September 28, 2011 

VIA EMAIL and U.S. Mail 

U.S. EPA Headquarters Ariel 

Rios Building 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W. 

Mail Code: 5304P 

Washington, DC 20460 

Re: Privacy Issue in RCRA Contingency Plan Regulations 

Dear Mr. James O’Leary: 

The American Petroleum Institute (API) would like to bring to the attention of the 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a specific personal privacy concern 

of our member companies related to Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 

(RCRA) contingency plan regulations. API is the primary trade association of 

America’s oil and natural gas industry and represents over 480 member companies 

involved in all aspects of the industry. API’s members operate a number of 

facilities in the U.S. that generate and manage solid and hazardous wastes. 

The regulations we would like to bring to your attention are at 40 CFR 264.52(d), 

265.52(d), and 267.52(a)(3). 

• Regulations at 40 CFR Part 265, Subpart D include requirements for 

contingency planning and emergency procedures applicable to large 

quantity generators of hazardous waste [by reference in 40 CFR 

262.34(a)(4)] and interim status facilities. Within that subpart, the regulation 

at 40 CFR 265.52(d) states that the contingency plan must list “names, 

addresses, and phone numbers (office and home) of all persons qualified to 

act as emergency coordinator.” 

• Similarly, regulations at 40 CFR Part 264 Subpart D and Part 267, Subpart 

D include requirements for contingency planning and emergency 

procedures at permitted hazardous waste facilities. Within those subparts, 

the regulations at 40 CFR 264.52(d) and 267.52(a)(3) state that the 

Derek D. Swick 

Senior Policy Advisor 

Regulatory and Scientific Affairs 

1220 L Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20005-4070 

USA 

Telephone 202-682-8341

Email swickd@api.org 

www.api.org 
contingency plan must list “names, addresses, and phone numbers (office 

and home) of all persons qualified to act as emergency coordinator.” 

Mr. James O’Leary 

Page 2 of 2 

September 28, 2011 

Our concern with the regulatory language is the requirement to provide employees’ 

home addresses and home phone numbers in the contingency plan. The 

regulatory language raises valid privacy and security concerns by requiring the 

home addresses and phone numbers of employees in the contingency plan, which 

is available to a wide variety of individuals outside the company (such as unknown 

hospital staff and various emergency response team members). The requirement 

to provide employees’ home addresses and home phone numbers in the 

contingency plan is inappropriate and also unnecessary. 

The regulations at 40 CFR 264.55, 265.55, and 267.55 already require that at all 

times there must be at least one employee (i.e., an emergency coordinator) either 

on the premises or on call (i.e., available to respond to an emergency by reaching 

the facility within a short period of time). To meet this requirement, companies 

have systems in place for ensuring that an emergency coordinator is readily 

available at any and all times. As such, though it may be appropriate for the 

contingency plan to describe the facility’s emergency coordinator availability and 

on call procedures, there is no need to have the home address and phone number 

of the employee in the RCRA contingency plan, nor any demonstrated value from 

including those home addresses and phone numbers that would outweigh the 

potential privacy and security risks. 

We appreciate your consideration of this issue and are happy to discuss it with 

you. The privacy issue is real for our member companies and their employees and 

we would appreciate a technical correction to the regulations (i.e., removal of the 

home address and phone number requirement) that would enable us to protect 

employee privacy while still maintaining proper emergency coordinator access at 

all times. 

Feel free to contact me with any questions or should you require additional 

information from API. 

Sincerely, 
cc: API Waste and Remediation Group