either case, you must certify to the Federal

Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by June 5, 2000, that

you have held the meeting or posted the summary. 

Facilities having only Program 1 processes are

exempt from the public meeting/summary

requirement.
Suggestions

& Use a form of public notice that makes sense

for your community. For example, consider

announcing your meeting in utility bills, a

community newsletter or on the radio.

& Coordinate your meeting with the LEPC or

Fire Department.

& Make your presentation at a public meeting

co-hosted by the mayor or other public

official.

RMP Program Levels

The RMP rule classifies processes (not facilities)

into three Program levels:

& Program 1 - processes considered low risk

because their worst-case release would not

affect public receptors and they have not

had an accident that affected the public in

the last 5 years.

& Program 2 - processes not eligible for

Program 1 or subject to Program 3.

& Program 3 - processes not eligible for

Program 1 that are subject to the OSHA

process safety management standard or in

one of ten industrial sectors (i.e., chemical

manufacturers, refineries, and pulp mills).

The new law requires that the public meeting must:

& Be convened after "reasonable public notice"

of the meeting, and

& "Describe and discuss the local implications"

of your RMP, including a summary of the

information in the OCA sections of your plan.

Your have broad discretion under PL 106-40 to

decide how best to announce and conduct a public

meeting that meets these requirements. The new

law allows you to conduct joint public meetings

with other facilities.

Credit for Past Public Meetings

If your facility held or participated in a public

meeting between Aug. 5, 1998 and Aug. 5, 1999

that met the requirements for public meetings, you

do not have to conduct another public meeting. 

You have fulfilled your public meeting requirement

if your meeting was open to the public; preceded by

reasonable public notice; and you described and

discussed the local implications of your RMP and

summarized the OCA information. Simply certify to

the FBI that you held such a meeting. 

Note: To meet the requirements of the new law, the

past meeting must have considered the same

information that you submitted to EPA in your

RMP. If the information that you described and

discussed at the public meeting was significantly

different from that reported in your RMP, you must

convene another public meeting.

Small Businesses

Facilities meeting the CAA Section 507(c)(1)

definition of "small business stationary source"

have the option of publicly posting a summary of

their OCA information instead of holding a public

meeting.

The new law requires that summaries prepared in

lieu of a public meeting must:

& Be publicly posted; and

& Summarize the information in sections 2

through 5 of your RMP.

Your facility qualifies as a “small business

stationary source” if it: 

& Is owned or operated by a person that employs

100 or fewer individuals;

& Meets the definition of “small business

concern” in the Small Business Act (15 USC

631 et seq.);

& Is not a “major stationary source” under the

CAA (see 42 USC 7661(2));

& Emits less than 50 tons or more per year of

any regulated pollutant; and

& Emits less than 75 tons per year of all

regulated pollutants.

"Regulated pollutants" include all of the 

pollutants regulated under the CAA, not just the
Sample Certification to Director, FBI

RE: EPA Facility ID# ( 12 digits)

In accordance with P.L. 106-40, on (insert date), 

(name of facility and facility ID number), after

reasonable public notice, convened a public meeting. 

At that time, the local implications of our Risk

Management Plan, including a summary of the OCA

portion of the plan, were described and discussed. 

or 

In accordance with P.L. 106-40, on (insert date), 

(name of facility) publicly posted a summary of the

OCA portion of our Risk Management Plan. The

information was posted (describe where). This

facility meets the definition of a small business

stationary source in Section 507(c) of the Clean Air

Act.

________________________

 Signature

________________________

Print Name

_______________________

Title

___________________________

Date

substances regulated under section 112(r) of the

CAA. 

You have broad discretion under the new law to

decide how best to publicly post your OCA

information. Your town may have a public bulletin

board where the community regularly goes for

information about local activities. Or, you can

contact your Local Emergency Planning

Committee (LEPC) or County Emergency

Management Association to see if they have any

posting tips. 

Certification to the FBI

By June 5, 2000, the owner or operator of your

facility must send a certification stating that the

public meeting has been held, or the OCA summary

posted, to:

Director, FBI

Attention: RMP Program - Room 1B327

935 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20535-0001 

The FBI will document receipt of the certifications

and provide documentation to the EPA. No other

communication should be included with

certifications to the FBI.

Release of OCA Without

Restriction

The owner or operator of a facility may chose to

share with the public the OCA sections of the

facility’s RMP. PL 106-40 provides that the OCA

sections of any RMP made available to the public

without restriction by the facility owner or operator

is not subject to the restrictions of the law.

Once a facility has released that portion of its RMP

to the public, government officials may do so, as

well.

Notification to EPA

If your facility makes the OCA portion of your

RMP available to the public without restriction, PL

106-40 requires you to notify EPA that you have

done so. EPA must keep a public list of facilities

that have released the OCA portion of their RMPs

without restriction.
Sample Notification to the Administrator, EPA

EPA Facility ID# ( 12 boxes to indicate size)

I am submitting this notification in accordance with

the requrements of P.L. 106-40 to indicate that the

OCA portion of the Risk Management Plan relating to 

(name of facility) was publicly released without

restriction on ( insert date).

_________________________

Signature

_______________________________

Print Name

___________________________

Title

________________________________

Date

For More Information

Full text of the law and some Frequently Asked Questions

and Answers are available on EPA’s Chemical Emergency

Preparedness and Prevention Office homepage at

http://www.epa.gov/ceppo

RMPs, except for sections 2 through 5 (the OCA portion),

are available on the Internet in a database called

RMP*Info. The public can access the data at

http://www.epa.gov/enviro.

Contact the Emergency Planning and Community Right-ToKnow Hotline at (800) 424-9346 or (703) 412-9810.

Mail the notice to:

RMP Reporting Center

P.O. Box 3346

Merrifield, VA 22116-3346

Enforcement

EPA has the authority to enforce the meeting,

certification, and notification provisions of the law.

Failing or refusing to comply with the above

provisions may result in EPA initiating a judicial

action in Federal district court to enforce the

obligations under the new law.