Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0890
Agency: epa
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: Accidental Release Prevention Requirements: Risk Management Programs Under the Clean Air Act
Posted Date: 2018-05-30T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 104 (Wednesday, May 30, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 24850-24883]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-11059]

[[Page 24849]]

Vol. 83

Wednesday,

No. 104

May 30, 2018

Part II

Environmental Protection Agency

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40 CFR Part 68

Accidental Release Prevention Requirements: Risk Management Programs 
Under the Clean Air Act; Proposed Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 83 , No. 104 / Wednesday, May 30, 2018 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 24850]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 68

[EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725; FRL-9975-20-OLEM]
RIN 2050-AG95

Accidental Release Prevention Requirements: Risk Management 
Programs Under the Clean Air Act

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is requesting public 
comment on several proposed changes to the final Risk Management 
Program Amendments rule (Amendments rule) issued on January 13, 2017. 
EPA is proposing to rescind amendments relating to safer technology and 
alternatives analyses, third-party audits, incident investigations, 
information availability, and several other minor regulatory changes. 
EPA is also proposing to modify amendments relating to local emergency 
coordination and emergency exercises, and to change the compliance 
dates for these provisions.

DATES: Comments. Comments and additional material must be received on 
or before July 30, 2018. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 
comments on the information collection provisions are best assured of 
consideration if the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) receives a 
copy of your comments on or before June 29, 2018.
    Public testimony: Send requests to present oral testimony by June 
8, 2018.
    Public Hearing. The EPA will hold a public hearing on this proposed 
rule on June 14, 2018 in Washington, DC.

ADDRESSES: Comments. Submit comments and additional materials, 
identified by docket EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725 to the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for 
submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or 
removed from Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any comment received 
to its public docket. Do not submit electronically any information you 
consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia 
submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written 
comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and 
should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will 
generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of 
the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing 
system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment 
policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general 
guidance on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    Public Hearing. A public hearing will be held in Washington, DC on 
June 14, 2018 at William J. Clinton East Building Room 1153 (Map Room), 
1201 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460. The hearing will 
convene at 9:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m. The sessions will run from 9:00 
a.m. to 12:00 p.m., with a break between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m., 
continuing from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a break from 4:30 to 5:30 
p.m., and continuing from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Persons wishing to 
preregister may be assigned a time according to this schedule. The 
evening session beginning at 5:30 p.m. will be extended one hour after 
all scheduled comments have been heard to accommodate those wishing to 
make a comment as a walk-in registrant. Please register at https://www.epa.gov/rmp/public-hearing-proposed-changes-risk-management-program-rmp-rule to speak at the hearing. The last day to preregister 
in advance to speak at the hearing is June 8, 2018. Additionally, 
requests to speak will be taken the day of the hearing at the hearing 
registration desk, although preferences on speaking times may not be 
able to be fulfilled. If you require the service of a translator or 
special accommodations such as audio description, we ask that you pre-
register for the hearing, on or before June 8, 2018 to allow sufficient 
time to arrange such accommodations.
    The hearing will provide interested parties the opportunity to 
present data, views or arguments concerning the proposed action. The 
EPA will make every effort to accommodate all speakers who arrive and 
register. Because this hearing is being held at a U.S. government 
facility, individuals planning to attend the hearing should be prepared 
to show valid picture identification to the security staff in order to 
gain access to the meeting room. Please note that the REAL ID Act, 
passed by Congress in 2005, established new requirements for entering 
Federal facilities. If your driver's license is issued by Alaska, 
American Samoa, Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, 
Minnesota, Montana, New York, Oklahoma or the state of Washington, you 
must present an additional form of identification to enter the Federal 
building. Acceptable alternative forms of identification include: 
Federal employee badges, passports, enhanced driver's licenses and 
military identification cards. In addition, you will need to obtain a 
property pass for any personal belongings you bring with you. Upon 
leaving the building, you will be required to return this property pass 
to the security desk. No large signs will be allowed in the building, 
cameras may only be used outside of the building and demonstrations 
will not be allowed on Federal property for security reasons.
    The EPA may ask clarifying questions during the oral presentations, 
but will not respond to the presentations at that time. Written 
statements and supporting information submitted during the comment 
period will be considered with the same weight as oral comments and 
supporting information presented at the public hearing. Verbatim 
transcripts of the hearing and written statements will be included in 
the docket for the rulemaking. The EPA will make every effort to follow 
the schedule as closely as possible on the day of the hearing; however, 
please plan for the hearing to run either ahead of schedule or behind 
schedule.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Belke, United States 
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Land and Emergency 
Management, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW (Mail Code 5104A), Washington, DC 
20460; telephone number: (202) 564-8023; email address: 
[email protected], or Kathy Franklin, United States Environmental 
Protection Agency, Office of Land and Emergency Management, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW (Mail Code 5104A), Washington, DC 20460; telephone 
number: (202) 564-7987; email address: [email protected].
    Electronic copies of this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and 
related news releases are available on EPA's website at http://www.epa.gov/rmp. Copies of this NPRM are also available at http://www.regulations.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Acronyms and Abbreviations. We use multiple 
acronyms and terms in this preamble. While this list may not be 
exhaustive, to ease the reading of this preamble and for reference 
purposes, the EPA defines the following terms and acronyms here:

ACC American Chemistry Council
AFPM American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers
BATF Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
CAA Clean Air Act

[[Page 24851]]

CAAA Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990
CBI confidential business information
CFATS Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards
CFR Code of Federal Regulations
CSAG Chemical Safety Advocacy Group
CSISSFRRA Chemical Safety Information, Site Security and Fuels 
Regulatory Relief Act
CVI Chemical-terrorism Vulnerability Information
DHS Department of Homeland Security
E.O. Executive Order
DOT Department of Transportation
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
EPCRA Emergency Planning & Community Right-To-Know Act
FOIA Freedom of Information Act
FR Federal Register
ICR Information Collection Request
ISD inherently safer design
IST inherently safer technology
LEPC local emergency planning committee
NAICS North American Industrial Classification System
NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
OCA offsite consequences analysis
OMB Office of Management and Budget
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration
PHA process hazard analysis
PRA Paperwork Reduction Act
PSI process safety information
PSM Process Safety Management
RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis
RFA Regulatory Flexibility Act
RFI request for information
RMP Risk Management Program
RTC Response to Comments
SBAR Small Business Advocacy Review
SBREFA Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
SDS safety data sheet
SER small entity representative
SERC state emergency response commission
STAA safer technology and alternatives analysis
TQ threshold quantity
U.S.C. United States Code
UMRA Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    Organization of this Document. The contents of this preamble are:

I. General Information
    A. Does this action apply to me?
    B. What action is the Agency taking?
    C. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?
    D. What are the incremental costs and benefits of this action?
II. Background
    A. Events Leading to This Action
    B. EPA Authority to Reconsider and Revise the RMP Rule
    C. Overview of EPA's Risk Management Program Regulations
III. Proposed Changes
    A. Rescind incident investigation, third-party audit, safer 
technology and alternatives analysis (STAA), and other prevention 
program amendments
    B. Rescind information availability amendments
    C. Modify local coordination amendments
    D. Modify exercise amendments
    E. Revise emergency response contacts provided in RMP
    F. Revise compliance dates
    G. Corrections to cross referenced CFR sections
IV. Rationale for Rescissions and Modifications
    A. Maintain consistency in accident prevention requirements
    B. Address security concerns
    C. Address BATF finding on West Fertilizer incident
    D. Reduce unnecessary regulations and regulatory costs
    E. Revise compliance dates to provide necessary time for program 
changes
    F. Other issues raised by petitioners
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
    A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and 
Executive Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
    B. Executive Order 13771: Reducing Regulation and Controlling 
Regulatory Costs
    C. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
    D. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
    E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
    F. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
    G. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination with 
Indian Tribal Governments
    H. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children from 
Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks
    I. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect 
Energy Supply, Distribution or Use
    J. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA)
    K. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions to Address 
Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income 
Populations

I. General Information

A. Does this action apply to me?

    This rule applies to those facilities (referred to as ``stationary 
sources'' under the CAA) that are subject to the chemical accident 
prevention requirements at 40 CFR part 68. This includes stationary 
sources holding more than a threshold quantity (TQ) of a regulated 
substance in a process. Table 1 provides industrial sectors and the 
associated NAICS codes for entities potentially affected by this 
action. The Agency's goal is to provide a guide for readers to consider 
regarding entities that potentially could be affected by this action. 
However, this action may affect other entities not listed in this 
table. If you have questions regarding the applicability of this action 
to a particular entity, consult the person(s) listed in the 
introductory section of this action under the heading entitled FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

   Table 1--Industrial Sectors and Associated NAICS Codes for Entities
                   Potentially Affected by This Action
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Sector                             NAICS code
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Administration of              924
 Environmental Quality
 Programs.
Agricultural Chemical
 Distributors.
Crop Production..............  111
Animal Production and          112
 Aquaculture.
Support Activities for         115
 Agriculture and Forestry.
Farm Supplies Merchant         42491
 Wholesalers.
Chemical Manufacturing.......  325
Chemical and Allied Products   4246
 Merchant Wholesalers.
Food Manufacturing...........  311
Beverage Manufacturing.......  3121
Oil and Gas Extraction.......  211
Other \1\....................  44, 45, 48, 54, 56, 61, 72
Other manufacturing..........  313, 326, 327, 33
Other Wholesale..............
Merchant Wholesalers, Durable  423
 Goods.
Merchant Wholesalers,          424
 Nondurable Goods.
Paper Manufacturing..........  322
Petroleum and Coal Products    324
 Manufacturing.
Petroleum and Petroleum        4247
 Products Merchant
 Wholesalers.
Utilities....................  221

[[Page 24852]]

 
Warehousing and Storage......  493
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B. What action is the Agency taking?
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    \1\ For descriptions of NAICS codes, see https://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/sssd/naics/naicsrch.
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1. Purpose of the Regulatory Action
    The purpose of this action is to propose changes to the Risk 
Management Program Amendments final rule in order to address issues 
raised in three petitions for reconsideration received by EPA, as well 
as other issues that EPA believes warrant reconsideration.
    On January 13, 2017, the EPA issued a final rule (82 FR 4594) 
amending 40 CFR part 68, the chemical accident prevention provisions 
under section 112(r) of the CAA (42 U.S.C. 7412(r)). The amendments 
addressed various aspects of risk management programs, including 
prevention programs at stationary sources, emergency response 
preparedness requirements, information availability, and various other 
changes to streamline, clarify, and otherwise technically correct the 
underlying rules. Prior to the rule taking effect, EPA received three 
petitions for reconsideration of the rule under CAA section 
307(d)(7)(B), two from industry groups \2\ and one from a group of 
states.\3\ Under that provision, the Administrator is to commence a 
reconsideration proceeding if, in the Administrator's judgement, the 
petitioner raises an objection to a rule that was impracticable to 
raise during the comment period or if the grounds for the objection 
arose after the comment period but within the period for judicial 
review. In either case, the Administrator must also conclude that the 
objection is of central relevance to the outcome of the rule.
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    \2\ RMP Coalition's Petition for Reconsideration and Request for 
Agency Stay Pending Reconsideration of Final RMP rule (82 FR 4594, 
January 13, 2017), February 28, 2017. Hogan Lovells US LLP, 
Washington, DC. Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0759 and
    Chemical Safety Advocacy Group (CSAG)'s Petition and 
Reconsideration and Stay Request of the Final RMP rule (82 FR 4594, 
January 13, 2017) March 13, 2017, Hunton & Williams, San Francisco, 
CA, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0766 and EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0765 
(supplemental petition).
    \3\ Petition for Reconsideration and Stay on behalf of States of 
Louisiana, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, 
South Carolina, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and the Commonwealth of 
Kentucky with respect to Risk Management Program Final Rule, (82 FR 
4594, January 13, 2017), March 14, 2017. State of Louisiana, 
Department of Justice, Attorney General. EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0762.
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    In a letter dated March 13, 2017, the Administrator responded to 
the first of the reconsideration petitions received by announcing the 
convening of a proceeding for reconsideration of the Risk Management 
Program Amendments.\4\ As explained in that letter, having considered 
the objections raised in the petition, the Administrator determined 
that the criteria for reconsideration have been met for at least one of 
the objections. This proposal addresses the issues raised in all three 
petitions for reconsideration, as well as other issues that EPA 
believes warrant reconsideration.
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    \4\ EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0762.
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2. Summary of the Provisions of the Regulatory Action
    EPA proposes to rescind almost all the requirements added to the 
accident prevention provisions program of Subparts C (for Program 2 
processes) and D (for Program 3 processes). These include rescission of 
all requirements for third-party compliance audits (Sec. Sec.  68.58, 
68.59, 68.79 and 68.80), safer technology and alternatives analysis 
(Sec.  68.67(c)(8)) for facilities with Program 3 regulated processes 
in North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes 322 
(paper manufacturing), 324 (petroleum and coal products manufacturing), 
and 325 (chemical manufacturing) and rescinding the words ``for each 
covered process'' from the compliance audit provisions in Sec. Sec.  
68.58 and 68.79. EPA also proposes to rescind in Sec.  68.50(a)(2), the 
requirement for the hazard review to include findings from incident 
investigations. For incident investigations (Sec. Sec.  68.60 and 
68.81), EPA proposes to rescind: Requirements for conducting root cause 
analysis for incident investigations; for the incident investigation 
report to have specified added data elements, a schedule to address 
recommendations, a 12-month completion deadline, and for Sec.  68.60 
only, a five-year record retention (EPA notes that the existing rule's 
five-year record retention requirement at Sec.  68.200 will still 
apply); and for investigating any incident resulting in catastrophic 
releases that also results in the affected process being decommissioned 
or destroyed. In Sec. Sec.  68.60 and 68.81, EPA also proposes to 
rescind clarifying text ``(i.e., a near miss)'' that was added to 
describe an incident that could reasonably have resulted in a 
catastrophic release. In Sec.  68.60, EPA proposes to change the term 
investigation ``report(s)'' to ``summary(ies)'' and rescind the 
requirement for Program 2 processes to establish an incident 
investigation team consisting of at least one person knowledgeable in 
the process involved and other persons with experience to investigate 
an incident.
    EPA proposes to rescind employee training requirements (Sec. Sec.  
68.54 and 68.71) that would apply to supervisors responsible for 
process operations as well as rescind minor wording changes involving 
description of employees operating a process in Sec.  68.54. EPA 
proposes to rescind the requirement in Sec.  68.65 for the owner or 
operator to keep process safety information up-to-date and the 
requirement in Sec.  68.67(c)(2) for the process hazard analysis to 
address the findings from all incident investigations required under 
Sec.  68.81, as well as any other potential failure scenarios. EPA will 
retain two changes that would revise the term ``Material Safety Data 
Sheets'' to ``Safety Data Sheets (SDS)'' in Sec. Sec.  68.48 and 68.65.
    Alternatively, EPA proposes to rescind all of the above changes to 
Subparts C and D except for the requirement in Sec.  68.50(a)(2) for 
the hazard review to include findings from incident investigations, the 
term ``report(s)'' in place of the word ``summary(ies)'' in Sec.  
68.60, the requirement in Sec.  68.60 for Program 2 processes to 
establish an incident investigation team consisting of at least one 
person knowledgeable in the process involved and other persons with 
experience to investigate an incident, the requirements in Sec. Sec.  
68.54 and 68.71 for training requirements to apply to supervisors 
responsible for process operations and minor wording changes involving 
the description of employees operating a process in Sec.  68.54, and 
the two changes that would revise the term ``Material Safety Data 
Sheets'' to ``Safety Data Sheets (SDS)'' in Sec. Sec.  68.48 and 68.65.
    EPA proposes to rescind the following definitions in Sec.  68.3: 
active measures,

[[Page 24853]]

inherently safer technology or design, passive measures, 
practicability, and procedural measures related to amendments to 
requirements in Sec.  68.67; root cause related to amendments to 
requirements in Sec.  68.60 and Sec.  68.81, and third-party audit 
related to amendments to requirements in Sec. Sec.  68.58 and 68.79 and 
added Sec. Sec.  68.59 and 68.80.
    EPA proposes to modify the local emergency response coordination 
amendments by deleting the phrase in Sec.  68.93(b), ``. . . and any 
other information that local emergency planning and response 
organizations identify as relevant to local emergency response 
planning'' or alternatively replace it with the phrase ``. . . and 
other information necessary for developing and implementing the local 
emergency response plan.'' EPA would retain the requirement for owners 
or operators to provide the local emergency planning and response 
organizations with the stationary source's emergency response plan if 
one exists, emergency action plan, and updated emergency contact 
information, as well as the requirement for the owner or operator to 
request an opportunity to meet with the local emergency planning 
committee (or equivalent) and/or local fire department as appropriate 
to review and discuss these materials. EPA also proposes to incorporate 
appropriate classified information and CBI protections to regulated 
substance and stationary source information required to be provided 
under Sec.  68.93.
    EPA is proposing to modify the exercise program provisions of Sec.  
68.96(b), by removing the minimum frequency requirement for field 
exercises. EPA proposes to establish more flexible scope and 
documentation provisions for both field and tabletop exercises by only 
recommending, and not requiring, items specified for inclusion in 
exercises and exercise evaluation reports, while still requiring 
documentation of both types of exercises. EPA would retain the 
notification exercise requirement of Sec.  68.96(a) and the provision 
for alternative means of meeting exercise requirements of Sec.  
68.96(c).
    Alternatively, EPA is considering whether to fully rescind the 
field and tabletop exercise provisions of Sec.  68.96(b). Under this 
alternative proposal, EPA would retain the notification exercise 
provision of Sec.  68.96(a), but revise it and Sec.  68.93(b) to remove 
any reference to tabletop and field exercises, while also modifying the 
provision in Sec.  68.96(c) for alternative means of meeting exercise 
requirements so that it applies only to notification exercises.
    EPA proposes to rescind the requirements for providing to the 
public upon request, chemical hazard information and access to 
community emergency preparedness information in Sec.  68.210 (b) 
through (d), as well as rescind the requirement to provide the ``other 
chemical hazard information such as that described in paragraph (b) of 
this section'' at public meetings required under Sec.  68.210 (e). EPA 
will retain the requirement in Sec.  68.210 (e) for owner/operator of a 
stationary source to hold a public meeting to provide accident 
information required under Sec.  68.42 (b) no later than 90 days after 
any accident subject to reporting under Sec.  68.42. EPA will retain 
the change to Sec.  68.210 (a) which added 40 CFR part 1400 as a 
limitation on RMP availability (addresses restrictions on disclosing 
RMP offsite consequence analysis under CSISSFRRA),\5\ and the provision 
for control of classified information in Sec.  68.210 (f). EPA proposes 
to delete the provision for CBI in Sec.  68.210 (g), because the only 
remaining information required to be provided at the public meeting is 
the source's five-year accident history, which Sec.  68.151(b)(3) 
prohibits the owner or operator from claiming as CBI.
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    \5\ Chemical Safety Chemical Safety Information, Site Security 
and Fuels Regulatory Relief Act.
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    EPA proposes to rescind requirements to report in the risk 
management plan any information associated with the rescinded 
provisions of third-party audits, incident investigation, safer 
technology and alternatives analysis, and information availability to 
the public. EPA proposed to slightly modify the emergency response 
contact information required by Sec.  68.180(a)(1) to be provided in a 
facility's RMP.
    EPA proposes to delay the rule's compliance dates in Sec.  68.10 to 
one year after the effective date of a final rule for the emergency 
coordination provisions, four years after the effective date of a final 
rule for emergency exercises, two years after the effective date for 
the public meeting provision and five years after the effective date of 
the final rule for those remaining risk management plan provisions 
added as the result of the Amendments rule or changed by the 
Reconsideration rule. Under the current proposal, owners and operators 
would be still be required to have exercise plans and schedules meeting 
the requirements of Sec.  68.96 in place within four years of the 
effective date of a final rule, but would have up to one additional 
year to perform their first notification drill, up to three additional 
years to conduct their first tabletop exercise and no specified 
deadline for the first field exercise, other than that established by 
the owner or operator's exercise schedule in coordination with local 
response agencies.
    The CFR amendatory language that appears at the end of this Federal 
Register notice (see PART 68--CHEMICAL ACCIDENT PREVENTION PROVISIONS) 
proposes changes to the regulatory text that would have included 
changes from the final RMP Amendments rule if it was in effect. For 
easier review of the proposed changes, EPA has provided a copy of 40 
CFR part 68 with the Amendments rule regulatory text changes in 
redline/strikeout format, which is available in the rulemaking 
docket.\6\
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    \6\ Regulatory Text Redline/Strikeout Changes for Proposed RMP 
Reconsideration Rule, April 26, 2018.
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C. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?

    The Agency's procedures in this rulemaking are controlled by CAA 
section 307(d). The statutory authority for this action is provided by 
section 112(r) of the CAA as amended (42 U.S.C. 7412(r)). Each of the 
portions of the Risk Management Program rule we propose to modify in 
this document are based on section 112(r) of the CAA as amended (42 
U.S.C. 7412(r)). EPA's authority for convening a reconsideration 
proceeding for certain issues is found under CAA section 307(d)(7)(B) 
or 42 U.S.C. 7607(d)(7)(B). A more detailed explanation of these 
authorities can be found in Section II.B. of this preamble, EPA 
Authority to Reconsider and Revise the RMP Rule.

D. What are the incremental costs and benefits of this action?

1. Summary of Potential Cost Savings
    Approximately 12,500 facilities have filed current RMPs with EPA 
and are potentially affected by the proposed rule changes. These 
facilities range from petroleum refineries and large chemical 
manufacturers to water and wastewater treatment systems; chemical and 
petroleum wholesalers and terminals; food manufacturers, packing 
plants, and other cold storage facilities with ammonia refrigeration 
systems; agricultural chemical distributors; midstream gas plants; and 
a limited number of other sources, including Federal installations, 
that use RMP-regulated substances. Table 2 presents the number of 
facilities according to the

[[Page 24854]]

RMP reporting as of February 2015 by industrial sector and chemical 
use.

                                Table 2--Number of Affected Facilities by Sector
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                   Total
             Sector                              NAICS codes                    facilities       Chemical uses
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Administration of environmental  924........................................           1,923  Use chlorine and
 quality programs (i.e.,                                                                       other chemicals
 governments).                                                                                 for treatment.
Agricultural chemical            111, 112, 115, 42491.......................           3,667  Store ammonia for
 distributors/wholesalers.                                                                     sale; some in
                                                                                               NAICS 111 and 115
                                                                                               use ammonia as a
                                                                                               refrigerant.
Chemical manufacturing.........  325........................................           1,466  Manufacture,
                                                                                               process, store.
Chemical wholesalers...........  4246.......................................             333  Store for sale.
Food and beverage manufacturing  311, 312...................................           1,476  Use--mostly
                                                                                               ammonia as a
                                                                                               refrigerant.
Oil and gas extraction.........  211........................................             741  Intermediate
                                                                                               processing
                                                                                               (mostly regulated
                                                                                               flammable
                                                                                               substances and
                                                                                               flammable
                                                                                               mixtures).
Other..........................  44, 45, 48, 54, 56, 61, 72.................             248  Use chemicals for
                                                                                               wastewater
                                                                                               treatment,
                                                                                               refrigeration,
                                                                                               store chemicals
                                                                                               for sale.
Other manufacturing............  313, 326, 327, 33..........................             384  Use various
                                                                                               chemicals in
                                                                                               manufacturing
                                                                                               process, waste
                                                                                               treatment.
Other wholesale................  423, 424...................................             302  Use (mostly
                                                                                               ammonia as a
                                                                                               refrigerant).
Paper manufacturing............  322........................................              70  Use various
                                                                                               chemicals in pulp
                                                                                               and paper
                                                                                               manufacturing.
Petroleum and coal products      324........................................             156  Manufacture,
 manufacturing.                                                                                process, store
                                                                                               (mostly regulated
                                                                                               flammable
                                                                                               substances and
                                                                                               flammable
                                                                                               mixtures).
Petroleum wholesalers..........  4247.......................................             276  Store for sale
                                                                                               (mostly regulated
                                                                                               flammable
                                                                                               substances and
                                                                                               flammable
                                                                                               mixtures).
Utilities......................  221 (except 22131, 22132)..................             343  Use chlorine
                                                                                               (mostly for water
                                                                                               treatment).
Warehousing and storage........  493........................................           1,056  Use mostly ammonia
                                                                                               as a refrigerant.
Water/wastewater Treatment       22131, 22132...............................             102  Use chlorine and
 Systems.                                                                                      other chemicals.
                                                                             ----------------
    Total......................  ...........................................          12,542  ..................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Table 3 presents a summary of the annualized cost savings estimated 
in the regulatory impact analysis.\7\ In total, EPA estimates 
annualized cost savings of $87.9 million at a 3% discount rate and 
$88.4 million at a 7% discount rate.
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    \7\ A full description of costs and benefits for this proposed 
rule can be found in the ``Regulatory Impact Analysis, 
Reconsideration of the 2017 Amendments to the Accidental Release 
Prevention Requirements: Risk Management Programs Under the Clean 
Air Act, Section 112(r)(7).'' This document is available in the 
docket for this rulemaking (Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725).

               Table 3--Summary of Annualized Cost Savings
                        [Millions, 2015 dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Provision                       3%              7%
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Third-party Audits......................           (9.8)           (9.8)
Incident Investigation/Root Cause.......           (1.8)           (1.8)
STAA....................................          (70.0)          (70.0)
Information Availability................           (3.1)           (3.1)
Rule Familiarization (net)..............           (3.2)           (3.7)
                                         -------------------------------
    Total Cost Savings*.................          (87.9)          (88.4)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Values may not sum due to rounding.

    Most of the annual cost savings under the proposed rule are due to 
the repeal of the STAA provision (annual savings of $70 million), 
followed by third-party audits (annual savings of $9.8 million), rule 
familiarization (annual net savings of $3.7 million), information 
availability (annual savings of $3.1 million), and root-cause incident 
investigation (annual savings of $1.8 million).
2. Summary of Potential Benefits and Benefit Reductions
    The RMP Amendments Rule produced a variety of benefits from 
prevention and mitigation of future RMP and non-RMP accidents at RMP 
facilities, avoided catastrophes at RMP facilities, and easier access 
to facility chemical hazard information. The proposed Reconsideration 
rule would largely retain the revised local emergency coordination and 
exercise provisions of the 2017 Amendments final rule, which convey 
mitigation benefits. The proposed rescission of the prevention program 
requirements (i.e., third-party audits, incident investigation, STAA), 
would result in a reduction in the magnitude of these benefits. The 
proposed rescission of the chemical hazard information availability 
provision would result in a reduction of the information sharing 
benefit, although a portion of this benefit from the Amendments rule 
would still be conveyed by the public meeting, emergency coordination 
and exercise provisions. The proposed

[[Page 24855]]

rulemaking would also convey the benefit of improved chemical site 
security, by modifying previously open-ended information sharing 
provisions of the Amendments rule that might have resulted in an 
increased risk of terrorism against regulated sources. See the RIA for 
additional information on benefits and benefit reductions.

II. Background

A. Events Leading to This Action

    On January 13, 2017, the EPA issued a final rule amending 40 CFR 
part 68, the chemical accident prevention provisions under section 
112(r) of the CAA (42 U.S.C. 7412(r)). The amendments addressed various 
aspects of risk management programs, including prevention programs at 
stationary sources, emergency response preparedness requirements, 
information availability, and various other changes to streamline, 
clarify, and otherwise technically correct the underlying rules. This 
rulemaking is known as the ``Risk Management Program Amendments'' or 
``RMP Amendments'' rule. For further information on the Risk Management 
Program Amendments, see 82 FR 4594 (January 13, 2017).
    On January 26, 2017, the EPA published a final rule delaying the 
effective date of the Risk Management Program Amendments from March 14, 
2017 to March 21, 2017, see 82 FR 8499. This revision to the effective 
date of the Risk Management Program Amendments was part of an EPA final 
rule implementing a memorandum dated January 20, 2017, from the 
Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled ``Regulatory 
Freeze Pending Review.'' This memorandum directed the heads of agencies 
to postpone, until 60 days after the date of its issuance, the 
effective date of rules that were published prior to January 20, 2017, 
but which had not yet become effective.
    In a letter dated February 28, 2017, a group known as the ``RMP 
Coalition,'' submitted a petition for reconsideration of the Risk 
Management Program Amendments (``RMP Coalition Petition'') as provided 
for in CAA section 307(d)(7)(B) (42 U.S.C. 7607(d)(7)(B)).\8\ Under 
that provision, the Administrator is to commence a reconsideration 
proceeding if, in the Administrator's judgement, the petitioner raises 
an objection to a rule that was impracticable to raise during the 
comment period or if the grounds for the objection arose after the 
comment period but within the period for judicial review and if the 
objection is of central relevance to the outcome of the rule. The 
Administrator may stay the effective date of the rule for up to three 
months during such reconsideration. On March 13, 2017, the Chemical 
Safety Advocacy Group (``CSAG'') also submitted a petition (``CSAG 
Petition'') for reconsideration and stay (including a March 14, 2017 
supplement to the CSAG Petition).\9\ On March 14, 2017, the EPA 
received a third petition for reconsideration and stay from the States 
of Louisiana, joined by Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, 
South Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and the Commonwealth 
of Kentucky (the ``States Petition'').\10\ The Petitioners CSAG and 
States also requested that EPA delay the various compliance dates of 
the Risk Management Program Amendments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ RMP Coalition's Petition for Reconsideration and Request for 
Agency Stay Pending Reconsideration of Final RMP rule (82 FR 4594, 
January 13, 2017), February 28, 2017. Hogan Lovells US LLP, 
Washington, DC. Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0759.
    \9\ Chemical Safety Advocacy Group (CSAG)'s Petition and 
Reconsideration and Stay Request of the Final RMP rule (82 FR 4594, 
January 13, 2017) March 13, 2017, Hunton & Williams, San Francisco, 
CA, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0766 and EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0765 
(supplemental petition).
    \10\ Petition for Reconsideration and Stay on behalf of States 
of Louisiana, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, 
South Carolina, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and the Commonwealth of 
Kentucky with respect to Risk Management Program Final Rule, (82 FR 
4594, January 13, 2017), March 14, 2017. State of Louisiana, 
Department of Justice, Attorney General. EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0762.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In a letter dated March 13, 2017, the Administrator announced the 
convening of a proceeding for reconsideration of the Risk Management 
Program Amendments (a copy of this letter is included in the docket for 
this rule, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725).\11\ As explained in 
that letter, having considered the objections raised in the RMP 
Coalition Petition, the Administrator determined that the criteria for 
reconsideration have been met for at least one of the objections. EPA 
issued a three-month (90-day) administrative stay of the effective date 
of the Risk Management Program Amendments until June 19, 2017 (82 FR 
13968, March 16, 2017). EPA subsequently further delayed the effective 
date of the Risk Management Program Amendments until February 19, 2019, 
via notice and comment rulemaking (82 FR 27133, June 14, 2017). The 
purpose of this Delay Rule was to allow EPA to conduct a 
reconsideration proceeding and to consider other issues that may 
benefit from additional comment. This proposed rulemaking is the next 
step in EPA's reconsideration of the Risk Management Program 
Amendments.
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    \11\ EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0758
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. EPA Authority To Reconsider and Revise the RMP Rule

1. What are the procedural requirements for reconsidering the RMP 
Amendments?
    Congress granted the EPA the authority for rulemaking on the 
prevention of chemical accidental releases as well as the correction or 
response to such releases in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of CAA section 
112(r)(7). The scope of this authority is discussed in more detail 
below. The EPA has used its authority under CAA section 112(r)(7) to 
issue the RMP Rule (61 FR 31668, June 20, 1996), the 2017 RMP 
Amendments, and this reconsideration document and proposed rulemaking.
    When promulgating rules under CAA section 112(r)(7)(A) and (B), the 
EPA must follow the procedures for rulemaking set out in CAA section 
307(d). See CAA sections 112(r)(7)(E) and 307(d)(1)(C). Among other 
things, section 307(d) sets out requirements for the content of 
proposed and final rules, the docket for rulemakings, requirement to 
provide an opportunity for oral testimony on the proposed rulemaking, 
the length of time for comments, and judicial review. Only objections 
raised with reasonable specificity during the public comment period may 
be raised during judicial review.
    Section 307(d) has a provision that requires the EPA to convene a 
reconsideration proceeding when the person makes an objection that 
meets specific criteria set out in CAA section 307(d)(7)(B). The 
statute provides:

    If the person raising an objection can demonstrate to the 
Administrator that it was impracticable to raise such objection 
within [the comment period] or if the grounds for such objection 
arose after the period for public comment (but within the time 
period specified for judicial review) and if such objection is of 
central relevance to the outcome of the rule, the Administrator 
shall convene a proceeding for reconsideration of the rule and 
provide the same procedural rights as would have been afforded had 
the information been available at the time the rule was proposed.

    As noted in the Background section above, when several parties 
petitioned for reconsideration of the 2017 RMP Amendments, the 
Administrator found that at least one objection the petitioners raised 
met the specific criteria for mandatory reconsideration and therefore 
he convened a proceeding for reconsideration under CAA section

[[Page 24856]]

307(d)(7)(B). While section 307(d)(7)(B) sets out criteria for when the 
Agency must conduct a reconsideration, the Agency has the discretion to 
reopen, revisit, amend and revise a rule under the rulemaking authority 
granted in CAA section 112(r)(7) by following the procedures of CAA 
307(d) at any time, including while it conducts a reconsideration 
proceeding required by CAA section 307(d)(7)(B). In light of the fact 
that EPA must already grant petitioners ``the same procedural rights as 
would have been afforded had the information been available at the time 
the rule was proposed,'' it is efficient to conduct a discretionary 
amendment proceeding simultaneously with the reconsideration 
proceeding.
2. What is EPA's substantive authority under Clean Air Act section 
112(r)(7)?
    Congress granted EPA authority for accident prevention rules under 
two provisions in CAA section 112(r)(7). Under subparagraph (A) of CAA 
section 112(r)(7), EPA may set rules addressing the prevention, 
detection, and correction of accidental releases of substances listed 
by EPA by rule (``regulated substances'' listed in the tables in 40 CFR 
68.130). Such rules may include data collection, training, design, 
equipment, work practice, and operational requirements. EPA has wide 
discretion regarding the effective date (``as determined by the 
Administrator, assuring compliance as expeditiously as practicable'').
    Under subparagraph (B) of CAA section 112(r)(7), Congress 
authorized EPA to develop ``reasonable regulations and appropriate 
guidance'' that provide for the prevention and detection of accidental 
releases and the response to such releases, ``to the greatest extent 
practicable.'' Congress required an initial rulemaking under this 
subparagraph by November 15, 1993. Subparagraph (B) sets out a series 
of mandatory subjects to address, interagency consultation 
requirements, and discretionary provisions that allowed EPA to tailor 
requirements to make them reasonable and practicable. For example, the 
regulations needed to address ``storage, as well as operations'' and 
``emergency response after accidental releases;'' EPA was to use the 
expertise of the Secretaries of Labor and Transportation in 
promulgating the regulations; and EPA had the discretion (``shall, as 
appropriate'') to recognize differences in ``size, operations, 
processes . . . and the voluntary actions'' of regulated sources to 
prevent and respond to accidental releases (CAA section 
112(r)(7)(B)(i)). At a minimum, the regulations had to require 
stationary sources with more than a ``threshold quantity to prepare and 
implement a risk management plan.'' Such plans needed to provide for 
compliance with rule requirements under CAA section 112(r) and include 
a hazard assessment with release scenarios and an accident history, a 
release prevention program, and a response program (CAA section 
112(r)(7)(B)(ii)). Plans were to be registered with EPA and submitted 
to various planning entities (CAA section 112(r)(7)(B)(iii)). The rules 
would apply to sources three years after promulgation or three years 
after a substance was first listed for regulation under CAA section 
112(r). (CAA section 112(r)(7)(B)(i)).
    In addition to the direction to use the expertise of the 
Secretaries of Labor and Transportation in subparagraph (B) of CAA 
section 112(r)(7), the statute required EPA to consult with these 
secretaries when carrying out the authority of CAA section 112(r)(7) 
and to ``coordinate any requirements under [CAA section 112(r)(7)] with 
any requirements established for comparable purposes by'' OSHA. (CAA 
section 112(r)(7)(D)). This consultation and coordination language 
derives from and expands upon provisions on hazard assessments in the 
bill that eventually passed the Senate as its version of the 1990 CAAA, 
section 129(e)(4) of S. 1630. The Senate committee report on this 
language notes that the purpose of the coordination requirement is to 
ensure that ``requirements imposed by both agencies to accomplish the 
same purpose are not unduly burdensome or duplicative.'' Senate Report 
at 244.\12\ The mandate for coordination in the area of safer chemical 
processes was incorporated into the CAA in section 112(r)(7)(D) in the 
same legislation that Congress directed OSHA to promulgate a process 
safety standard that became the PSM standard. See CAAA of 1990 section 
304.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ Clean Air Act Amendments of 1989, Report of the Committee 
on Environment and Public Works, U.S. Senate together with 
Additional and Minority Views to Accompany S. 1630. S. Report No. 
101-228. 101st Congress, 1st Session, December 20, 1989.--``Senate 
Report'' EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0645.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The RMP Amendments and this reconsideration address three aspects 
of the Risk Management Program: Requirements for prevention programs, 
emergency response provisions, and information disclosure. The 
prevention program provisions proposed to be rescinded in this document 
(auditing, incident investigation, and safer technologies and 
alternatives analysis) address the ``prevention and detection of 
accidental releases.'' The emergency coordination and exercises 
provisions in this rule modify existing provisions that provide for 
``response to such releases by the owners or operators of the sources 
of such releases.'' The information disclosure provisions proposed to 
be rescinded or modified in this document are related to the 
development of ``procedures and measures for emergency response after 
an accidental release of a regulated substance in order to protect 
human health and the environment.'' \13\ (CAA section 112(r)(7)(B)(i)).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ Incident investigation, compliance auditing, and STAA are 
also authorized as release prevention requirements pertaining to 
stationary source ``design, equipment . . . and work practice'' as 
well as ``record-keeping [and] reporting.'' Information disclosure 
is also authorized as ``reporting.'' CAA section 112(r)(7)(A).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In considering whether it is legally permissible for the Agency to 
rescind and/or modify provisions of the RMP Amendments rule while 
continuing to meet EPA's obligations under CAA section 112(r), EPA 
notes that the CAA did not require EPA to promulgate the RMP Amendments 
rule. There are four provisions of CAA section 112(r) that require or 
authorize the Administrator to promulgate regulations. The first two 
relate to the list of regulated substances and their threshold 
quantities. CAA section 112(r)(3) required EPA to promulgate a list of 
at least 100 regulated substances. Section 112(r)(5) required EPA to 
establish, by rule, a threshold quantity for each listed substance. EPA 
met these obligations in 1994 with the publication of the list of 
regulated substances and threshold quantities (59 FR 4493, January 31, 
1994). Section 112(r)(7) contains the other two regulatory provisions. 
Section 112(r)(7)(B) required EPA to publish accidental release 
prevention, detection, and response requirements and guidance (``. . . 
the Administrator shall promulgate reasonable regulations and 
appropriate guidance to provide, to the greatest extent practicable, 
for the prevention and detection of accidental releases of regulated 
substances and for response to such releases by the owners or operators 
of the sources of such releases''). EPA met this obligation in 1996 
with the publication of the original RMP rule (61 FR 31668, June 20, 
1996), and associated guidance documents published in the late 1990s. 
The other regulatory promulgation provision of section 112(r)(7)--
section 112(r)(7)(A)--is permissive. Subparagraph (A) authorizes EPA to 
promulgate regulations but does not require it.
    Therefore, EPA had met all of its regulatory obligations under 
section 112(r) prior to promulgating the RMP

[[Page 24857]]

Amendments rule. In promulgating the RMP Amendments rule, EPA took a 
discretionary regulatory action in response to Executive Order 13650, 
``Improving Chemical Safety and Security.'' \14\ We have made 
discretionary amendments to the RMP rule several times without a 
dispute over our authority to issue discretionary amendments. See 64 FR 
964 (January 6, 1999); 64 FR 28696 (May 26, 1999); 69 FR 18819 (April 
9, 2004). As EPA's action in the RMP Amendments rule was discretionary, 
the Agency may take additional action to rescind or modify provisions 
of the RMP Amendments rule if the Agency finds that it is reasonable to 
do so.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ See 82 FR 4594, January 13, 2017: ``Section 6(c) of 
Executive Order 13650 requires the Administrator of EPA to review 
the chemical hazards covered by the Risk Management Program and 
expand, implement and enforce the Risk Management Program to address 
any additional hazards.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Overview of EPA's Risk Management Program Regulations

    EPA's existing RMP regulation was published in two stages. The 
Agency published the list of regulated substances and TQs in 1994 (59 
FR 4478, January 31, 1994) (the ``list rule'') \15\ and published the 
RMP final regulation, containing risk management requirements for 
covered sources, in 1996 (61 FR 31668, June 20, 1996) (the ``RMP 
rule'').16 17 Subsequent modifications to the list rule and 
RMP rule were made as discussed in the Amendments Rule (82 FR 4594, 
January 13, 2017 at 4600). Prior to development of EPA's 1996 RMP rule, 
OSHA published their Process Safety Management (PSM) standard in 1992 
(57 FR 6356, February 24, 1992), as required by section 304 of the 1990 
CAAA, using its authority under 29 U.S.C. 653. The OSHA PSM standard 
can be found in 29 CFR 1910.119. Both the OSHA PSM standard and the EPA 
RMP rule aim to prevent or minimize the consequences of accidental 
chemical releases through implementation of management program elements 
that integrate technologies, procedures, and management practices. In 
addition to requiring implementation of management program elements, 
the RMP rule requires covered sources to submit (to EPA) a document 
summarizing the source's risk management program--called a Risk 
Management Plan (or RMP).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \15\ Documents and information related to development of the 
list rule can be found in the EPA docket for the rulemaking, docket 
number A-91-74.
    \16\ Documents and information related to development of the RMP 
rule can be found in EPA docket number A-91-73.
    \17\ 40 CFR part 68 applies to owners and operators of 
stationary sources that have more than a TQ of a regulated substance 
within a process. The regulations do not apply to chemical hazards 
other than listed substances held above a TQ within a regulated 
process.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The EPA's risk management program requirements include conducting a 
worst-case scenario analysis and a review of accident history, 
coordinating emergency response procedures with local response 
organizations, conducting a hazard assessment, documenting a management 
system, implementing a prevention program and an emergency response 
program, and submitting a risk management plan that addresses all 
aspects of the risk management program for all covered processes and 
chemicals. A process at a source is covered under one of three 
different prevention programs (Program 1, Program 2 or Program 3) based 
on the threat posed to the community and the environment. Program 1 has 
minimal requirements and is for processes not classified in industrial 
sectors \18\ specified for Program 3, that have not had an accidental 
release with offsite consequences in the last five years prior to 
submission of the source's risk management plan, and that have no 
public receptors within the worst case release scenario vulnerable zone 
for the process. Program 3 has the most requirements and applies to 
processes covered by the OSHA PSM standard (but not eligible for RMP 
Program 1) or classified in specified industrial sectors. Program 2 has 
fewer requirements than Program 3, and applies to any process not 
covered under Programs 1 or 3. Programs 2 and 3 both require a hazard 
assessment, a prevention program and an emergency response program, 
although Program 2 requirements are less extensive and more 
streamlined. For example, the Program 2 prevention program was intended 
to cover simpler processes located at smaller businesses and does not 
require the following process safety elements: management of change, 
pre-startup review, contractors, employee participation and hot work 
permits. The Program 3 prevention program is fundamentally identical to 
the OSHA PSM standard and designed to cover those processes in the 
chemical industry. For further explanation and comparison of the PSM 
standard and RMP requirements, see the ``Process Safety Management and 
Risk Management Plan Comparison Tool'' published by OSHA and EPA in 
October 2016.\19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \18\ See ten industry NAICS codes listed at Sec.  68.10(d)(1) 
representing pulp mills, petroleum refineries, petrochemical 
manufacturing, alkalies and chlorine manufacturing, all other basic 
inorganic chemical manufacturing, cyclic crude and intermediates 
manufacturing, all other basic chemical manufacturing, plastic 
material and resin manufacturing, nitrogenous fertilizer 
manufacturing and pesticide and other agricultural chemicals 
manufacturing.
    \19\ Available at https://www.osha.gov/chemicalexecutiveorder/psm_terminology.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Proposed Changes

A. Rescind Incident Investigation, Third-Party Audit, Safer Technology 
and Alternatives Analysis (STAA), and Other Prevention Program 
Amendments

    In this section, EPA discusses the proposed changes to the RMP 
Amendments rule, but explanations of the rationale for most changes are 
discussed later in Section IV. Rationale for Rescissions and 
Modifications. Because many of the changes are being proposed for the 
same reason, presenting the rationale separately eliminates redundant 
discussion and allows rationale discussion to be organized by topic 
(i.e. OSHA coordination, security risks, cost reduction).
    In the RMP Amendments rule, EPA added three major provisions to the 
accident prevention program of Subparts C (for Program 2 processes) and 
D (for Program 3 processes). These included:
    (1) A requirement in Sec.  68.60 and Sec.  68.81 for all facilities 
with Program 2 or 3 processes to conduct a root cause analysis using a 
recognized method as part of an incident investigation of a 
catastrophic release or an incident that could have reasonably resulted 
in a catastrophic release (i.e., a near-miss).
    (2) Requirements in Sec.  68.58 and Sec.  68.79 for regulated 
facilities with Program 2 or Program 3 processes to contract with an 
independent third-party, or assemble an audit team led by an 
independent third-party, to perform a compliance audit after the 
facility has an RMP reportable accident or when an implementing agency 
requires a third-party audit due to conditions at the stationary source 
that could lead to an accidental release of a regulated substance, or 
when a previous third-party audit failed to meet the specified 
competency or independence criteria. Requirements were established in 
new Sec.  68.59 and Sec.  68.80 for third-party auditor competency, 
independence, and responsibilities and for third-party audit reports 
and audit findings response reports.
    (3) A requirement in Sec.  68.67(c)(8) for facilities with Program 
3 regulated processes in North American Industrial Classification 
System (NAICS) codes 322 (paper manufacturing), 324

[[Page 24858]]

(petroleum and coal products manufacturing), and 325 (chemical 
manufacturing) to conduct a safer technology and alternatives analysis 
(STAA) as part of their process hazard analysis (PHA). This required 
the owner or operator to address safer technology and alternative risk 
management measures applicable to eliminating or reducing risk from 
process hazards; to consider, in the following order or preference, 
inherently safer technologies, passive measures, active measures and 
procedural measures while using any combination of risk management 
measures to achieve the desired risk reduction; and to evaluate the 
practicability of any inherently safer technologies and designs 
considered.
    (4) The RMP Amendments rule also made several other minor changes 
to the Subparts C and D prevention program requirements. These included 
the following:
     Sec.  68.48 Safety information--changed requirement in 
subparagraph (a)(1) to maintain Safety Data Sheets (SDS) in lieu of 
Material Safety Data Sheets.
     Sec.  68.50 Hazard review--added language to existing 
subparagraph (a)(2) to require hazard reviews to include findings from 
incident investigations when identifying opportunities for equipment 
malfunctions or human errors that could cause an accidental release.
     Sec. Sec.  68.54 and 68.71 Training--changed description 
of employee(s) ``operating a process'' to ``involved in operating a 
process'' in Sec.  68.54 paragraphs (a) and (b), and changed 
``operators'' to ``employees involved in operating a process'' in Sec.  
68.54 (d). EPA also added paragraph (e) in Sec.  68.54 and paragraph 
(d) in Sec.  68.71 to make employee training requirements also apply to 
supervisors responsible for directing process operations (under Sec.  
68.54) and supervisors with process operational responsibilities (under 
Sec.  68.71).
     Sec. Sec.  68.58 and 68.79 Compliance audits--changes to 
paragraph (a) for Program 2 and Program 3 provisions added language to 
clarify that the owner or operator must evaluate compliance with each 
covered process every three years.
     Sec. Sec.  68.60 and 68.81 Incident investigation--made 
the following changes: Revised paragraph (a) in both sections by adding 
clarifying text ``(i.e., a near miss)'' to describe an incident that 
could reasonably have resulted in a catastrophic release; revised 
paragraph (a) in both sections to require investigation when an 
incident resulting in catastrophic releases also results in the 
affected process being decommissioned or destroyed; added paragraph (c) 
to Sec.  68.60 to require for Program 2 processes, incident 
investigation teams to be established and consist of at least one 
person knowledgeable in the process involved and other persons with 
appropriate knowledge and experience to thoroughly investigate and 
analyze the incident; redesignated paragraphs (c) through (f) in Sec.  
68.60 as paragraphs (d) through (g); revised redesignated paragraph (d) 
in Sec.  68.60 and paragraph (d) in Sec.  68.81 to require an incident 
investigation report to be prepared and completed within 12 months of 
the incident, unless the implementing agency approves, in writing, an 
extension of time, and added paragraph (g) in Sec.  68.60 to require 
investigation reports to be retained for five years; and in Sec.  68.60 
replaced the word ``summary'' in redesignated paragraph (d) with 
``report.'' The following changes were made in both paragraph (d) of 
Sec.  68.81 and redesignated paragraph (d) of Sec.  68.60 to specify 
additional required contents of the investigation report: revised 
paragraph (d)(1) to include time and location of the incident; revised 
paragraph (d)(3) to require that description of incident be in 
chronological order, with all relevant facts provided; redesignated and 
revised paragraph (d)(4) into paragraph (d)(7) to require that the 
factors that contributed to the incident include the initiating event, 
direct and indirect contributing; added new paragraph (d)(4) to require 
the name and amount of the regulated substance involved in the release 
(e.g. fire, explosion, toxic gas loss of containment) or near miss and 
the duration of the event; added new paragraph (d)(5) to require the 
consequences, if any, of the incident including, but not limited to: 
injuries, fatalities, the number of people evacuated, the number of 
people sheltered in place, and the impact on the environment; added new 
paragraph (d)(6) to require the emergency response actions taken; and 
redesignated and revised paragraph (d)(5) of Sec.  68.81 and paragraph 
(c)(5) of Sec.  68.60 into paragraphs (d)(8) of both sections to 
require that the investigation recommendations have a schedule for 
being addressed.
     Sec.  68.65 Process safety information--change to 
paragraph (a) required the owner or operator to keep process safety 
information up-to-date; change to Note to paragraph (b) revised the 
term ``Material Safety Data Sheets'' to ``Safety Data Sheets (SDS).''
     Sec.  68.67 Process hazard analysis--change to 
subparagraph (c)(2) added requirement for PHA to address the findings 
from all incident investigations required under Sec.  68.81, as well as 
any other potential failure scenarios.
     Sec.  68.3 Definitions--added definitions for terms active 
measures, inherently safer technology or design, passive measures, 
practicability, and procedural measures related to amendments to 
requirements in Sec.  68.67. Added definition of root cause related to 
amendments to requirements in Sec.  68.60 and Sec.  68.81. Added 
definition for term third-party audit related to amendments to 
requirements in Sec.  68.58 and added Sec.  68.59.
    EPA now proposes to rescind all of the above changes, with the 
exception of the two changes that would revise the term ``Material 
Safety Data Sheets'' to ``Safety Data Sheets (SDS)'' in Sec. Sec.  
68.48 and 68.65. This includes deleting the words ``for each covered 
process'' from the compliance audit provisions in Sec.  68.58 and Sec.  
68.79, which apply to RMP Program 2 and Program 3, respectively. EPA 
proposes to rescind the requirements to report the following data 
elements in the risk management plan: in Sec.  68.170 (i), whether the 
most recent compliance audit was a third-party audit, pursuant to 
Sec. Sec.  68.58 and 68.59; in Sec.  68.175 (k), whether the most 
recent compliance audit was a third-party audit, pursuant to Sec. Sec.  
68.79 and 68.80; and in Sec.  68.175 (e)(7), inherently safer 
technology or design measures implemented since the last PHA, if any, 
and the technology category (substitution, minimization, simplification 
and/or moderation). In Sec.  68.175(e), EPA proposes to rescind the 
Amendments rule's deletion of the expected date of completion of any 
changes resulting from the PHA for program 3 facilities. Adding back 
this requirement would revert reporting of the PHA information in the 
risk management plan to what is currently required by the existing in-
effect rule. This would also be consistent with the similar Sec.  
68.170 (e) requirement for Program 2 facilities to report the expected 
date of completion of any changes resulting from the hazard review, a 
requirement that was not deleted in the Amendments rule. EPA also 
proposes to rescind the requirement in Sec.  68.190 (c), that prior to 
de-registration, the owner or operator shall meet applicable reporting 
and incident investigation requirements in accordance with Sec. Sec.  
68.42, 68.60 and/or 68.81.
    Alternatively, EPA proposes to rescind all of the above changes, 
except for the following:

[[Page 24859]]

     Requirement in Sec.  68.50(a)(2) for the hazard review to 
include findings from incident investigations;
     Retain the term ``report(s)'' in place of the word 
``summary(ies)'' in Sec.  68.60;
     Requirement in Sec.  68.60 for Program 2 processes to 
establish an incident investigation team consisting of at least one 
person knowledgeable in the process involved and other persons with 
experience to investigate an incident;
     Requirements in Sec. Sec.  68.54 and 68.71 for training 
requirements to apply to supervisors responsible for process operations 
and minor wording changes involving the description of employees 
operating a process in Sec.  68.54; and,
     Retain the two changes that would revise the term 
``Material Safety Data Sheets'' to ``Safety Data Sheets (SDS)'' in 
Sec. Sec.  68.48 and 68.65.
    EPA requests public comment on the Agency's proposal to rescind and 
modify the prevention requirements of the RMP Amendments rule, as well 
as the alternatives described above.

B. Rescind Information Availability Amendments

    In the RMP Amendments rule, EPA added several new provisions to 
Sec.  68.210--Availability of information to the public. These 
included:
    (1) A requirement for the owner or operator to provide, upon 
request by any member of the public, specified chemical hazard 
information for all regulated processes, as applicable, including:
     Names of regulated substances held in a process,
     SDSs for all regulated substances located at the facility,
     Accident history information required to be reported under 
Sec.  68.42,
     Emergency response program information, including whether 
or not the source responds to releases of regulated substances, name 
and phone number of local emergency response organizations, and 
procedures for informing the public and local emergency response 
agencies about accidental releases,
     A list of scheduled exercises required under Sec.  68.96 
(i.e., new emergency exercise provisions of the RMP Amendments rule), 
and;
     Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPC) contact 
information;
    (2) A requirement for the owner or operator to provide ongoing 
notification on a company website, social media platforms, or through 
other publicly accessible means that the above information is available 
to the public upon request, along with the information elements that 
may be requested and instructions for how to request the information, 
as well as information on where members of the public may access 
information on community preparedness, including shelter-in-place and 
evacuation procedures;
    (3) A requirement for the owner or operator to provide the 
requested chemical hazard information within 45 days of receiving a 
request from any member of the public, and;
    (4) A requirement to hold a public meeting to provide accident 
information required under Sec.  68.42 as well as other relevant 
chemical hazard information, no later than 90 days after any accident 
subject to reporting under Sec.  68.42.
    Additionally, the RMP Amendments rule added provisions to Sec.  
68.210 to address classified information and confidential business 
information (CBI) claims for information required to be provided to the 
public, and made a minor change to the existing paragraph (a) RMP 
availability, to add a reference to 40 CFR part 1400 for controlling 
public access to RMPs.
    EPA now proposes for security reasons to rescind the requirements 
for providing to the public upon request, chemical hazard information 
and access to community emergency preparedness information in Sec.  
68.210 (b) through (d), as well as rescind the requirement to provide 
the ``other chemical hazard information such as that described in 
paragraph (b) of this section'' at public meetings required under Sec.  
68.210(e). Alternatively, EPA proposes to rescind all of the 
information elements in Sec.  68.210 (b) through (d), as well as 
rescind the requirement to provide the ``other chemical hazard 
information such as that described in paragraph (b) of this section'' 
at public meetings required under Sec.  68.210(e), except for the 
requirement in Sec.  68.210(b)(5) for the owner or operator to provide 
a list of scheduled exercises required under Sec.  68.96. EPA will 
retain the requirement in Sec.  68.210(e) for owner/operator of a 
stationary source to hold a public meeting to provide accident 
information required under Sec.  68.42 no later than 90 days after any 
accident subject to reporting under Sec.  68.42, but clarifying that 
the information to be provided is the data listed in Sec.  68.42(b). 
This data would be provided for only the most recent accident, and not 
for previous accidents covered by the 5-year accident history 
requirement of Sec.  68.42(a). EPA will retain the change to paragraph 
(a) ``RMP availability'' which added availability under 40 CFR part 
1400 (addresses restrictions on disclosing RMP offsite consequence 
analysis under the Chemical Safety Information, Site Security and Fuels 
Regulatory Relief Act (CSISSFRRA).\20\ The provisions for classified 
information in Sec.  68.210(f) will also be retained but are separately 
proposed to be incorporated into the emergency response coordination 
section of the rule. EPA proposes to delete the provision for CBI in 
Sec.  68.210(g), because the only remaining provision for public 
information availability in this section (other than the provision for 
RMP availability) is the requirement to provide at a public meeting, 
the information required in the source's five-year accident history, 
which Sec.  68.151(b)(3) prohibits the owner or operator from claiming 
as CBI. EPA proposes to rescind the requirements in Sec.  68.160(b)(21) 
to report in the risk management plan, the method of communication and 
location of the notification that hazard information is available to 
the public, pursuant to Sec.  68.210(c). EPA requests public comment on 
the Agency's proposal to rescind and modify the public information 
availability requirements of the RMP Amendments rule, as well as the 
alternatives described above.
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    \20\ EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0135.
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C. Modify Local Coordination Amendments

    In the RMP Amendments rule, EPA required owners or operators of 
``responding'' and ``non-responding'' stationary sources to perform 
emergency response coordination activities required under new Sec.  
68.93. These activities included coordinating response needs at least 
annually with local emergency planning and response organizations, as 
well as documenting these coordination activities. The RMP Amendments 
rule required coordination to include providing to the local emergency 
planning and response organizations the stationary source's 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. For responding stationary sources, 
coordination must also include consulting with local emergency response 
officials to establish appropriate schedules and plans for field and 
tabletop exercises required under Sec.  68.96(b). Owners or operators 
of responding and non-responding sources are required to request an 
opportunity to meet with the local emergency planning committee (or 
equivalent) and/or local fire department as appropriate to review and 
discuss these materials.

[[Page 24860]]

    EPA now proposes to modify the local coordination amendments by 
deleting the phrase in Sec.  68.93(b), ``. . . and any other 
information that local emergency planning and response organizations 
identify as relevant to local emergency response planning.'' 
Alternatively, EPA proposes to change this phrase to read: ``other 
information necessary for developing and implementing the local 
emergency response plan.'' Under both alternatives, EPA also proposes 
to incorporate appropriate classified information and CBI protections 
to regulated substance and stationary source information required to be 
provided under Sec.  68.93.
    EPA is retaining the requirement in Sec.  68.95(a)(1)(i) for 
responding facilities to update their facility emergency response plans 
to include appropriate changes based on information obtained from 
coordination activities, emergency response exercises, incident 
investigations or other information. In addition, EPA will retain the 
requirement in Sec.  68.95(4) that emergency response plan notification 
procedures must inform appropriate Federal and state emergency response 
agencies, as well as local agencies and the public.
    EPA proposes to retain language in Sec.  68.93(b) referring to 
field and tabletop exercise schedules and plans with a proposal to 
retain some form of field and tabletop exercise requirement. 
Alternatively, in conjunction with an alternative proposal to rescind 
field and tabletop exercise requirements (see ``Modify exercise 
amendments'' below), the Agency also proposes to rescind this language.
    EPA is proposing no other changes to the local coordination 
requirements of the RMP Amendments rule. Under either alternative 
proposed above, the following provisions would remain unchanged: The 
provisions of paragraph (b) requiring coordination to include providing 
to the local emergency planning and response organizations the 
stationary source's emergency response plan if one exists, emergency 
action plan, and updated emergency contact information, as well as the 
requirement for the owner or operator to request an opportunity to meet 
with the local emergency planning committee (or equivalent) and/or 
local fire department as appropriate to review and discuss these 
materials. For provisions of the RMP Amendments that we propose to 
retain, we continue to rely on the rationale and responses we provided 
when we promulgated the Amendments. See 81 FR 13671-74 (proposed RMP 
Amendments rule), March 14, 2016, 82 FR 4653-58 (final RMP Amendments 
rule), January 13, 2017. EPA requests public comment on the Agency's 
proposal to modify the local coordination requirements of the RMP 
Amendments rule, as well as the alternatives described above.

D. Modify Exercise Amendments

    In the RMP Amendments rule, EPA added a new section entitled Sec.  
68.96 Emergency response exercises. This section contained several new 
provisions, including:
     Notification exercises: At least once each calendar year, 
the owner or operator of a stationary source with any Program 2 or 
Program 3 process must conduct an exercise of the stationary source's 
emergency response notification mechanisms.
    [cir] Owners or operators of responding stationary sources are 
allowed to perform the notification exercise as part of the tabletop 
and field exercises required in new Sec.  68.96(b).
    [cir] The owner/operator must maintain a written record of each 
notification exercise conducted over the last five years.
     Emergency response exercise program: The owner or operator 
of a responding stationary source must develop and implement an 
exercise program for its emergency response program.
    [cir] Exercises must involve facility emergency response personnel 
and, as appropriate, emergency response contractors.
    [cir] The emergency response exercise program must include field 
and tabletop exercises involving the simulated accidental release of a 
regulated substance.
    [cir] Under the RMP Amendments rule, the owner or operator is 
required to consult with local emergency response officials to 
establish an appropriate frequency for exercises, but at a minimum, the 
owner or operator must hold a tabletop exercise at least once every 
three years, and a field exercise at least once every ten years.
    [cir] Field exercises must include tests of procedures to notify 
the public and the appropriate Federal, state, and local emergency 
response agencies about an accidental release; tests of procedures and 
measures for emergency response actions including evacuations and 
medical treatment; tests of communications systems; mobilization of 
facility emergency response personnel, including contractors, as 
appropriate; coordination with local emergency responders; emergency 
response equipment deployment; and any other action identified in the 
emergency response program, as appropriate.
    [cir] Tabletop exercises must include discussions of procedures to 
notify the public and the appropriate Federal, state, and local 
emergency response agencies; procedures and measures for emergency 
response including evacuations and medical treatment; identification of 
facility emergency response personnel and/or contractors and their 
responsibilities; coordination with local emergency responders; 
procedures for emergency response equipment deployment; and any other 
action identified in the emergency response plan, as appropriate.
     For both field and tabletop exercises, the RMP Amendments 
rule requires the owner or operator to prepare an evaluation report 
within 90 days of each exercise. The report must include a description 
of the exercise scenario, names and organizations of each participant, 
an evaluation of the exercise results including lessons learned, 
recommendations for improvement or revisions to the emergency response 
exercise program and emergency response program, and a schedule to 
promptly address and resolve recommendations.
     The RMP Amendments rule also contains a provision for 
alternative means of meeting exercise requirements, which allows the 
owner or operator to satisfy the requirement to conduct notification, 
field and/or tabletop exercises through exercises conducted to meet 
other Federal, state or local exercise requirements, or by responding 
to an actual accidental release.
    EPA is now proposing to modify the exercise program provisions of 
Sec.  68.96(b), as requested by state and local response officials, by 
removing the minimum frequency requirement for field exercises and 
establishing more flexible scope and documentation provisions for both 
field and tabletop exercises. Under this proposal, EPA would retain the 
final RMP Amendments rule requirement for the owner or operator to 
attempt to consult with local response officials to establish 
appropriate frequencies and plans for field and tabletop exercises. The 
minimum frequency for tabletop exercises would remain at three years. 
However, there would be no minimum frequency specified for field 
exercises in order to reduce burden on regulated facilities and local 
responders as explained in rationale section IV. D. 5. Costs of Field 
and Tabletop Exercises. Documentation of both types of exercises would 
still be required, but the items specified for inclusion in exercises 
and exercise evaluation

[[Page 24861]]

reports under the RMP Amendments rule would be recommended, and not 
required. The content of exercise evaluation reports would be left to 
the reasonable judgement of stationary source owners or operators and 
local emergency response officials. As described in the RMP Amendments 
rule, if local emergency response officials declined the owner or 
operator's request for consultation on and/or participation in 
exercises, the owner or operator would be allowed to unilaterally 
establish appropriate frequencies and plans for the exercises (provided 
that the frequency for tabletop exercises does not exceed three years), 
and conduct exercises without the participation of local emergency 
response officials. Likewise, if local emergency response officials and 
the facility owner or operator cannot agree on the appropriate 
frequency and plan for an exercise, owners and operators must still 
ensure that exercises occur and should establish plans to execute the 
exercises on their own. The RMP Amendments rule does not require local 
responders to participate in any of these activities, nor would this 
proposal.
    This proposal would not alter the notification exercise requirement 
of Sec.  68.96(a) or the provision for alternative means of meeting 
exercise requirements of Sec.  68.96(c). EPA proposes to correct an 
error in Sec.  68.96(b)(2)(i) related to the frequency of tabletop 
exercises by proposing to replace the phrase ``shall conduct a field 
exercise every three years'' with ``shall conduct a tabletop exercise 
every three years.'' For provisions of the RMP Amendments that we 
propose to retain, we continue to rely on the rationale and responses 
we provided when we promulgated the Amendments. See 81 FR 13674-76 
(proposed RMP Amendments rule), March 16, 2016 and 82 FR 4659-67 (final 
RMP Amendments rule), January 13, 2017. In summary, EPA found that 
exercising an emergency response plan is critical to ensure that 
response personnel understand their roles, that local emergency 
responders are familiar with the hazards at the facility, and that the 
emergency response plan is appropriate and up-to-date. Exercises also 
ensure that personnel are properly trained and lessons learned from 
exercises can be used to identify future training needs. Poor emergency 
response procedures during some recent accidents have highlighted the 
need for facilities to conduct periodic emergency response exercises. 
Other EPA and federal agency programs and some state and local 
regulations require emergency response exercises.
    Alternatively, EPA is considering whether to fully rescind the 
field and tabletop exercise provisions of Sec.  68.96(b). Under this 
alternative proposal, EPA would retain the notification exercise 
provision of Sec.  68.96(a), but revise it and Sec.  68.93(b) to remove 
any reference to tabletop and field exercises, while also modifying the 
provision in Sec.  68.96(c) for alternative means of meeting exercise 
requirements so that it applies only to notification exercises.
    EPA is also considering another alternative--to remove the minimum 
frequency requirement for field exercises, but retain all remaining 
provisions of the RMP Amendments rule regarding field and tabletop 
exercises, including the RMP Amendments rule requirements for exercise 
scope and documentation.
    EPA requests public comment on the Agency's proposal to modify the 
exercise requirements of the RMP Amendments rule, as well as the 
alternatives described above.

E. Revise Emergency Response Contacts Provided in RMP

    EPA proposes to modify the emergency response contact information 
required to be provided in a facility's RMP. In Sec.  68.180(a)(1) of 
the Amendments rule, EPA required the owner or operator to provide the 
name, organizational affiliation, phone number, and email address of 
local emergency planning and response organizations with which the 
stationary source last coordinated emergency response efforts. EPA now 
proposes to modify this requirement to read: ``Name, phone number, and 
email address of local emergency planning and response organizations. . 
. .''

F. Revise Compliance Dates

    In the RMP Amendments rule, EPA required compliance with the new 
provisions as follows:
     Required compliance with emergency response coordination 
activities by March 14, 2018;
     Required compliance with the emergency response program 
requirements of Sec.  68.95 within three years of when the owner or 
operator initially determines that the stationary source is subject to 
those requirements;
     Required compliance with other major provisions (i.e., 
third-party compliance audits, root cause analyses and other added 
requirements to incident investigations, STAA, emergency response 
exercises, and information availability provisions), unless otherwise 
stated, by March 15, 2021; and;
     Required the owner or operator to correct or resubmit 
their RMP to reflect new and revised data elements promulgated in the 
RMP Amendments rule by March 14, 2022.
    EPA did not specify compliance dates for the other minor changes to 
the Subpart C and D prevention program requirements. Therefore, under 
the RMP Amendments rule, compliance with these provisions was required 
on the effective date of the RMP Amendments rule. EPA now proposes to 
extend compliance dates as follows:
     For emergency response coordination activities, EPA 
proposes to require compliance by one year after the effective date of 
a final rule.
     For emergency response exercises, EPA proposes to require 
owners and operators to have exercise plans and schedules meeting the 
requirements of Sec.  68.96 in place by four years after the effective 
date of a final rule. EPA also proposes to require owners and operators 
to have completed their first notification drill by five years after 
the effective date of a final rule, and to have completed their first 
tabletop exercise by 7 years after the effective date of a final rule. 
Under this proposal, there would be no specific compliance date 
specified for field exercises, because field exercises would be 
conducted according to a schedule developed by the owner or operator in 
consultation with local emergency responders.
     For corrections or resubmissions of RMPs to reflect 
reporting on new and revised data elements (public meeting information 
and emergency response program and exercises), EPA proposes to require 
compliance by five years after the effective date of a final rule.
     For third-party audits, STAA, root cause analyses and 
other new provisions of the RMP Amendments rule for incident 
investigations and chemical hazard information availability and notice 
of availability of information, as well as other minor changes to the 
Subpart C and D prevention program requirements (except for the two 
changes that would revise the term ``Material Safety Data Sheets'' to 
``Safety Data Sheets (SDS)'' in Sec. Sec.  68.48 and 68.65), EPA is 
proposing to rescind these provisions. However, if a final rule does 
not rescind these provisions, EPA proposes to require compliance with 
any of these provisions that are not rescinded, by four years after the 
effective date of a final rule.
     For the public meeting requirement in Sec.  68.210(b), EPA 
proposes to require compliance by two years after the effective date of 
a final rule.

[[Page 24862]]

     EPA is retaining the requirement to comply with the 
emergency response program requirements of Sec.  68.95 within three 
years of when the owner or operator initially determines that the 
stationary source is subject to those requirements.
    For provisions of the RMP Amendments that we propose to retain, we 
continue to rely on the rationale and responses we provided when we 
promulgated the Amendments. See 81 FR 13686-91 proposed RMP Amendments 
rule), March 14, 2016 and 82 FR 4675-80 (final RMP Amendments rule), 
January 13, 2017. In summary, EPA found that one year was sufficient to 
arrange and document coordination activities, three years was needed to 
comply with emergency response program requirements, four years was 
necessary to comply with exercise provisions, and five years was 
necessary to update risk management plans.
    Three years to develop an emergency response program is necessary 
for facility owners and operators to understand the requirements, 
arrange for emergency response resources and train personnel to respond 
to an accidental release. Compliance with emergency coordination 
requirements could require up to one year because some facilities who 
have not been regularly coordinating will need time to get familiar 
with the new requirements, while having some flexibility in scheduling 
and preparing for coordination meetings with local emergency response 
organizations whose resources and time for coordination may be limited. 
A shorter timeframe may be difficult to comply with, especially for RMP 
sources whose local emergency organization has many RMP sources in 
their jurisdiction who are trying to schedule coordination meetings 
with local responders at the same time.
    For the emergency exercises, EPA is proposing a four year 
compliance time for developing exercise plans and schedules, an 
additional year for conducting the first notification exercise, and an 
additional three years for conducting the first tabletop exercise, 
because EPA believes that additional time is necessary for sources to 
understand the new requirements for notification, field and tabletop 
exercises, train facility personnel on how to plan and conduct these 
exercises, coordinate with local responders to plan and schedule 
exercises, and carry out the exercises. Additional time will also 
provide owners and operators with flexibility to plan, schedule, and 
conduct exercises in a manner which is least burdensome for facilities 
and local response agencies. Also, EPA plans to publish guidance for 
emergency response exercises and once these materials are complete, 
owners and operators will need time to familiarize themselves with the 
materials and use them to plan and develop their exercises. If local 
emergency response organizations are to be able to participate in the 
field and tabletop exercises, sufficient time is needed to accommodate 
any time or resource limitations local responders might have not only 
for participating in exercises, but for helping to plan them.
    For the public meeting requirement in Sec.  68.210(b), EPA proposes 
to require compliance by two years after the effective date of a final 
rule. The RMP Amendments rule allows four years for compliance for the 
public meeting which was consistent with the compliance date for other 
information to be required to the public by Sec.  68.210. However, EPA 
is proposing to remove the requirement to provide to the public the 
chemical hazard information in Sec.  68.210 (b), the notice of 
availability of information in Sec.  68.210(c) and the timeframe for 
providing information 68.210(d) as well proposing to remove the 
requirement to provide the chemical hazard information in Sec.  68.210 
(b) at the public meeting. The stationary source would be required to 
provide the chemical accident data elements specified in Sec.  68.42, 
data which should already be familiar to the source because this 
information is currently required to be reported in their risk 
management plan. Thus, two years should be enough time for facilities 
to be prepared to provide the required information at a public meeting 
after an RMP reportable accident. EPA seeks comment on whether a sooner 
compliance date is more appropriate.
    With regard to the five-year compliance date for updating RMPs with 
newly-required information, EPA is proposing this time frame because 
EPA will need time to revise its RMP submission guidance for any 
provisions finalized and also to revise its risk management plan 
submission system, RMP*eSubmit, to include additional data elements. 
Sources will not be able to update risk management plans until the 
revised RMP*eSubmit system is ready. Also, once the software is ready, 
some additional time is needed to allow sources to update their risk 
management plans while preventing potential problems with thousands of 
sources submitting updated risk management plans on the same day.

G. Corrections to Cross Referenced CFR Sections

    EPA proposes to correct CFR section numbers that are cross 
referenced in certain sections of the rule because these were changes 
necessitated by addition and redesignation of paragraphs pertaining to 
provisions in the Amendments rule but were overlooked at the time. 
Table 4 contains a list of these corrections.

        Table 4--Corrections to Cross Referenced Section Numbers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                In section:                  Change in section reference
------------------------------------------------------------------------
68.12(b)..................................  68.10(b) should be 68.10(g).
68.12(c)..................................  68.10(c) should be 68.10(h).
68.12(d)..................................  68.10(d) should be 68.10(i).
68.12(b)(4)...............................  68.10(b)(1) should be
                                             68.10(g)(1).
68.96(a)..................................  68.90(a)(2) should be
                                             68.90(b)(3).
68.180(a)(1)..............................  68.10(f)(3) should be
                                             68.10(g)(3).
68.215(a)(2)(i)...........................  68.10(a) should be 69.10(a)
                                             through (f).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. Rationale for Rescissions and Modifications

A. Maintain Consistency in Accident Prevention Requirements

    In both the RMP Coalition Petition and the CSAG Petition, the 
petitioners seek reconsideration of the RMP Amendments based on what 
they view as either EPA's failure to coordinate with OSHA and DOT as 
required by paragraph (D) of CAA section 112(r)(7) or at least 
inadequate coordination. For example, CSAG's petition comments: \21\
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    \21\ CSAG Petition, pg. 25, document ID: EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-
0766.

    Stakeholders have repeatedly asked EPA why it is pursuing this 
effort in isolation when Congress directed it to coordinate any 
requirements under Clean Air Act Section 112(r) with certain 
industry standards, and with those issued for comparable purposes by 
OSHA and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). This directive to 
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coordinate was repeated in E.O. 13650 (footnotes omitted).

The RMP Coalition notes that OSHA had been reexamining the PSM standard 
under E.O. 13650 but ``ha[d] yet to complete the PSM standard 
rulemaking process and the timeframe for that regulation is unclear.'' 
\22\
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    \22\ RMP Coalition Petition, pg. 19, Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEM-
2015-0725-0759.
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1. What was EPA's approach to coordination with other agencies prior to 
E.O. 13650?
    Both EPA's 40 CFR part 68 RMP regulation and OSHA's 29 CFR 1910.119

[[Page 24863]]

PSM standard were authorized under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 
1990. Both the OSHA PSM standard and the EPA RMP rule aim to prevent or 
minimize the consequences of accidental chemical releases and protect 
workers, the community and the environment through implementation of 
management program elements that integrate technologies, procedures and 
management practices. EPA's RMP regulation has a large overlap with the 
PSM standard and both were written to complement each other in 
accomplishing these Congressional goals.
    The 1996 Risk Management Program rule and the related notice and 
supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (60 FR 13526, March 13, 
1995) not only mention and reflect consultations with both DOT and DOL-
OSHA, but also show close coordination between the PSM standard and the 
EPA program. In the proposed Risk Management Program rule, EPA proposed 
that all sources subject to EPA's rules comply with a prevention 
program based on the PSM standard. See 58 FR 54190, 54195-96 (October 
20, 1993). The preamble to the proposed rulemaking contained an 
explanation of the differences between PSM standard and the Risk 
Management Program and a section-by-section comparison. Id. at 54203-
05. In EPA's view, ``[e]xcept for the management system requirement . . 
. , the proposed EPA prevention program covers the same elements as 
OSHA's [PSM standard] and generally uses identical language except 
where the statutory mandates of the two agencies dictate differences.'' 
Id. at 54204. EPA retained a PSM standard-based prevention program 
(tier) in its supplemental proposal. See 60 FR 13526, March 13, 1995 at 
13529. In the 1996 final rule, EPA placed all PSM standard-covered 
processes that were subject to EPA's Risk Management Program in program 
3 for prevention (unless the process was eligible for Program 1), and 
adopted language in program 3 that even more closely tracked PSM than 
had the proposal. See 61 FR 31668, June 20, 1996 at 31672-3, 31677, 
31686-8, 31692-3, 31696-7, 31708 and 31711-12. Those differences in 
provisions between program 3 and the PSM standard that did exist were 
driven by statutory terms. See 61 FR 31668, June 20, 1996 at 31672, 
31687, and 31696.
    Measures taken by sources to comply with the OSHA PSM standard for 
any process that meets OSHA's PSM standard are sufficient to comply 
with the prevention program requirements of all three Programs.\23\ The 
Program 3 prevention program finalized in 1996 includes requirements of 
the OSHA PSM standard 29 CFR 1910.119 (c) through (m) and (o), with 
minor wording changes to address statutory differences. This makes it 
clear that one accident prevention program to protect workers, the 
general public, and the environment will satisfy both OSHA and EPA.\24\ 
These prevention program requirements in Program 3 cover employee 
participation, process safety information, process hazard analysis, 
operating procedures, training, contractors, pre-startup safety review, 
mechanical integrity, hot work permits, management of change, incident 
investigation, and compliance audits.
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    \23\ 61 FR 31671, June 20, 1996. EPA final rule for Accidental 
Release Prevention Requirements: Risk Management Programs under the 
CAA, Section 112(r)(7).
    \24\ 61 FR 31672, June 20, 1996.
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    Other provisions of the 1996 rule as well as subsequent amendments 
to the Risk Management Program reflect coordination with DOT. EPA has 
relied on DOT definitions for key terms and allowed compliance with the 
hazardous material regulations to satisfy requirements of EPA's 
program. See 61 FR 31668, June 20, 1996 at 31700, 63 FR 640, January 6, 
1998, and 64 FR 28696, May 26, 1999 at 28698. The coordination with 
other agencies in the Risk Management Program helped to minimize burden 
and avoided requiring unduly duplicative and distinct compliance 
programs addressing the same matters. In short, whenever possible, 
compliance with one agency's program was compliance with all.
2. What was EPA's approach to coordination under E.O. 13650 during the 
development of the RMP Amendments?
    EPA adopted a somewhat inconsistent approach to the consultation 
and coordination requirement in developing the Risk Management Program 
Amendments of 2017. After the West Fertilizer fire and explosion on 
April 17, 2013, EPA and OSHA, (along with DHS) as members of the 
Chemical Facility Safety and Security Working Groups established by 
Executive Order 13650, continued to consult with each other on their 
overlapping programs as they considered changes to existing chemical 
safety and security regulations. EPA and OSHA discussed options for 
changes to the RMP regulations and the OSHA PSM standard, respectively, 
in the May 2014 document entitled ``Executive Order 13650 Report to the 
President--Actions to Improve Chemical Facility Safety and Security--A 
Shared Commitment.'' \25\ In justifying its pre-regulatory ``Request 
for Information'' notice that raised for discussion potential 
amendments to the risk management program, EPA noted that E.O. 13650 
had directed OSHA to publish an RFI on potentially amending the PSM 
standard, cited the coordination requirement of CAA section 
112(r)(7)(D), and found that ``[t]his RFI will allow EPA to evaluate 
any potential updates to the RMP regulation in parallel to OSHA's 
evaluation of potential updates to the PSM standard.'' 79 FR 44604, 
July 31, 2014 at 44605 (emphasis added). Nevertheless, when EPA 
proceeded to rulemaking, we pushed forward with finalizing amendments 
to the Risk Management Program before OSHA had evaluated all of the 
information before it and before EPA had an understanding of OSHA's 
future actions. In other words, when EPA proceeded with its rulemaking, 
we no longer emphasized proceeding in parallel.
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    \25\ Chemical Facility Safety and Security Working Group. May 
2014. E. O. 13650 Report to the President--Actions to Improve 
Chemical Facility Safety and Security--A Shared Commitment. EPA, 
Department of Labor, Department of Homeland Security, Department of 
Justice, Department of Agriculture and Department of Transportation 
(DOT). Washington, DC, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0246.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Several commenters were critical about EPA's approach to 
coordination with OSHA and other agencies during the development of the 
RMP Amendments. Many advanced theories of OSHA ``primacy'' in the area 
of process safety and that EPA had impermissibly regulated workplace 
safety in violation of the statute. See Amendments RTC at 15-16,\26\ 
see also id. for EPA's responses. Others claimed EPA failed to 
coordinate with OSHA and should cease its rulemaking until it did so. 
See Amendments RTC at 249-51. Generally, EPA responded by providing 
information on meetings and other interactions with OSHA during the 
rule development. Id.; see 82 FR 4594, January 13, 2017 at 4601. 
However, some commenters made the more specific criticism that EPA 
should have deferred proceeding with the RMP Amendments until OSHA had 
a parallel proposed rule amending the PSM standard available. 
Amendments RTC at 249-50. In response, EPA noted that each agency had 
distinct rulemaking procedures and that the 1990 CAA Amendments allowed 
for and contemplated each agency to proceed with rulemaking on 
different schedules. Id. at 251. Furthermore, EPA noted that OSHA had 
completed an advisory small

[[Page 24864]]

business panel proceeding on its potential PSM standard amendments, and 
we expressed the belief that the two agencies did not need to proceed 
on identical timelines. Id. at 232. Our responses were generally 
focused on the legal permissibility of proceeding on separate schedules 
rather than the policy wisdom of doing so.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \26\ EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0729 in the docket.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. What is EPA's proposed approach to ``coordination'' in this 
reconsideration?
    Under Clean Air Act section 112(r)(7)(D), although Congress has 
conveyed to EPA discretion regarding how it should coordinate with 
OSHA, Congress's intent is clear that EPA coordinate its program with 
the other agencies' where possible. Accordingly, although at times 
divergence between the RMP rule and the PSM standard may make sense 
given the agencies' different missions, both agencies generally have 
tried to minimize confusion and burden on the regulated community by 
minimizing divergence. The RMP Amendments constitute a divergence from 
that longstanding practice: Although EPA has regularly communicated and 
coordinated with OSHA on its prevention program and process safety 
efforts so far, EPA proceeded to promulgate the RMP Amendments before 
understanding OSHA's path forward in this area and before understanding 
whether any divergence is reasonable for EPA.
    After further consideration, EPA believes it did not give 
sufficient weight to the value of coordination with OSHA and focused 
too much on its legal authority to proceed independently. EPA now 
proposes to determine that a more sensible approach would be to have a 
better understanding of what OSHA will be doing in this area before 
revising the RMP accident prevention program. Thus, EPA proposes to 
rescind the RMP accident prevention amendments pending further action 
by OSHA. This approach would allow the two programs' process safety 
requirements to remain aligned as much as possible so that the 
regulated community may have a better understanding of what to do to 
comply while reducing unnecessary complexity and cost. Having 
consistency between required safe practices and common understanding of 
requirements should help industry to comply with the PSM standard and 
RMP rule and improve the effectiveness of accident prevention efforts.
    This approach would better fulfill the Congressional purpose of 
coordination between the two agencies while maximizing consistency and 
ease of implementation of regulatory requirements. It is also 
responsive to concerns from stakeholders about our approach to 
coordination under the Amendments rule. We intend to allow for a better 
understanding of OSHA's plan for changes to the PSM standard before 
proposing any future changes to our rule.
    While EPA has amended the Risk Management Program several times 
after 1996 without corresponding OSHA amendments to its PSM standard, 
these changes did not involve the prevention program provisions, thus 
precluding any need for coordination with OSHA. The Risk Management 
Program Amendments of 2017 were the first time we had issued post-1996 
amendments that were significant due to costs and deemed major for 
purposes of the Congressional Review Act. Under these circumstances, we 
think that our approach to the 1996 RMP rule, where we attempted to 
either maintain consistent language with the PSM standard or carefully 
justify our departure, is a better approach. Our record shows the 2017 
Amendments have significant costs and are discretionary. Given the 
flexibility in CAA section 112(r)(7), EPA may thus make a policy choice 
to conduct EPA's rulemaking proceedings to improve the RMP program 
after we have a better understanding of OSHA's timing of comment 
opportunities, content of amendments, and implementation schedules. EPA 
proposes to place greater weight than it did in promulgating the 
Amendments on the policy importance of coordinating with OSHA and not 
adopting significant changes to the risk prevention aspects of the RMP 
rule that diverge from OSHA's requirements until we have a better 
understanding of OSHA's path forward.
    The reasonableness of this approach to coordination can be seen in 
both EPA's and OSHA's experiences conducting outreach to small entities 
as both agencies prepared to develop amendments to the RMP rule and the 
PSM standard. For EPA, we must ``take into consideration the concerns 
of small business in promulgating regulations under [CAA section 
112(r)].'' CAA section 112(r)(7)(C). During the fall/winter of 2015, 
EPA convened an Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) panel to obtain 
advice and recommendations from Small Entity Representatives (SERs) 
that were potentially subject to the proposed RMP amendments. The SBAR 
panel report on the proposed RMP amendments under consideration 
contains the small entity comments and recommendations to the EPA 
Administrator from the three panel members (EPA, Small Business 
Administration Office of Advocacy, and the OMB Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs).\27\ EPA published its proposed rulemaking on 
the RMP amendments on March 14, 2016 (81 FR 13638).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \27\ EPA/OMB/SBA. February 19, 2016. Small Business Advocacy 
Review Panel Report on EPA's Planned Proposed Rule: Risk Management 
Modernization Rule. Letter to EPA Administrator with Executive 
Summary (EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0030), Final Report (EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-
0725-0032), and Appendix B Written Comments Submitted by SERs (EPA-
HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0031).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    During the summer of 2016, OSHA initiated a Small Business Advocacy 
Review Panel in order to get feedback on several potential revisions to 
OSHA's Process Safety Management Program (PSM) standard. Some potential 
revisions tracked EPA's RMP Amendments, which were in the proposed rule 
stage, while others were not included in the Amendments. OSHA also 
considered a number of minor modifications which largely codify 
existing OSHA interpretations of the PSM standard. OSHA completed their 
SBAR Panel Final Report in August 2016.\28\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \28\ OSHA. August 1, 2016. Process Safety Management (PSM) 
SBREFA Panel Final Report. OSHA-2013-0020-0116.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    OSHA may or may not adopt amendments discussed in the SBAR Panel 
Report. EPA believes it would be prudent to understand OSHA's path 
forward in this area before owners and operators are required to 
implement changes under the RMP rule in order to decide whether any 
divergence from OSHA's PSM standard is reasonable for EPA. One example 
of potential divergence between the OSHA PSM standard and the RMP rule 
would be in the requirement for third-party audits. The August 2016 
OSHA SBAR panel report did not fully support third-party audits. 
Instead the SBAR panel recommended further review of the need and 
benefits of third-party audits; the sufficient availability, adequate 
process knowledge and degree of independence needed of third-party 
auditors; and whether facilities should decide the best type of audit 
appropriate for their process.
    EPA believes that we should not retain and put into effect changes 
to the prevention aspects of the Risk Management Program until we have 
a better understanding of OSHA's plans for the PSM standard changes so 
that we may move forward in a more coordinated fashion with regulatory 
changes that improve process safety performance and reduce accidents 
without causing undue burden and regulatory conflicts. Therefore, EPA 
is

[[Page 24865]]

proposing to rescind the prevention requirements of the RMP Amendments 
rule applicable to both Program 2 and Program 3 processes in order to 
better understand OSHA's path forward for similar issues our sister 
agency is still evaluating. We propose to rescind the RMP Amendment 
provisions for incident investigation, third-party compliance audits, 
STAA, and various minor changes impacting subpart C and D of the RMP 
rule. Although the pre-amendment RMP Program 3 requirements were 
consistent with OSHA PSM standard, the RMP Program 2 regulations were 
slightly different by design, as explained earlier, providing less 
rigorous requirements and recordkeeping for Program 2 facilities. In 
contrast to Program 3 processes, small businesses make up a greater 
percentage of the processes subject to Program 2. Therefore, EPA also 
proposes to rescind any changes made to Program 2 prevention program 
elements to keep the Program 2 requirements less burdensome than those 
of Program 3, maintaining the pre-amendment RMP requirements for 
Program 2 facilities and the pre-amendment balance of burdens on 
smaller entities. EPA also proposes to rescind the words ``for each 
covered process'' from the compliance audit provisions in Sec. Sec.  
68.58 and 68.79, which apply to RMP Program 2 and Program 3, 
respectively, in order to prevent unnecessary divergence from language 
in compliance audits in the OSHA PSM standard.
    As an alternative to rescinding the Amendments rule changes to the 
Program 2 and Program 3 prevention program provisions as proposed 
above, EPA is considering rescinding all of the above changes except 
for the requirement in Sec.  68.50(a)(2) for the hazard review to 
include findings from incident investigations, the term ``report(s)'' 
in place of the word ``summary(ies)'' in Sec.  68.60, the requirement 
in Sec.  68.60 for Program 2 processes to establish an incident 
investigation team consisting of at least one person knowledgeable in 
the process involved and other persons with experience to investigate 
an incident, the requirements in Sec. Sec.  68.54 and 68.71 for 
training requirements to apply to supervisors responsible for process 
operations and minor wording changes involving the description of 
employees operating a process in Sec.  68.54, and the two changes that 
would revise the term ``Material Safety Data Sheets'' to ``Safety Data 
Sheets (SDS)'' in Sec. Sec.  68.48 and 68.65.
    The reason that EPA is considering this alternative is that these 
changes would not affect the consistency of the Program 3 prevention 
program requirements with the OSHA PSM standard. With the exception of 
the amendment to the training requirements (and the SDS provisions, 
which are minor terminology changes), these provisions would affect 
only the Program 2 prevention requirements. Also, retaining these 
changes would not make these Program 2 provisions more rigorous than 
their Program 3 counterparts, thus maintaining the rule's current model 
where Program 2 requirements are generally more streamlined than the 
comparable Program 3 requirements. Regarding the change to the Program 
3 training requirement, as EPA noted in the proposed Amendments rule, 
EPA has traditionally interpreted the training provisions of Sec. Sec.  
68.54 and 68.71 to apply to any worker that is involved in operating a 
process, including supervisors. This is consistent with the OSHA 
definition of employee set forth at 29 CFR 1910.2(d) (see 81 FR 13686, 
Monday, March 14, 2016). Therefore, retaining this change may make the 
RMP Program 3 training provision even more consistent with the 
comparable provision of the PSM standard.
    EPA requests comments on its proposal to rescind the changes made 
in the Program 2 and Program 3 prevention program provisions of the 
final RMP Amendments rule, including the alternative described above. 
Should investigation of Program 2 processes be required to have a team 
(of at least two people) with expertise in the process and 
investigation methods in order to thoroughly investigate and analyze 
the causes of incidents, even if the requirement to specifically 
conduct a root causes analysis is rescinded? Should Program 2 process 
investigations at least require investigation be performed by someone 
with expertise in the process?

B. Address Security Concerns

1. Emergency Response Coordination
    EPA discussed the need for enhanced RMP local coordination 
provisions in the proposed Amendments rule. See 81 FR 13671, March 14, 
2016. In summary, although there is substantial overlap between EPCRA 
requirements and RMP local coordination requirements, EPA found that 
some facilities who had indicated they do not have an RMP emergency 
response plan had not properly coordinated response actions with local 
authorities. State and local officials echoed these same concerns. In 
the final rule, EPA finalized enhanced local coordination provisions to 
address these concerns, while clarifying source's obligations for 
coordination, including specific information that must be communicated 
to local responders during annual coordination activities. In addition, 
EPA finalized the requirements to conduct field and tabletop exercises 
and stipulations for scope, frequency and documentation of exercises. 
Facilities must consult with local emergency response officials to 
establish appropriate schedules and plans for these exercises. EPA 
proposes to retain these requirements while addressing security 
concerns raised by petitioners. In all three petitions requesting 
reconsideration of the RMP Amendments rule, petitioners objected to the 
rule language in Sec.  68.93(b) requiring local emergency response 
coordination to include providing to the local emergency planning and 
response organizations ``. . . any other information that local 
emergency planning and response organizations identify as relevant to 
local emergency response planning.'' All Petitioners noted that the 
language was new to the final rule (i.e., it was not contained in the 
Amendments as proposed), broad, and posed potential security concerns. 
Petitioner CSAG identified a particular problem with the new disclosure 
provision: By relocating the disclosure provision from section Sec.  
68.205 in the proposal to section Sec.  68.93, EPA had moved it to a 
section of the RMP rule that did not have specific procedures for 
handling CBI claims, and, CSAG argued, the protection in the RMP rule 
for classified information in section 68.210(f) did not clearly apply 
to disclosures under section 68.93(b).
    Petitioners have correctly noted that EPA incorporated the language 
at issue in order to address concerns, including security concerns, 
raised by various commenters over EPA's proposed RMP Amendments rule 
(81 FR 13638, March 14, 2016), which among other things proposed to add 
new Sec.  68.205 to require owners and operators of all RMP-regulated 
facilities to provide certain information to Local Emergency Planning 
Committees (LEPCs) or local emergency response officials upon request. 
In response to these concerns, EPA, without acknowledging any 
inconsistency with the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standard or 
other regulatory structure, did not finalize Sec.  68.205 of the 
proposed rulemaking in the final Amendments rule. Instead we required 
that the owner or operator to provide ``any other information that 
local emergency planning and response organizations identify as 
relevant to local emergency

[[Page 24866]]

planning'' in Sec.  68.93. Any claims for Chemical-terrorism 
Vulnerability Information (CVI) could then be handled on a case-by-case 
basis by the stationary source, the LEPC, DHS and others, as 
appropriate.
    In effect, petitioners are saying not only that EPA's final rule 
solution to the security concerns created by proposed Sec.  68.205 did 
not fix the problem--it actually made it worse. After further review, 
EPA acknowledges that the petitioners' concerns have merit. Section 
68.205 from the proposed RMP Amendments rule listed specific items of 
information that the owner or operator must provide to the LEPC or 
local emergency response officials upon request, but it did not include 
an open-ended provision for ``any other information that local 
emergency planning and response organizations identify as relevant to 
local emergency response planning.'' By including such a provision in 
the final RMP Amendments rule, EPA may have inadvertently opened the 
door to local emergency officials requesting and receiving security-
sensitive information even beyond the specific items included in Sec.  
68.205 of the proposed RMP Amendments about which petitioners and 
others had raised concerns.
    Petitioners have also correctly noted that by locating the final 
rule's local responder information availability provision in Sec.  
68.93, EPA removed any protections for CBI. Items requested under the 
proposed amendment to Sec.  68.205 (but not included in final 
Amendments rule) would have benefited from the inclusion in that 
section of paragraphs (d) Classified information, and (e) CBI, but 
these paragraphs do not appear in Sec.  68.93 of the final rule. EPA 
did not intend to eliminate CBI protection--it was an inadvertent 
consequence of relocating the local responder information availability 
provision to Sec.  68.93.
    EPA disagrees with the Petitioners' assertion that the protection 
for classified information in Sec.  68.210(f) would not apply to all 
provisions of the RMP rule, including disclosures under Sec.  68.93(b). 
This provision, which is simply a recodification of former Sec.  
68.210(b), has always applied to all provisions under the RMP rule 
since it was adopted in 1996. Nevertheless, EPA proposes removal of the 
new broad information disclosure provision in Sec.  68.93(b) as 
proposed to avoid any unnecessary disputes between LEPCs and holders of 
classified information over the scope of Sec.  68.210(f) (to be 
redesignated Sec.  68.210(b)).
    EPA's proposed deletion of the phrase in Sec.  68.93(b), ``. . . 
any other information that local emergency planning and response 
organizations identify as relevant to local emergency response 
planning'' would solve the problem with the open-ended disclosure 
provision. This is EPA's preferred option, as the Agency believes that 
the remaining language in Sec.  68.93 will still ensure that local 
responders obtain the information they need while avoiding potential 
security concerns associated with the deleted provision. Even with this 
change, Sec.  68.93 still requires the owner and operator to provide 
local responders with the names and quantities of regulated substances 
at the stationary source, the risks presented by covered processes, and 
the resources and capabilities at the stationary source to respond to 
an accidental release of a regulated substance, as well as the 
stationary source's emergency response plan if one exists; emergency 
action plan; and updated emergency contact information. Responding 
stationary sources would still be required to consult with local 
emergency response officials to establish appropriate schedules and 
plans for field and tabletop exercises required under Sec.  68.96(b), 
and all stationary source owners or operators would still be required 
to request an opportunity to meet with the LEPC (or equivalent) and/or 
local fire department as appropriate to review and discuss the 
information.
    EPA's alternative proposal--to replace the phrase ``. . . any other 
information that local emergency planning and response organizations 
identify as relevant to local emergency response planning'' with the 
phrase, ``other information necessary for developing and implementing 
the local emergency response plan,'' opts to use language virtually 
identical to that used in Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-
Know Act (EPCRA) section 303(d)(3), [42 U.S.C. 11003(d)(3)]. That 
provision of EPCRA states: ``Upon request from the emergency planning 
committee, the owner or operator of the facility shall promptly provide 
information to such committee necessary for developing and implementing 
the emergency plan.'' This language also appears in Sec.  68.95(c) of 
the version of the RMP rule currently in effect, which applies to 
facilities with Program 2 and Program 3 processes whose employees 
respond to accidental releases of regulated substances. Therefore, as a 
result of either the EPCRA section 303(d)(3) provision or the provision 
in Sec.  68.95(c), most RMP facilities have long been subject to this 
requirement, and applying it to the relatively few RMP facilities that 
are not already subject to it under EPCRA section 303(d)(3) or Sec.  
68.95(c) should not create any security vulnerabilities.
    Under both alternatives, EPA's proposal to incorporate CBI and 
classified information protections to regulated substance and 
stationary source information provided under Sec.  68.93 is intended to 
address petitioners' concerns regarding these issues. Incorporating a 
CBI provision in this section of the rule will emphasize the facility 
owner or operator's right to protect CBI. EPA notes that the RMP rule 
already authorizes the owner or operator of an RMP-regulated facility 
to assert CBI claims for information submitted in the RMP required 
under subpart G that meets the requirements of 40 CFR 2.301, with some 
limitations (e.g. five-year accident history information and emergency 
response program information required to be reported in source's RMP 
cannot be claimed as CBI). EPA's proposal would relocate the CBI 
provision of Sec.  68.210(g) of the final RMP Amendments rule to Sec.  
68.93, which would allow CBI claims for emergency response coordination 
information in the same manner as required in Sec. Sec.  68.151 and 
68.152 for information contained in the RMP. EPA's proposal would also 
replicate the classified information provisions of Sec.  68.210(f) of 
the final RMP Amendments rule in Sec.  68.93, which would require that 
the disclosure of emergency response coordination information 
classified by the Department of Defense or other Federal agencies or 
contractors of such agencies be controlled by applicable laws, 
regulations, or executive orders concerning the release of classified 
information.\29\ While the provision in Sec.  68.210 (to be restored to 
Sec.  68.210(b)) protects classified information for all information 
disclosure under the RMP rule, we believe replicating this language in 
Sec.  68.93 will avoid unnecessary disputes between LEPCs and holders 
of classified information.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \29\ The classified information provisions of Sec.  68.210(f) 
would also remain within Sec.  68.210, but be renumbered to Sec.  
68.210(b), which is where they appear within the currently-in-effect 
rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    EPA requests public comments on its proposed changes to the 
emergency response coordination activities section of the RMP 
Amendments final rule. Does deleting the phrase in Sec.  68.93(b) ``. . 
. any other information that local emergency planning and response 
organizations identify as relevant to local emergency response 
planning'' resolve petitioners' security concerns without denying 
important emergency

[[Page 24867]]

planning information to local emergency responders?
    Would EPA's alternate proposal, which replaces this language with, 
``other information necessary for developing and implementing the local 
emergency response plan'' better resolve the issue by limiting 
additional information to that necessary for developing the local 
response plan?
    If stakeholders believe the alternative language also presents new 
security concerns, how is it that this language has not caused such 
concerns in relation to its presence in EPCRA section 303(d)(3) or in 
Sec.  68.95(c) of the currently in-effect RMP rule? Does EPA's proposal 
to incorporate the classified information provision of Sec.  68.210(f) 
into Sec.  68.93 limit the potential for disputes between holders of 
classified information and LEPCs over the scope of the general 
protection against disclosure of classified information in section 
68.210? Does EPA's proposal to incorporate the CBI provisions of Sec.  
68.210(g) into Sec.  68.93 appropriately address petitioners' concerns 
that these issues were not addressed in the emergency response 
coordination provisions of the final RMP Amendments rule?
2. Information Availability
    Notwithstanding EPA efforts to address security concerns raised in 
public comments on the RMP Amendments, petitioners remain concerned 
about the potential for the information made available under Sec.  
68.210 of the RMP Amendments rule to be used by criminals or terrorists 
to target facilities for attack. Petitioner CSAG stated, ``By providing 
unfettered access to information by local response organizations 
without safeguards, and by requiring disclosure of extensive facility 
information to the public upon request, EPA has done nothing to protect 
sensitive facility information.'' \30\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \30\ CSAG Petition, pgs. 6-7. Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-
0766.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The States Petition enumerates the States' specific concerns with 
public information availability provisions, including that there is no 
screening process for requesters or limitations on the use or 
distribution of information, and that the provisions potentially 
conflict with other anti-terrorism laws, and others.\31\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \31\ States Petition, pgs. 3-4. Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-
0725-0762.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Linking its objection to the BATF finding that the West Fertilizer 
incident was due to criminal conduct, Petitioner RMP Coalition 
suggests: \32\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \32\ RMP Coalition Petition, pg. 16, Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEM-
2015-0725-0759.

    For example, EPA might have focused its proposal on enhanced 
security measures for facilities, strict scrutiny of the type of 
information that should be disclosed to LEPCs or the public, 
protections for that information, prohibitions against using any 
sensitive information from these facilities to cause harm to the 
public or the environment, or screening measures for third parties 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
with access to the facility and its sensitive information.

    In the proposed RMP Amendments rule, under Sec.  68.210 EPA 
proposed to require the owner or operator to distribute to the public 
in an easily accessible manner, such as on a company website, the 
following information:
     Names of regulated substances held in a process;
     SDSs for all regulated substances at the facility;
     The facility's five-year accident history required under 
Sec.  68.42;
     Emergency response program information concerning the 
source's compliance with Sec.  68.10(b)(3) or the emergency response 
provisions of subpart E, including:
    [cir] Whether the source is a responding stationary source or a 
non-responding stationary source;
    [cir] Name and phone number of local emergency response 
organizations with which the source last coordinated emergency response 
efforts, pursuant to Sec.  68.180; and
    [cir] For sources subject to Sec.  68.95, procedures for informing 
the public and local emergency response agencies about accidental 
releases.
     Information on emergency response exercises required under 
Sec.  68.96, including schedules for upcoming exercises, reports for 
completed exercises as described in Sec.  68.96(b)(3), and any other 
related information; and
     LEPC contact information, including LEPC name, phone 
number, and website address as available.
    In the final Amendments rule, EPA made only one change to this 
list--EPA revised the exercise information element to require the owner 
or operator to provide a list of scheduled exercises required under 
Sec.  68.96, rather than the additional exercise information that was 
proposed. In so doing, EPA noted that, ``The information required to be 
disclosed by this rule largely draws on information otherwise in the 
public domain and simplified the public's access to it.'' EPA further 
stated, ``Other statutes and regulatory programs, or other provisions 
of the risk management program, require the stationary source to 
assemble the information that the rule would make available upon 
request (e.g., accident history, SDSs, and aspects of the emergency 
response program).'' (82 FR 4668, January 13, 2017).
    Noting that many commenters on the proposed RMP Amendments rule had 
objected to the proposed public information availability provisions 
because, they argued, those provisions had the potential to create a 
security risk, EPA's primary method of addressing commenters' concerns 
was to require facility owners and operators to notify the public that 
certain information is available upon request, and only provide the 
information after receiving such a request. EPA indicated that this 
would ``allow community members an opportunity to request chemical 
hazard information from a facility, so they can take measures to 
protect themselves in the event of an accidental release, while 
allowing facility owners and operators to identify who is requesting 
the information.'' (82 FR 4668, January 13, 2017).
    Petitioners' comments summarized above indicate that EPA in the 
final amendments may not have struck the appropriate balance between 
various relevant policy concerns, including information availability, 
community right to know, minimizing facility burden, and minimizing 
information security risks. EPA agrees with petitioners that requiring 
unlimited disclosure of the chemical hazard information elements 
required under the RMP Amendments may create additional policy 
concerns, particularly with regard to the potential security risks 
created by disclosing such information.
    A related concern not specifically raised by petitioners, but which 
EPA is now considering, is whether the synthesis of the required 
information disclosure elements could create an additional security 
risk for facilities. EPA had not previously considered that the 
combination of mandatory disclosure elements as required under the 
Amendments is generally not already available to the public from any 
single source. EPA believes that the synthesis of the required chemical 
hazard and facility information may present a more comprehensive 
picture of the vulnerabilities of a facility than would be apparent 
from any individual element, and that therefore requiring it to be made 
more easily available to the public from a single source (i.e., the 
facility itself) could increase the risk of a terrorist attack on some 
facilities. For example, if a facility is required to disclose in 
synthesis and in one public source that it has experienced frequent 
accidental releases involving large quantities of highly toxic or 
flammable chemicals, does not maintain an on-site

[[Page 24868]]

response capability, and is located a long distance away from the 
nearest public responders, the synthesis of this information might 
allow a criminal or terrorist to identify a relatively ``softer'' 
facility target for attack, or a target that if attacked could cause 
more damage to the facility and surrounding community due to a less 
timely response.
    EPA's proposal to rescind the public information availability 
provisions would address this concern, as well as petitioners' and 
other commenters concerns about the lack of any appeals or vetting 
process for members of the public requesting facility information. 
Information on most of the required disclosure elements would still be 
available via other means, such as through an LEPC, by visiting a 
Federal RMP reading room, or making a request under the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA). FOIA requests require a name and U.S. state or 
territory address to receive information.\33\ Federal Reading Rooms 
require photo identification issued by a Federal, state, or local 
government agency such as a driver's license or passport.\34\ These 
requirements to accurately identify the party requesting the 
information may provide a deterrent to those who seek to obtain 
chemical information for a facility for terrorist purposes without 
unduly impeding access to the information by those in the nearby 
community with a right-to-know. The current provisions in Sec.  68.210 
do not specify that requestors provide any particular identification. 
For example, if a facility is providing access to the required 
information by responding to email requests, requestors could receive 
information via email without verification of their true identity. 
While EPA's intent was to give the local community access to 
information ``by facilitating public participation at the local level'' 
and ``allow people that live and work near a regulated facility to 
improve their awareness of risks to the community and to be prepared to 
protect themselves in the event of an accidental release'' (82 FR 4668, 
January 13, 2017), the provisions have no limitation on the location or 
address of the requestors or whether the requestor must provide an 
accurate identification of their name and address. A justification 
cannot be made for those outside of the community to know, for example, 
a schedule of upcoming exercises, for the purpose intended.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \33\ https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/action/public/request/createRequest.
    \34\ https://www.epa.gov/rmp/federal-reading-rooms-risk-management-plans-rmp.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    EPA requests comments on its proposal to rescind the public 
information availability requirements of the final RMP Amendments rule. 
As an alternative to rescinding all of the public information elements, 
EPA request comments on rescinding all except the information on 
exercise schedules. If EPA maintains a field exercise requirement in 
the final rule, information on upcoming facility exercises would be the 
only item of information required to be disclosed in Sec.  68.210(b) 
that is not already available from another source, and EPA maintains 
that providing the local community with this information could avoid 
unnecessary public concerns or panic during facility exercises.
    Another element of publicly available information is the RMP 
information about local emergency response organizations. In Sec.  
68.180(a)(1) of the Amendments rule, EPA required the owner or operator 
to provide the name, organizational affiliation, phone number, and 
email address of local emergency planning and response organizations 
with which the stationary source last coordinated emergency response 
efforts. EPA now proposes to modify this requirement to read: ``Name, 
phone number, and email address of local emergency planning and 
response organizations . . . .'' This change would clarify that the 
Agency is only requiring organization-level information about local 
emergency planning and response organizations, and that facilities are 
not required to provide information about individual local emergency 
responders in order to reduce the amount of personally identifiable 
information available in facility RMPs. This could help avoid criminals 
or terrorists targeting individual emergency responders through 
identifying them using the publicly available portions of facility's 
RMPs.
3. Public Meeting After an Accident
    The public meeting requirement in Sec.  68.210(e) requires the 
owner/operator of a stationary source to ``hold a public meeting to 
provide accident information required under Sec.  68.42 as well as 
other relevant chemical hazard information, such as that described in 
paragraph (b) of this section, no later than 90 days after any accident 
subject to reporting under Sec.  68.42.'' The requirement to provide 
``other relevant chemical hazard information'' could be interpreted to 
be an overly broad requirement for information, similar to the 
requirement to provide ``any other information that local emergency 
planning and response organizations identify as relevant to local 
emergency response planning'' to LEPCs, which EPA is now proposing to 
rescind. ``Information, such as that described in paragraph (b) of this 
section'' is referring to the same chemical hazard information that is 
required to be provided upon request to the public. As discussed in 
section IV.B.2. of this preamble ``Information Availability'', all 
three of the petitioners had security concerns with providing this type 
of information with no screening process for requesters or limitations 
on the use or distribution of information. Based on the reasoning 
provided in sections IV.B.1 and 2 of this preamble, EPA proposes to 
rescind the requirement to provide at the public meeting ``other 
relevant chemical hazard information, such as that described in 
paragraph (b) of this section.''
    CSAG's petition \35\ cited additional concerns with the public 
meeting requirement:
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    \35\ CSAG Petition, pg. 21, Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-
0766.

    The requirement to hold a public meeting within 90 days after 
any reportable accident is overly broad. It is not necessary for 
facilities to hold a public meeting every time that a release 
occurs. EPA provided no evidence that public meetings were requested 
or needed and not held under pre-existing rules. Often a release 
does not warrant a public meeting and the expense should not be 
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imposed automatically. See CSAG Proposed Rule Comments, at pg. 17.

    A public meeting is not required under the 2017 Amendments every 
time that a release occurs, but only after an accident occurs that is 
subject to reporting under Sec.  68.42. Those are accidents 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. EPA believes that having a 
public meeting so that community members may learn more about the 
causes of an accident that resulted in such impacts, and the facility's 
plans to address those causes is warranted. A public meeting also gives 
members of the community an opportunity to ask questions directly of 
the facility about issues that concern them. Therefore, EPA proposes to 
retain the public meeting requirement in Sec.  68.210(e), modified to 
require that the owner or operator provide only accident information 
required under Sec.  68.42(b) no later than 90 days after any 
reportable accident. However, EPA requests public comment on whether 
the Agency should further limit the public meeting requirement to apply

[[Page 24869]]

only after accidents that meet certain criteria, such as accidents with 
offsite impacts specified in Sec.  68.42(a) (i.e., known offsite 
deaths, injuries, evacuations, sheltering in place, property damage, or 
environmental damage)? In comments on the RMP Amendments rule, 
commenters stated that the public would not attend a meeting after a 
minor incident, but recommended holding a public meeting for an event 
with major offsite impacts.\36\ Would members of communities 
surrounding RMP facilities be less likely to attend post-accident 
public meetings if the accident had no offsite public or environmental 
impacts?
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    \36\ See document IDs EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0492, and EPA-HQ-OEM-
2015-0725-0542 in the docket.
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    Additionally, EPA requests public comment on the required time 
frame for public meetings. In the proposed Amendments rule, EPA had 
proposed that post-accident public meetings be required within 30 days. 
Several commenters claimed that this time frame was too short, and 
would cause owners and operators to divert resources away from post-
accident investigations.\37\ However, other commenters agreed with 
EPA's proposed 30-day time frame, and one commenter recommended that 
the meeting should occur within two weeks of the accident. Although the 
final Amendments rule required public meetings to occur within 90 days 
of an accident and this proposal would not change that time frame, EPA 
is again considering whether public meetings should be required sooner 
than 90 days after an accident. Would a shorter time frame, such as 30, 
45, or 60 days, be more useful to surrounding communities without 
unduly impeding facilities' post-accident recovery and investigation 
activities?
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    \37\ See Response to Comments on the 2016 Proposed Rule Amending 
EPA's Risk Management Program Regulations (March 14, 2016; 81 FR 
13637), EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0729, pgs. 207-209.
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    In establishing the requirement for the owner or operator to 
provide accident information required under Sec.  68.42 at public 
meetings, we have not previously specified whether it requires the 
owner or operator to provide at the meeting, accident information for 
only the accident triggering the public meeting, or, if the facility 
has multiple accidents in its five-year accident history, for all such 
accidents. EPA did not intend that the public meeting cover providing 
information for all reportable accidents over the last five years. EPA 
proposes to amend the public meeting provision to require the 
information listed in Sec.  68.42(b) for only the most recent accident, 
and not for previous accidents covered by the 5-year accident history 
requirement of Sec.  68.42(a). This proposed modification should 
provide clarity for the regulated community regarding the public 
meeting requirements. Nevertheless, EPA requests comments on this 
issue--should the public meeting provision require providing 
information on all accidents in a facility's five-year accident 
history?
    Because EPA proposes to rescind the requirements in Sec.  68.210(b) 
for the owner or operator to provide chemical hazard information to the 
public upon request and to provide ``other relevant chemical hazard 
information'' at public meetings after a reportable accident, EPA 
proposes to delete the provision for CBI in Sec.  68.210(g), as 
unnecessary. The proposed revised public meeting provision would only 
require the owner or operator to provide data specified in the source's 
five-year accident history (Sec.  68.42), which is not allowed to be 
claimed as CBI under Sec.  68.151(b)(3). The owner or operator may 
provide additional information during public meetings, but is not 
required to do so.

C. Address BATF Finding on West Fertilizer Incident

    Petitioner RMP Coalition asserted that it was impracticable for 
commenters to address in their comments the significance of the May 11, 
2016 determination by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and 
Explosives (BATF) that the fire and explosion at the West Fertilizer 
facility was caused by an intentional, criminal act. Petitioner further 
stated: \38\
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    \38\ RMP Coalition Petition, pg. 16, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0759.

    As the primary driver behind the Executive Order that inspired 
this rule, and the focus of EPA's introduction to the Proposed Rule, 
the circumstances surrounding the West, Texas, incident highlight 
the risks central to the Final Rule. Knowing that the incident was 
intentional would could [sic] have impacted the scope of the 
Executive Order, certainly have changed the comments EPA received, 
and likely would have caused EPA to construct its proposed and final 
rules differently had it known of these circumstances at the time of 
the proposed rulemaking. For example, EPA might have focused its 
proposal on enhanced security measures for facilities, strict 
scrutiny of the type of information that should be disclosed to 
LEPCs or the public, protections for that information, prohibitions 
against using any sensitive information from these facilities to 
cause harm to the public or the environment, or screening measures 
for third parties with access to the facility and its sensitive 
information. Reliance on the E.O. as a predicate for this rule, 
combined with the West, Texas, investigation results further merits 
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reconsideration of the EPA's RMP Final Rule.

    In responding to this petition, EPA Administrator Pruitt agreed 
that the timing of the BATF finding was a valid basis for 
reconsideration of the RMP Amendments rule: \39\
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    \39\ March 13, 2017 letter from EPA Administrator E. Scott 
Pruitt to Justin Savage, Esq., Hogan Lovells US LLP. Letter 
available in the docket for this rulemaking. EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-
0758.

    Among the objections raised in the petition that meet the 
requirements for a petition for reconsideration under CAA section 
307(d)(7)(B), we believe the timing of the BATF finding on the West, 
Texas incident, which was announced just before the close of the 
public comment period, made it impracticable for many commenters to 
meaningfully address the significance of this finding in their 
comments on this multi-faceted rule. Prior to this finding, many 
parties had assumed that the cause of the incident was accidental. 
Additionally, the prominence of the incident in the policy decisions 
underlying the rule makes the BATF finding regarding the cause of 
the incident of central relevance to the Risk Management Program 
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Amendments.

    EPA agrees that the West, Texas, incident was prominent in the 
issuance of Executive Order 13650 and the consideration for the final 
RMP Amendments rule. In the Executive Order 13650 Report for the 
President, the Chemical Facility Safety and Security Working Group, of 
which EPA serves as one of three tri-chairs, stated:\40\
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    \40\ Executive Order 13650 Actions to Improve Chemical Safety 
and Security--a Shared Commitment, Report for the President, May 
2014, page 1, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0246.

    The West, Texas, disaster in which a fire involving ammonium 
nitrate at a fertilizer facility resulted in an explosion that 
killed 15 people, injured many others, and caused widespread damage, 
revealed a variety of issues related to chemical hazard awareness, 
regulatory coverage, and emergency response. The Working Group has 
outlined a suite of actions to address these issues, such as:
     Strengthening State and local capabilities
     Expanding tools to assist emergency responders
     Enhancing awareness and increasing information sharing 
with communities around chemical facilities
     Increasing awareness of chemical facility safety and 
security regulatory responsibilities
     Pursuing rulemaking options for changes to EPA, OSHA, 
and DHS standards to improve safety and security, including 
potential changes specific to ammonium nitrate.

    The ``changes to EPA . . . standards'' ultimately became the RMP 
Amendments final rule, where EPA

[[Page 24870]]

again acknowledged the prominence of the West Fertilizer incident: \41\
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    \41\ 82 FR 4594, January 13, 2017.

    The purpose of this action is to improve safety at facilities 
that use and distribute hazardous chemicals. In response to 
catastrophic chemical facility incidents in the United States, 
including the explosion that occurred at the West Fertilizer 
facility in West, Texas, on April 17, 2013 that killed 15 people (on 
May 11, 2016, ATF ruled that the fire was intentionally set.) 
President Obama issued Executive Order 13650, ``Improving Chemical 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Facility Safety and Security,'' on August 1, 2013.

    As indicated above, the final RMP Amendments rule acknowledged the 
BATF finding concerning the cause of the West Fertilizer incident. 82 
FR at 4594, January 13, 2017. Notwithstanding this finding, EPA 
maintained that the incident still highlighted the need for better 
coordination between facility staff and local emergency responders. EPA 
also highlighted in the RMP Amendments Rule other incidents that 
further supported the need for better coordination between facility 
staff and local emergency responders (e.g., BP Refinery incident in 
Texas City, TX; Tesoro Refinery incident in Anacortes, WA). EPA 
reaffirms this view, and this proposal would preserve the emergency 
response coordination enhancements of the RMP Amendments rule with 
minor modifications to address valid security concerns raised by 
petitioners. Our proposal also would rescind virtually all changes to 
the accident prevention provisions of Subparts C and D made in the RMP 
Amendments rule, as well as the public information availability 
provisions (except for the requirement to hold a public meeting after 
an accident), and make modifications to the emergency exercise 
provisions. EPA primarily justifies herein these proposed rescissions 
and modifications on bases other than the BATF finding. However, the 
BATF finding informs EPA's concern, expressed above, that the 
Amendments may not have struck the appropriate balance between multiple 
policy considerations, including but not limited to information 
security and community right to know.
    The BATF finding was contrary to the widespread belief among the 
public and regulated community during development of the proposed RMP 
rule that the West incident was the result of an accident. Considering 
the timing of BATF's announcement, and that few commenters made 
reference to the finding in their comments on the proposed RMP 
Amendments rule, EPA is requesting further public comment on the 
significance of the BATF finding to the final RMP Amendments rule, and 
this proposal. When we solicited comment during the rulemaking to delay 
the effective date of the RMP Amendments to February 19, 2019, several 
commenters criticized the methodology used by BATF in support of its 
finding regarding the cause of the West Explosion. See 82 FR 27140, 
June 14, 2017. These commenters claimed the BATF used a process of 
elimination called ``negative corpus'' to develop its conclusion rather 
than a more sound investigative methodology.\42\ BATF provided EPA an 
explanation of methodology used in their investigation, which did not 
rely on ``negative corpus'' but relied on the scientific method as 
explained in the 2014 Edition of the NFPA 921 Guide for Fire and 
Explosion Investigations and by considering the significant evidence, 
artifacts, and information collected.\43\ BATF continues to have an 
award posted for information leading to an arrest of the person or 
persons responsible for the fire and subsequent explosion at the West 
Fertilizer facility. EPA defers to BATF expertise in determining the 
cause of the West Fertilizer fire and explosion and the validity of 
investigation methods. We also believe we should strike a different 
balance between security and safety with respect to information 
disclosure and security for the reasons stated above, and solicit 
comment on this view. Does the BATF finding provide additional 
justification for EPA rescinding the STAA, third-party audit, incident 
investigation, and information availability provisions of the RMP 
Amendments rule? Do EPA's proposed changes to the emergency response 
coordination provisions preserve the Agency's goal of better 
coordination between facility staff and local emergency responders that 
it sought in the final RMP Amendments rule while resolving petitioners' 
security concerns? Does the BATF finding have any significance for 
EPA's proposed revisions to the emergency exercise provisions, or 
alternatively, their rescission?
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    \42\ See Response to Comments on the 2017 Proposed Rule Further 
Delaying the Effective Date of EPA's Risk Management Program 
Amendments (April 3, 2017; 82 FR 16146), EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0881, 
pgs. 32-33.
    \43\ BATF. 2016. Excerpt from West Fertilizer Investigation 
Report regarding investigation methodology. US Department of 
Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
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D. Reduce Unnecessary Regulations and Regulatory Costs

1. Petitioners' Comments on Costs and EPA's Economic Analysis
    All three petitioners objected to the costs and burdens associated 
with the new provisions of the RMP Amendments rule, and claimed that 
EPA's economic analysis did not accurately assess the costs of new 
provisions and violated procedural requirements by not quantifying 
potential benefits or linking specific rule provisions to quantified 
benefits. Most of these objections were variations of the comments 
previously provided on issues raised in the proposed RMP Amendments 
rule.\44\ Without deciding whether reconsideration of any particular 
objection meets the standard of CAA section 307(d)(7)(B), EPA is using 
its discretion to reopen its consideration of regulatory costs of the 
Amendments in this reconsideration proceeding.
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    \44\ Compare RMP Coalition Petition, pgs.8-10, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-
0725-0759 to American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) May 
13, 2016 comments on RMP proposed rule (81 FR 13638, March 14, 
2016), part 1 of 2, pgs. 56-59, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0579.
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    In developing the 1996 RMP rule, the Agency addressed the 
reasonableness of its regulations in part by taking account of the 
costs and implementation burdens. See 61 FR 31668, 31717 (June 20, 
1996). For example, EPA shifted from an initially proposed approach of 
requiring all source prevention programs to be based on the PSM 
standard to requiring PSM standard-based prevention programs only for 
sources already subject to the PSM standard or in high-accident 
sectors; EPA allowed other sources subject to the risk management 
program to use more streamlined prevention requirements. Additionally, 
EPA developed tools and parameters to simplify offsite consequence 
analyses for release scenarios. The Agency also centralized risk 
management plan submissions, standardizing the format and establishing 
an electronically accessible database, in order to relieve multiple 
agencies of data management burdens and to simplify compliance for 
small businesses. While not explicitly adopting a requirement that 
costs exceed benefits in the 1996 rule, EPA helped justify the various 
modifications between the RMP proposal of 1993 and the final rule of 
1996 by noting large cost reductions relative to prior proposed 
approaches without significant loss of benefits. See, e.g., 60 FR 
13526, 13527, March 13, 1995 (prevention program); id. at 13533

[[Page 24871]]

(dispersion lookup tables); 61 FR at 31695, June 20, 1996 (burden 
reducing effect of electronic submission).
    In developing the RMP Amendments, EPA also considered costs and 
burdens in deciding not to propose certain options and to modify or not 
go forward with various provisions in the final rule. For example, EPA 
chose not to propose requiring all Program 2 and 3 facilities to 
implement an emergency response program; See 81 FR 13674 (March 14, 
2016), or perform emergency exercises. Id. at 13677. In the final 
Amendments rule, EPA chose not to incorporate commenters' suggestion 
that EPA require third-party audits for all RMP facilities with Program 
2 or 3 processes, see 82 FR 4617 (January 13, 2017); and EPA chose to 
reduce the required frequency of field and tabletop exercises from what 
had initially been proposed. Id. at 4662.
    While at the time we promulgated the final Amendments rule we 
believed the costs of the rule were reasonable in relation to its 
benefits, we are reexamining the reasonableness of the Amendments in 
light of three newly promulgated Executive Orders that require Agencies 
to place greater emphasis on reducing regulatory costs and burdens. 
These Executive Orders, and their relationship to this proposal, are 
discussed below. The agency acknowledges that the continual decrease in 
accidental releases under the existing RMP rule is evidence that the 
existing rule is working and that additional costs may not justify the 
additional requirements. EPA is uncertain about whether the additional 
requirements (i.e., third party audits, STAA, and root cause analysis) 
add environmental benefits beyond those provided by the existing 
requirements that are significant enough to justify their added costs. 
EPA will carefully examine the provisions of the RMP Amendments for 
their costs and benefits in implementing the statutory provisions of 
CAA section 112(r)(7).
2. New Executive Orders on Reducing Regulation, Regulatory Reform, and 
Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth
    In the final Delay Rule published June 14, 2017,\45\ EPA said the 
following: ``During the reconsideration, EPA may also consider other 
issues, beyond those raised by petitioners, that may benefit from 
additional comment, and take further regulatory action.'' One such 
issue that EPA believes it should consider is the policies of the 
President that are reflected in the new Executive Orders. Each of these 
Executive Orders was promulgated shortly after the final RMP Amendments 
rule was published.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \45\ 82 FR 27133, June 14, 2017
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Executive Order 13771, ``Reducing Regulation and Controlling 
Regulatory Costs'' of January 30, 2017, says that any new incremental 
costs associated with new regulation shall, to the extent permitted by 
law, be offset by the elimination of existing costs associated with at 
least two prior regulations.\46\
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    \46\ See Executive Order 13771: ``Reducing Regulation and 
Controlling Regulatory Costs'' which was signed on January 30, 2017 
and published in the Federal Register on February 3, 2017 (82 FR 
9339).
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    Executive Order 13777, ``Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda'' 
of February 24, 2017, calls for agency Regulatory Reform Task Forces to 
identify regulations that, among other things, impose costs that exceed 
benefits, evaluate these regulations and make recommendations to the 
agency head regarding their repeal, replacement, or modification, 
consistent with applicable law.\47\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \47\ See Executive Order 13777: ``Enforcing the Regulatory 
Reform Agenda'' which was signed on February 24, 2017 and published 
in the Federal Register on March 31, 2017 (82 FR 12285).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Executive Order 13783,'' Promoting Energy Independence and Economic 
Growth'' of March 28, 2017, directs executive departments and agencies 
to immediately review existing regulations that potentially burden the 
development or use of domestically produced energy resources and 
appropriately suspend, revise, or rescind those that unduly burden the 
development of domestic energy resources beyond the degree necessary to 
protect the public interest or otherwise comply with the law.\48\ This 
Executive Order also directs that environmental regulations have 
greater benefits than cost, when permissible under law.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \48\ See Executive Order 13783: ``Promoting Energy Independence 
and Economic Growth'' which was signed on March 28, 2017 and 
published in the Federal Register on March 31, 2017 (82 FR 16093).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition to the justifications discussed previously (i.e., to 
maintain consistency in accident prevention programs and address 
security concerns), an important factor in selecting the provisions of 
the final RMP Amendments rule that EPA seeks to rescind or modify with 
this proposal is that these provisions would otherwise place 
substantial economic burdens on regulated entities, potentially 
contravening the new policy direction set in these new Executive 
Orders. In addition, such burdens are directly relevant to whether the 
Amendments are ``practicable'' for sources, as that term is used in CAA 
section 112(r)(7). In deciding whether the Amendments are 
``reasonable,'' consistent with the President's policy direction, EPA 
is now placing greater weight on the uncertainty of the accident 
reduction benefits than we had when we promulgated the RMP Amendments, 
especially in contrast to the extensive record on the costs of the 
rule. In determining whether rescinding or modifying particular 
provisions is reasonable and practicable, we examined each on its 
merits and in the context of the policy direction reflected in the new 
Executive Orders. EPA notes that while further analysis of the 
reasonableness and practicability of the Amendments is in keeping with 
the principles articulated in the new Executive Orders, such an 
analysis would be appropriate even without the Executive Orders, and 
the Agency retained the discretion to do so prior to their 
promulgation.
3. Costs of STAA, Third-Party Audits, and Incident Investigation Root 
Cause Analysis
    STAA is by far the costliest provision of the RMP Amendments rule. 
EPA estimated that this provision would cost $70 million on an 
annualized basis. This represents over 53% of the total estimated costs 
of the rule ($131.8 million annualized at a 7% discount rate). EPA 
estimated that third-party audits would cost approximately $9.8 million 
on an annualized basis, and that incident investigation root-cause 
analysis would cost approximately $1.8 million on an annualized basis.
    Petitioners for reconsideration raised objections to the costs and 
other burdens of these provisions. For example, CSAG complained of 
``ill-defined and potentially expansive triggers for third party 
auditing,'' as well as reports from such audits and ``restrictive 
qualifications'' for auditors as imposing significant burdens beyond 
what we quantified. The RMP Coalition noted the potential need for 
sources to duplicate Process Hazard Analysis (PHAs) during the phase-in 
of STAA under the requirement to complete a PHA with STAA by 4 years 
after the promulgation of the Amendments.
    In the RMP Amendments, EPA had judged the costs of STAA to be 
reasonable based on two assumptions, one explicit and one implicit. 
First, we explicitly assumed that, whatever the cost of a new safer 
technology alternative, a company would incur such costs only if it 
were net beneficial to the company. Amendments RTC at 70. We then 
implicitly assumed that an unknown but sufficient fraction of the three 
affected industries would in fact implement changes as a result of 
having

[[Page 24872]]

performed STAA to make the requirement to conduct STAA assessments 
reasonable. Nevertheless, the Agency also acknowledged that no benefits 
would accrue from implementing STAA unless facilities subject to the 
requirement voluntarily elect to implement a safer technology. EPA did 
not account for the indirect costs of implementing safer technologies 
and alternatives in the RMP Amendments rule, but in the RIA provided 
examples of safer technologies that could cost as much as $500 million 
(converting hydrogen fluoride (HF) alkylation unit to sulfuric acid) or 
$1 billion (converting a paper mill from gaseous chlorine bleaching to 
chlorine dioxide). Therefore, not only are the known costs of complying 
with this provision high, indirect costs could also be incurred, if 
facilities take actions based on the results of their STAA (or based on 
external pressures to implement STAA recommendations regardless of 
whether they are necessary or practical). Lastly, given the application 
of the current requirements, the Agency now questions the implicit 
assumption that a sufficient number of sources would implement STAA 
improvements to offset the costs of the provision.
    Both the third-party auditing and the root cause incident 
investigation provisions trigger after one incident--either a 
reportable accident for third-party auditing or a catastrophic release 
for a root-cause investigation. Data analysis provided by the American 
Chemistry Council (ACC) to support the RMP Coalition Petition 
demonstrates that accidents, and especially patterns of multiple 
accidents, are concentrated in very few facilities. Of the 
approximately 1500 reportable accidents in EPA's RMP database from the 
years 2004 to 2013, only 8% of the 12,500 facilities subject to the RMP 
rule reported any accidental releases, while the less than 2% of 
facilities that reported multiple releases in that time frame were 
responsible for nearly half (48%) of reportable accidents from all 
types of facilities. Within NAICS code 325, the chemical manufacturing 
industry, of the 1465 facilities subject to the RMP rule, 99 facilities 
with multiple reportable accidents were responsible for approximately 
70% of all reportable accidents in the sector and more than one-third 
of all reportable accidents.\49\ Other studies have also found a 
history of past accidents is a strong predictor of future 
accidents.\50\
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    \49\ EPA. March 9, 2017. Notes and Documentation Related to a 
March 9, 2017 Meeting between the RMP Coalition and EPA regarding a 
Petition for Reconsideration of the RMP Amendments rule (82 FR 4594, 
January 17, 2017). USEPA, Office of Emergency Management.
    \50\ Kleindorfer, P.R., Belke, J.C., Elliot, M.R, Lee, K., Lowe, 
R.A., and Feldman, H.I., 2003. Accident Epidemiology and the U.S. 
Chemical Industry: Accident History and Worst-Case Data from 
RMP*Info, Risk Analysis, Vol.23, No. 5, pgs. 865-881. See Table IV, 
pg. 872. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f0c9/f27d670a6ea77187aeb3f78ca0ced444db8b.pdf.
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    Several commenters during the rulemaking asked that EPA emphasize 
enforcement rather than amend the RMP rule. The data (as analyzed by 
ACC in its petition) tend to support the reasonableness of an 
enforcement-led approach to strengthening accident prevention that 
focuses on problematic facilities rather than broader regulatory 
mandates. Under the RMP rule as it existed before the RMP Amendments, 
EPA has required third-party audits in resolving enforcement actions 
not only after reported releases but also when inspections have 
indicated potentially weak prevention programs. By requiring third-
party audits after every reportable accident rather than using an 
enforcement-led approach, the RMP Amendments potentially burden more of 
the regulated community than is appropriate in light of new policy 
direction that we put more emphasis on regulatory burden reduction and 
improved net benefits. An enforcement-led approach allows the agency 
additional discretion to make a determination of the utility of a 
third-party audit or a root-cause analysis. While EPA believes an 
enforcement-led approach is preferable to a uniform regulatory standard 
for third party audits and root cause analyses, the Agency requests 
public comment on whether a third-party audit or root-cause analysis 
should be required under certain well-defined regulatory criteria. For 
third party audits, such criteria might include requiring audits 
following multiple RMP-reportable accidents, or multiple regulatory 
violations of a particular gravity. For root-cause analyses, EPA could 
consider requiring such analyses following incidents exceeding 
specified severity levels. Although it is not our intent at this time 
to adopt such provisions, we invite parties to suggest appropriate 
regulatory criteria for third party audits and root-cause analyses.
    For third party audits, while EPA cited a number of studies 
relating to the usefulness of such audits in various contexts,\51\ EPA 
is particularly interested in gaining additional information relating 
to third-party audit programs relevant to process safety auditing. The 
most directly analogous programs reviewed by EPA included programs 
relating to boiler safety, medical device safety, food and product 
safety, hazardous waste site cleanups, and compliance with waste 
treatment and underground storage tank regulations, but even these 
programs do not involve review of production processes as complex as 
modern refineries and chemical manufacturing plants. When EPA first 
took comment on third party oversight in 1995,\52\ we examined whether 
such oversight would be appropriate for sectors with simpler processes, 
and EPA's own RMP third party audit pilot project conducted with the 
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania involved simpler 
processes.\53\ Should EPA consider limiting third party audits to 
relatively simple or common processes where experts could apply 
transferable expertise more easily than in more complex processes? Are 
there other ways to more narrowly tailor applicability to appropriate 
RMP facilities without broadly burdening the RMP-regulated universe 
with a third-party audit requirement? Should third party audits only be 
mandated for facilities with multiple incidents? Some critics of the 
RMP Amendments have particular concerns about whether parties that meet 
the strict independence criteria of the RMP Amendments would be able to 
understand these complex processes enough to make strong 
recommendations in an audit. Should the agency consider modifying the 
independence criteria in any future third-party audit provision?
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    \51\ See 81 FR 13656-58, March 14, 2016 and 82 FR 4620-25, 
January 13, 2017.
    \52\ See 60 FR 13530. March 13, 1995.
    \53\ EPA conducted a pilot study with the Wharton School of the 
University of Pennsylvania on the efficacy of voluntary third-party 
RMP audits. For relevant reports from this pilot, see R. Barrish, R. 
Antoff, & J. Brabson, Dep't of Natural Resources & Env. Control, 
Third Party Audit Pilot Project in the State of Delaware, Final 
Report (June 6, 2000) http://opim.wharton.upenn.edu/risk/library/2000, Document ID EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0658 and EPA Region 3, Third-
Party Pilot Project in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Final 
Report (February 2001), Document ID, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0651.
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    Likewise, by burdening whole sectors rather than facilities that 
have multiple accidents, the RMP Amendments missed an opportunity to 
better target the burdens of STAA to the specific facilities that are 
responsible for nearly half of the accidents associated with regulated 
substances at stationary sources subject to the RMP rule. EPA has also 
used an enforcement-led approach in some past CAA section 112(r) 
enforcement cases where facility owners or operators have entered into

[[Page 24873]]

consent agreements involving implementation of safer alternatives as 
discussed in the proposed RMP Amendments rule. See 82 FR at 13664, 
March 16, 2016.
    Given the small numbers of problematic facilities, the 
reasonableness of an enforcement-led approach to the prevention 
programs under the RMP rule in lieu of the RMP Amendments leads us to 
believe that the prevention program provisions in the RMP Amendments 
place an unnecessary and undue burden on regulated entities. In lieu of 
broadly imposing STAA in particular on broad sectors, an enforcement-
led approach can retain much benefit of the RMP Amendments at a 
fraction of the cost. Such an approach would contain a compliance 
assistance element as well. Targeted compliance assistance could 
provide the benefit of independent assistance to sources that have had 
multiple releases with more flexibility than the third-party audit 
provisions of the RMP Amendments. Such a program would be consistent 
with a measure included in the President's proposed budget that would 
authorize a fee-based program allowing owners and operators to request 
EPA to conduct a walk-through of their facilities to assist in 
compliance. Another non-regulatory option to promote IST and ISD would 
be to encourage technology transfer, either through EPA-led forums or 
through non-governmental entities like industry associations or 
academic institutions. By not establishing any means for sharing IST 
and ISD beyond the facility, the RMP Amendments did little to promote 
technology-transfer. An approach that emphasizes voluntary technology-
transfer would be consistent with the statutory provision to 
``recognize . . . the voluntary actions of [facilities] to prevent . . 
. and respond to [accidental] releases.'' CAA section 112(r)(7)(B)(i). 
Emphasizing burden reduction while retaining benefits is consistent 
with the approach we took when we adopted the RMP rule in 1996.
    It is also possible that the existing rule's prevention program 
measures already encompass many of the benefits of the Amendments rule 
prevention provisions--some facilities may already be considering safer 
technologies in conjunction with their process hazard analysis, using 
root cause analysis for incident investigations, and/or hiring 
independent third parties to conduct audits. Considering the low and 
declining accident rate \54\ at RMP facilities under the existing RMP 
rule, the Agency believes it is likely that the costs associated with 
the prevention program provisions of the RMP Amendments exceed their 
benefits unless significant non-monetized benefits are assumed. Thus, 
we recommend rescinding them in accordance with the direction reflected 
in E.O. 13777. Rescinding these provisions would also allow EPA greater 
flexibility to offset the incremental costs associated with other new 
regulations in accordance with E.O. 13771.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \54\ See Reconsideration RIA, Exhibit 3-7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Additionally, the STAA costs are concentrated on three industry 
sectors--petroleum and coal products manufacturing, chemical 
manufacturing, and paper manufacturing--which include a significant 
number of facilities that produce domestic energy resources. Therefore, 
this provision in particular appears to be a good candidate for 
rescission to achieve the policies reflected in E.O. 13783.
4. Costs of Information Availability
    For providing the public the means to access the available chemical 
hazard information in Sec.  68.210(b), as well as information on 
community preparedness, in the RMP Amendments rule EPA required the 
regulated facility to provide ongoing notification on a company 
website, social media platforms, or through other publicly accessible 
means for instructions on how to request the information (e.g. email, 
mailing address, and/or telephone or website request). The facility is 
required to identify this publicly accessible means in their RMP 
submission [Sec.  68.160 (b)(21)--``Method of communication and 
location of the notification that chemical hazard information is 
available to the public, pursuant to Sec.  68.210(c)'']. Unless a 
member of the public discovered the means to access the information 
through their own efforts or were notified by outreach efforts of the 
facility, they would need to access the facility's RMP submission to 
determine how to obtain the chemical hazard information available under 
Sec.  68.210(b). However, most of the Sec.  68.210(b) chemical hazard 
information elements are already in the RMP submission, as it already 
contains, among other information, the names of regulated substances 
held above threshold quantities, the facility's five-year accident 
history, whether the facility is a responding or non-responding 
stationary source, the name and phone number of the local response 
organization involved in emergency response coordination, and the LEPC 
name.
    One chemical hazard information item required to be provided under 
Sec.  68.210(b) that is not available in a facility's RMP is the Safety 
Data Sheet (SDS) for a regulated substance. However, SDSs are already 
widely available to the public by means of a basic internet search 
using the chemical name. Some chemical manufacturers provide access to 
SDSs for their specific products on the company's website. Hazardous 
chemical SDSs that are required to be submitted to State Emergency 
Response Commissions (SERCs) and LEPCs under Section 311 of EPCRA (42 
U.S.C. 11044) are available to the public upon request from the SERC or 
LEPC, except the identity of any chemical name meeting the criteria for 
trade secret protection provided by Section 322 of EPCRA (42 U.S.C. 
11042) may not be disclosed.
    In addition to chemical hazard information, Sec.  68.210(b) 
requires the facility to provide emergency response program information 
(including whether the stationary source is a responding stationary 
source or a non-responding stationary source, the name and phone number 
of local emergency response organizations with which the owner or 
operator last coordinated emergency response efforts, and for 
stationary sources subject to Sec.  68.95, procedures for informing the 
public and local emergency response agencies about accidental 
releases), LEPC contact information (including LEPC name, phone number, 
and web address as available), and a list of scheduled exercises 
required under Sec.  68.96. Most of this information is also already 
available in the facility's RMP. The only required item of emergency 
response program information that is not available in the facility's 
RMP is the facility's procedure for informing the public and local 
emergency response agencies about accidental releases. However, this 
information can be obtained by contacting the appropriate local 
response agencies. A member of the public living near a facility can 
identify their LEPC either by reviewing the facility's RMP, or by 
contacting their SERC. EPA maintains contact information for each SERC 
on its website.\55\
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    \55\ https://www.epa.gov/epcra/local-emergency-planning-committees Contains contact information for each SERC, names, 
address and websites for each SERC.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Therefore, once a member of the public obtains a facility's RMP, 
the need to make a request to that facility for the elements contained 
in the RMP would be eliminated, and most other elements are available 
using the internet or by contacting local response agencies. In 
promulgating the Amendments, EPA

[[Page 24874]]

overlooked the apparent redundancy of requiring the public to obtain a 
facility's RMP in order to find out how to request the information 
authorized for disclosure under Sec.  68.210(b). For this reason, as 
well as the availability of information from other public data sources, 
EPA now believes that the additional burden for facilities to provide 
these information elements directly to the public is not justified and 
that these provisions are good candidates for rescission to further the 
policies reflected in Executive Orders 13771 and 13777.
    As indicated above, if EPA maintains a field exercise requirement 
in the final rule, information on upcoming facility exercises would be 
the only item of information required to be disclosed in Sec.  
68.210(b) that is not already available from another source. EPA 
nevertheless is proposing not to require disclosure of exercise 
schedules. As stated previously, there is no easy way to restrict that 
information to only members of the local public, and wider distribution 
of this information could carry security risks. Nevertheless, the 
Agency requests public comment on whether information on upcoming 
exercises should still be required to be provided to members of the 
public upon request.
5. Costs of Field and Tabletop Exercises
    After STAA, field and tabletop exercises were estimated to be the 
next costliest provision of the RMP Amendments rule, at $24.7 million 
per year. While the majority of these costs were projected to fall on 
regulated facilities, EPA also projected that a significant share of 
costs would fall on local emergency responders participating in field 
and tabletop exercises.\56\ Petitioner States indicated that emergency 
coordination and exercise costs would place significant burdens on 
state and local responders: \57\ Petitioner States also claimed that 
EPA understated costs for these provisions and did not show 
benefits.\58\ Petitioner CSAG made similar claims.
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    \56\ See final rule RIA, page Exhibits 4-7 and 4-8, page 47.
    \57\ States Petition, pgs. 4-5, Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-
0725-0762.
    \58\ States Petition, pg. 5, Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-
0762.
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    The agency is not certain that it properly assessed the actual 
demands of these provisions or the increased burden on LEPCs in the 
final rule. EPA agrees that these provisions, and particularly the 
emergency exercise provisions, would place substantial burdens on 
regulated facilities and local responders. Local responders with 
multiple facilities in their area are particularly impacted by the 
minimum exercise frequency requirement. EPA's proposal herein would 
retain the emergency response coordination provisions (with proposed 
modifications) and emergency notification drill provisions, and modify 
the field and tabletop exercise provisions by removing the minimum 
exercise frequency requirements for field exercises and modifying 
exercise scope and documentation requirements to provide more 
flexibility to regulated facilities. As alternatives to modifying the 
frequency, scope, and documentation requirements, EPA has considered 
either fully rescinding the emergency field and tabletop exercise 
provisions or modifying them by removing the minimum exercise frequency 
requirement for field exercises but retaining the existing requirements 
for scope and documentation of field and tabletop exercises. EPA 
believes that any of these alternatives would reduce the regulatory 
burden on both facilities and local responders.\59\
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    \59\ Note, however, that the RIA for this rulemaking retains the 
cost estimate for exercises from the Amendments rule. See 
Reconsideration RIA, Ch. 4. EPA retained this estimate as a 
conservative approach to estimating exercise costs under this 
proposal. By removing the minimum frequency requirement for field 
exercises and encouraging facilities to conduct joint exercises and 
using exercises already conducted under other requirements to meet 
the requirements of the RMP rule, EPA expects that the total number, 
and therefore costs, of exercises held for compliance with the rule 
is likely to be lower than this estimate.
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    EPA's proposed revisions to Sec.  68.96(b)(1)(ii) and Sec.  
68.96(b)(2)(ii)--the scope provisions for field and tabletop exercises, 
respectively--would provide the owner or operator with discretion to 
decide on an appropriate scope for exercises. In the RMP Amendments 
rule, EPA stated that field exercises shall include: Tests of 
procedures to notify the public and the appropriate Federal, state, and 
local emergency response agencies about an accidental release; tests of 
procedures and measures for emergency response actions including 
evacuations and medical treatment; tests of communications systems; 
mobilization of facility emergency response personnel, including 
contractors, as appropriate; coordination with local emergency 
responders; emergency response equipment deployment; and any other 
action identified in the emergency response program, as appropriate. 
For tabletop exercises, EPA stated that exercises shall include 
discussions of: Procedures to notify the public and the appropriate 
Federal, state, and local emergency response agencies; procedures and 
measures for emergency response including evacuations and medical 
treatment; identification of facility emergency response personnel and/
or contractors and their responsibilities; coordination with local 
emergency responders; procedures for emergency response equipment 
deployment; and any other action identified in the emergency response 
plan, as appropriate. EPA is proposing to replace ``shall'' with 
``should'' in both provisions. While EPA believes that these scope 
provisions are likely to be suitable guidelines for most facilities, 
the Agency believes that converting them to discretionary provisions 
(i.e., ``should'') will allow owners and operators to coordinate with 
local responders to design exercises that are most suitable for their 
own situations. Alternatively, EPA considered retaining the exercise 
scope provisions as stated in the final RMP Amendments rule. EPA 
requests comments on its proposed revisions to the field and tabletop 
scope provisions. Would EPA's proposed changes reduce the burden of the 
exercise requirements on owners and operators and local responders by 
allowing them to design exercises that are tailored to their own 
circumstances?
    EPA's proposed revisions to Sec.  68.96(b)(3) Documentation, would 
retain the RMP Amendments rule requirement that the owner/operator 
prepare an evaluation report within 90 days of each exercise. However, 
the contents of the report would be discretionary. In the RMP 
Amendments rule, EPA stated that the report shall include: A 
description of the exercise scenario; names and organizations of each 
participant; an evaluation of the exercise results including lessons 
learned; recommendations for improvement or revisions to the emergency 
response exercise program and emergency response program; and a 
schedule to promptly address and resolve recommendations. EPA is 
proposing to replace ``shall'' with ``should'' in this provision. While 
EPA continues to believe that it is important to prepare an evaluation 
report for each exercise in order to identify lessons learned and share 
results with others involved in responding to releases, the Agency 
believes it may be reasonable to allow owners and operators discretion 
on the contents of the report. Allowing such flexibility in documenting 
exercises would also allow owners and operators to create separate 
exercise documents and/or appendices in such documentation that clearly 
distinguish content that should be shared with local

[[Page 24875]]

emergency responders from security-sensitive content that should be 
closely held by the owner or operator. Alternatively, EPA considered 
retaining the exercise documentation requirement as stated in the final 
RMP Amendments rule. EPA requests comments on its proposed revision to 
the exercise documentation requirements. Should the requirement for 
exercise evaluation reports be retained, but altered to provide more 
flexibility to regulated facilities?
6. Stakeholder Input on Cost Reductions
    EPA requests public comment on the cost and burden reductions 
associated with the proposed rule. Would eliminating the STAA, third-
party audit, incident investigation, and information availability 
provisions and modifying or rescinding the field and tabletop exercise 
provisions contribute toward the goals of Executive Orders 13771, 
13777, and 13783 and address petitioners' and other commenters' 
concerns about excessive regulatory costs and unjustified burdens? Are 
there any data from chemical accident or toxic use reduction programs 
that demonstrates a substantially lower accident rate at existing 
facilities that already had successful accident prevention programs in 
place and then conducted Inherently Safer Technology or Design (IST/
ISD) reviews or otherwise conducted chemical substitution to lower 
chemical hazards? EPA's proposal to modify the emergency exercise 
provisions would retain the RMP Amendments rule requirement for 
regulated facilities to coordinate with local emergency responders to 
develop emergency exercise schedules, but would remove the minimum 
frequency requirement for field exercises, and allow facility owners to 
work with local responders to establish appropriate frequencies and 
plans for exercises. Would these changes help to address petitioners' 
and commenters' concerns about the excessive costs of the exercise 
provisions? Should EPA make other changes to these provisions, or fully 
rescind the field and tabletop exercise provisions in order to further 
reduce costs? If EPA were to fully rescind the exercise provisions, 
would the remaining requirements of the RMP Amendments rule for annual 
notification drills (Sec.  68.96(a)), enhanced emergency response 
coordination (Sec.  68.93--with proposed modifications), and enhanced 
emergency response program updates (Sec.  68.95(a)(4)) be sufficient to 
address the emergency response planning and coordination gaps 
highlighted by the West Fertilizer incident and other incidents noted 
by EPA in the proposed RMP Amendments rule, while reducing undue 
burdens on facilities and local emergency responders as much as 
reasonably possible? Are there additional modifications or rescissions 
that EPA should make in order to further reduce costs, without 
significantly impacting public health and environmental protection?

E. Revise Compliance Dates to Provide Necessary Time for Program 
Changes

    Petitioner CSAG recommended that EPA delay the compliance dates for 
the same period by which the effective date of the rule was 
extended.\60\ Petitioner States made the same recommendation.\61\ In 
the final rule to delay the effective date of the RMP Amendments, EPA 
did not adjust the rule's compliance dates, indicating that the Agency 
would propose to take such action as necessary when considering future 
regulatory action.\62\ EPA now proposes to delay the rule's compliance 
dates to one year after the effective date of a final rule for the 
emergency coordination provisions, two years after the effective date 
of a final rule for the public meeting provision, four years after the 
effective date of a final rule for the emergency exercise provisions, 
and five years after the effective date of a final rule for the risk 
management plan reporting provisions affected by new requirements. EPA 
is also retaining the requirement to comply with the emergency response 
program requirements of Sec.  68.95 within three years of when the 
owner or operator initially determines that the stationary source is 
subject to those requirements.
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    \60\ CSAG Petition, pg. 1, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0766.
    \61\ States Petition, pg. 1, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0762.
    \62\ See 82 FR 27142, June 14, 2017.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Except for the new proposed compliance date for public meetings, 
these proposed compliance dates would toll the compliance dates 
established under the final Amendments rule, using the same one-year 
compliance interval for the emergency coordination provision, four-year 
compliance interval for the exercise provisions, and five-year 
compliance interval for new or modified risk management plan reporting 
provisions, that were used under the final Amendments rule, but 
establishing the new compliance dates relative to the future effective 
date of a final rule resulting from this proposal. In so doing, EPA is 
relying on the same rationale it used in establishing compliance dates 
under the final Amendments rule.\63\ We believe the guidances and 
outreach materials we had committed to developing in the final RMP 
Amendments will still be useful to sources seeking to comply with those 
portions of our rule that we do not rescind. EPA will need time to 
develop that material. EPA also agrees with CSAG and the States that 
regulated sources and local responders should not be expected to expend 
resources complying with rule provisions that may change, and that 
owners and operators will require this additional time to familiarize 
themselves with the revised rule and implement appropriate programmatic 
changes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \63\ See 82 FR 4675-8, January 13, 2017.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    EPA is proposing a different compliance date for public meetings 
than that established under the final Amendments rule because with the 
proposed rescission of the other information availability requirements 
of the final Amendments rule, EPA believes that sources would not 
require four years to prepare to conduct post-accident public meetings. 
See Section III.F--Revise compliance dates above for further discussion 
of this proposed change.
    EPA is also proposing one modification to the compliance date for 
emergency exercises. Under the final amendments rule, EPA required that 
owners and operators comply with the emergency exercise provisions by 
four years after the effective date of the final rule. As EPA explained 
in the final rule, this meant that the owner or operator must have 
completed a notification exercise, consulted with local emergency 
response officials to establish a schedule for conducting tabletop and 
field exercises, and completed at least one field or tabletop exercise 
by the compliance date. Under the current proposal, owners and 
operators would be still be required to have exercise programs and 
schedules meeting the requirements of Sec.  68.96 in place within four 
years of the effective date of a final rule. However, the owner or 
operator would not be required to have completed a notification and 
field or tabletop exercise by that date. Based on the schedule 
established by the owner or operator in coordination with local 
response agencies, the owner or operator would have up to one 
additional year to perform their first notification drill, and up to 
three additional years to conduct their first tabletop exercise. There 
would be no specified deadline date for the first field exercise, other 
than that established in the owner or operator's exercise schedule.
    EPA is proposing this change to avoid overburdening facilities and 
local responders in meeting exercise

[[Page 24876]]

requirements. Requiring every facility to complete notification and 
field or tabletop exercises by the compliance date would likely result 
in many exercises occurring at or near the compliance date. In 
communities with multiple RMP facilities, this could result in 
excessive demands on local responders to participate in notification 
drills and exercises, and be inconsistent with EPA's desire to give 
facilities and local responders more flexibility in scheduling and 
conducting exercises. EPA believes that a better approach would be to 
allow facilities and local responders to work together to establish an 
appropriate schedule by the compliance date. In communities with 
multiple RMP facilities, this should allow facilities and local 
responders to conduct required exercises at more appropriate intervals, 
avoid concentrating numerous exercises around one date, provide more 
regular training opportunities for facility and local responders, and 
take full advantage of opportunities to conduct joint exercises or 
combine RMP facility exercises with exercises conducted under other 
requirements. EPA requests public comment on its proposal to extend 
compliance dates, including the proposed new compliance date for public 
meetings and the proposed modification to the compliance date for 
exercises.
    In addition to recommending that EPA toll the rule's compliance 
dates, Petitioner CSAG indicated particular concern with the four-year 
compliance date for STAA: \64\
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    \64\ CSAG Petition, pg. 16, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0766.

    CSAG is concerned with the four-year compliance deadline 
provided in the rule for the STAA requirements. Such analysis is 
highly complex, and--given that the STAA would have to be part of 
the PHA for a covered process within four years--facilities will 
have to begin working immediately on incorporating this analysis 
without a commonly accepted methodology. In the RMP Rule preamble, 
EPA notes future ``guidance'' that will be developed for complying 
with RMP PHA and STAA requirements before sources must comply with 
the STAA provision and its plans to make draft guidance available 
for public comment.\42\ Without the benefit of this guidance to 
reflect its intentions with respect to enforcement of the STAA 
provision, complying with the new requirements within four years 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
will be extremely challenging.

\42\82 FR 4640, [January 13, 2017].

    If EPA finalizes its proposal to rescind the STAA provisions, 
CSAG's concern with the compliance date for STAA would be rendered 
moot. However, in the event that EPA does not rescind the STAA 
provisions, the Agency requests public comment on whether the 
compliance date for STAA should be further extended. For example, 
should EPA extend the STAA compliance date to 5 years or some longer 
interval, so that all facilities subject to it would have the 
opportunity to incorporate the STAA into their PHA during their regular 
PHA revalidation cycle? Alternatively, should EPA require STAA in PHAs 
performed after a certain date, such as 3 or 4 years after promulgation 
of a final rule?

F. Other Issues Raised by Petitioners

    In addition to the issues discussed previously, petitioners raised 
several other issues that EPA would like to address.
1. New Documents Entered in Docket After Close of Comment Period
    The RMP Coalition indicated that EPA added numerous documents to 
the rulemaking docket after the close of the comment period, that EPA 
used several of these to support core provisions of the final rule, and 
that members of the public were not able to submit comments on these 
documents.65 66
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \65\ RMP Coalition Petition, pg. 5, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0759.
    \66\ Ibid, pgs. 5-6.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    EPA added 129 documents to the rulemaking docket after the end of 
the public comment period. Many of these documents (59 total) were 
documents that would normally be added after the comment period, such 
as final interagency review documents, final rule support documents 
(RIA, technical background document, EPA response to comments), 
documentation of tribal consultation, EPA responses to requests to 
extend the comment period, and documentation of post-proposal meetings 
or presentations of the proposed rulemaking that occurred after the end 
of the comment period. Also included were copies of laws, statutes, 
Federal or state regulations, Federal Register document that were 
mentioned in the final rule, RIA or Response to Comments, but not the 
proposed rulemaking or RIA. These were added for convenience although 
they are generally publicly available from internet sources. There were 
also a few documents that were cited in the final rule or RIA, but were 
published in 2016 after the close of comment period on May 13, 2016. Of 
the remaining 70 documents, some were technical articles, reports, 
studies (some mentioned by commenters), and EPA enforcement cases or 
press releases relevant to discussion of third party audits, STAA 
feasibility, near misses or root cause analysis that were added in the 
final rule and RIA or Response to Comments. Other documents were 
internal EPA email communications involving the development of the 
proposed RMP amendments provisions or estimating the rule's costs, and 
some EPA and OSHA documents related to RMP or PSM program guidance and 
enforcement.
    To the extent EPA may have relied on these documents to support the 
third-party audit and STAA provisions of the final RMP Amendments rule 
without providing the public with full opportunity for review and 
comment, this point will become moot if the Agency rescinds those 
provisions, as we have proposed herein. Nevertheless, the documents are 
now available for public review in the rulemaking docket. A list of 
these 129 rule support documents is also available in the rulemaking 
docket.\67\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \67\ List of 129 Supporting Documents for RMP Amendments Rule 
Added to Rulemaking Docket EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725 after Close of 
Comment Period (May 13, 2016). USEPA, Office of Emergency 
Management, April 25, 2018.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. New Third-Party Audit Trigger and New Legal Rationales for Third-
Party Audits and STAA
    The RMP Coalition stated that in the final RMP Amendments rule, EPA 
added a new trigger [criterion] for third-party audits \68\ as well as 
new legal rationales for third-party audits and STAA, and that members 
of the public did not have an opportunity to review and comment on the 
new provision or legal rationales:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \68\ RMP Coalition Petition, pg. 5, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0759.

    Though EPA claims that it only ``modifie[d] the criterion,'' the 
Final Rule provision transformed a predictable trigger (non-
compliance with specific regulations) into an unpredictable one that 
relies entirely on the implementing agency's discretion to determine 
which conditions ``could lead to an accidental release.'' [82 FR at 
4699.] The Proposed Rule had identified a specific condition EPA 
thought was problematic, namely noncompliance with the regulations. 
The Final Rule provision is unrelated to legal compliance and 
subject to the whims and imagination of the implementing agency. 
Commenters had no opportunity to object to the incredible breadth of 
a requirement that covers any conditions that could lead, no matter 
how remote the chance of the condition resulting an accidental 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
release. (footnote omitted)

    In the Proposed Rulemaking, EPA proposed changes to Sec. Sec.  
68.58 and 68.79 to require third-party compliance audits for both 
Program 2 and Program 3 processes, under certain conditions.

[[Page 24877]]

These proposed changes included adding paragraph (f) to Sec. Sec.  
68.58 and 68.79 which identified third-party audit applicability. EPA 
proposed that the next required compliance audit for an RMP facility 
would be a third-party audit when one of the following conditions 
apply: An accidental release meeting the criteria in Sec.  68.42(a) 
from a covered process has occurred; or an implementing agency requires 
a third-party audit based on non-compliance with the requirements of 
this subpart, including when a previous third-party audit failed to 
meet the competency, independence, or impartiality criteria, set forth 
in new paragraphs Sec. Sec.  68.59(b) or 68.80(b).
    After considering public comments received on the proposed 
conditions that would require a third-party audit, in the final 
Amendments Rule, EPA revised the applicability criteria for third-party 
audits required by implementing agencies from non-compliance to 
conditions that could lead to an accidental release of a regulated 
substance. EPA believed that having the implementing agency evaluate 
whether conditions exist at a stationary source that could lead to an 
accidental release better addressed the types of situations where a 
third-party audit would be most effective, and would minimize the 
potential for inconsistent or arbitrary decisions made by implementing 
agencies. This revised criterion responded to commenters' requests was 
not intended to be a new condition, but a narrowing of the 
applicability of these requirements. The criterion in the Final Rule 
focused on conditions with the potential to lead to accidental 
releases, rather than authorizing implementing agencies to require 
third-party audits under a potentially wide range of circumstances, 
including minor non-compliance. However, insofar as it is a change, the 
petitioner correctly notes that the public did not have a chance to 
comment on the new language.
    EPA is proposing to rescind the third-party audit requirements; 
however, if these requirements are not rescinded, EPA requests comment 
on the revised applicability criteria for third-party audits required 
by implementing agencies from non-compliance to conditions that could 
lead to an accidental release of a regulated substance.
3. Coordination and Emergency Response Provisions Constitute Unfunded 
Mandates on State and Local Responders
    Petitioners CSAG and the States argued that the coordination and 
emergency response provisions of the final rule constitute unfunded 
mandates and impose unjustified burdens on state and local emergency 
responders.\69\ As an initial matter, EPA notes that these objections 
would not meet the standard for reconsideration under CAA section 
307(d)(7)(B), because the same objections were raised during the 
comment period for the proposed RMP Amendments rule, and responded to 
by EPA in the Response to Comments document for the rule.\70\ However, 
EPA seeks comment on the Petitioners' claims that the coordination and 
emergency response provisions of the final rule constitute unfunded 
mandates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \69\ See CSAG Petition, pgs. 8-9 and States Petition, pgs. 4-6.
    \70\ See Response to Comments document, pgs. 165-167, 185-186, 
238, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0729. See also States Petition at pg. 5 
(``Various State and other entities raised these concerns during the 
comment period'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive 
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review

    This action is a significant regulatory action that was submitted 
to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. Any changes 
made in response to OMB recommendations have been documented in the 
docket. EPA prepared a Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) of the 
potential costs and benefits associated with this action. This RIA is 
available in the docket and is summarized here (Docket ID Number EPA-
HQ-OEM-2015-0725).
1. Why EPA is Considering This Action
    This action addresses and responds to a number of issues related to 
the final RMP Amendments Rule, including those raised by petitioners, 
as well as other issues that EPA believes warrant reconsideration.
    As discussed above in section I of this preamble, prior to the rule 
taking effect, EPA received three petitions for reconsideration of the 
rule under CAA section 307(d)(7)(B), two from industry groups and one 
from a group of states. Under that provision, the Administrator is to 
commence a reconsideration proceeding if, in the Administrator's 
judgement, the petitioner raises an objection to a rule that was 
impracticable to raise during the comment period or if the grounds for 
the objection arose after the comment period but within the period for 
judicial review. In either case, the Administrator must also conclude 
that the objection is of central relevance to the outcome of the rule.
    In a letter dated March 13, 2017, the Administrator responded to 
the first of the reconsideration petitions received by announcing the 
convening of a proceeding for reconsideration of the Risk Management 
Program Amendments.\71\ As explained in that letter, having considered 
the objections raised in the petition, the Administrator determined 
that the criteria for reconsideration have been met for at least one of 
the objections. This proposal addresses the issues raised in all three 
petitions for reconsideration, as well as other issues that EPA 
believes warrant reconsideration. A detailed discussion of EPA's 
rationale for the rescissions and modifications to the rule is included 
above in section IV. of this preamble,
Rationale for Rescissions and Modifications
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \71\ EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0758.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As described in section IV. A. of this preamble, Maintain 
consistency in accident prevention requirements, this action addresses 
the issues raised by petitioners regarding several of the provisions of 
the final Amendments rule. Petitioners asserted that EPA failed to 
sufficiently coordinate the changes to the RMP regulations with OSHA 
and the PSM program, and that the regulations as revised by the Final 
Rule leave important gaps and create compliance uncertainties. Although 
EPA has regularly communicated and coordinated with OSHA on its efforts 
so far, EPA believes it is reasonable to develop a better understanding 
of OSHA's intentions regarding potential changes to the PSM standard 
before modifying the RMP rule. EPA has determined that a more sensible 
approach would be to rescind the RMP accident prevention amendments at 
this time and continue existing coordination with OSHA on any future 
regulatory changes.
    All three petitions requesting reconsideration of the RMP 
Amendments rule raised security concerns regarding provisions of the 
final Amendments rule, as discussed above in section IV. B. of this 
preamble, Address security concerns. These included objections, in all 
three petitions, regarding the rule language in Sec.  68.93(b) 
requiring local emergency response coordination to include providing to 
the local emergency planning and response organizations ``. . . any 
other information that local emergency planning and response 
organizations identify as relevant to

[[Page 24878]]

local emergency response planning.'' Petitioners claim that this 
language creates a security risk for regulated facilities. Petitioners 
have also noted concerns regarding the removal of protections for CBI 
and classified information that items proposed under Sec.  68.205 would 
have benefited from. Petitioners also raised concerns about the 
potential for the information made available under Sec.  68.210 of the 
RMP Amendments rule to be used by criminals or terrorists to target 
facilities for attack. EPA is also considering another security concern 
not specifically raised by petitioners, regarding whether the synthesis 
of the required information disclosure elements could create an 
additional security risk for facilities.
    As discussed in section IV.C. of this preamble, Address BATF 
finding on West Fertilizer incident, above, petitioners asserted that 
it was impracticable for commenters to address in their comments the 
significance of the May 11, 2016 determination by the Bureau of 
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATF) that the fire and 
explosion at the West Fertilizer facility was caused by an intentional, 
criminal act. In responding to this petition, EPA Administrator Pruitt 
agreed that the timing of the BATF finding was a valid basis for 
reconsideration of the RMP Amendments rule.\72\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \72\ March 13, 2017 letter from EPA Administrator E. Scott 
Pruitt to Justin Savage, Esq., Hogan Lovells US LLP. Letter 
available in the docket for this rulemaking. EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-
0758.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    All three petitioners objected to the costs and burdens associated 
with the new provisions of the RMP Amendments rule, and claimed that 
EPA's economic analysis did not accurately assess the costs of new 
provisions and violated procedural requirements by not properly 
quantifying potential benefits. Petitioners submitted extensive 
commentary on these issues (complete copies of each petition are 
available in the docket for this rulemaking). A discussion of this 
issue is included above in section IV.D. of this preamble, Reduce 
unnecessary regulations and regulatory costs.
    This action also considers and addresses several other issues 
raised by petitioners. One petitioner noted that EPA added numerous 
documents to the rulemaking docket after the close of the comment 
period, that EPA used several of these to support core provisions of 
the final rule, and that members of the public were not able to submit 
comments on these documents.73 74 Petitioner the RMP 
Coalition stated that in the final RMP Amendments rule, EPA added a new 
trigger for third-party audits as well as new legal rationales for 
third-party audits and STAA, and that members of the public did not 
have an opportunity to review and comment on the new provision or legal 
rationales. Petitioners CSAG and the States argued that the 
coordination and emergency response provisions of the final rule 
constitute unfunded mandates and impose unjustified burdens on state 
and local emergency responders. These issues are discussed in more 
detail in section IV. F. of this preamble, Other issues raised by 
petitioners.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \73\ RMP Coalition Petition, pg. 5, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0759.
    \74\ Ibid, pgs. 5-6.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Description of Alternatives to the Proposed Rule
    The RIA analyzed the proposed rescissions and changes to the 
requirements of the RMP Amendments rule, including one alternative 
option for emergency tabletop and field exercises. The proposed 
rulemaking would retain the requirement for tabletop and field 
exercises, but remove the minimum frequency requirement for field 
exercises and establish more flexible scope and documentation 
provisions for both field and tabletop exercises. Although these 
changes are intended to reduce the burden of and offer more flexibility 
to owners and local response agencies in meeting the exercise 
requirements, the RIA took the conservative approach of assuming that 
the cost of the provision as estimated under the Amendments final rule 
would not change. EPA is considering two alternatives to the proposed 
exercise provisions. One alternative would be similar to the proposed 
option--this alternative would remove the minimum frequency requirement 
for field exercises, but unlike the proposed option, the alternative 
would retain all remaining provisions of the RMP Amendments rule 
regarding field and tabletop exercises, including the RMP Amendments 
rule requirements for exercise scope and documentation. Like the 
proposed option, EPA assumes that the cost of the exercise provisions 
as estimated under the Amendments final rule would not change under 
this alternative. Another, lower-cost alternative to EPA's proposal 
would be to fully rescind the field and tabletop exercise provisions. 
This alternative would result in an additional annual cost savings of 
approximately $24.7 million (2015 dollars).
    EPA is also considering an alternative to the proposed modification 
to the emergency coordination provisions of the Amendments rule. EPA's 
proposed modification to the local emergency response coordination 
amendments would delete the phrase in Sec.  68.93(b), ``. . . and any 
other information that local emergency planning and response 
organizations identify as relevant to local emergency response 
planning.'' As an alternative to this proposal, EPA is considering 
replace this phrase with the phrase ``other information necessary for 
developing and implementing the local emergency response plan.'' 
However, EPA does not believe either its proposed option or the 
alternative phrasing would significantly affect the cost of complying 
with the emergency coordination provisions of the Amendments rule.
    Lastly, EPA is considering an alternative to rescinding the 
availability of all chemical hazard information to the public under the 
final Amendments rule. Under this alternative, EPA would rescind all 
elements required to be disclosed under Sec.  68.210(b) of the final 
Amendments rule except the information on exercise schedules. If EPA 
were to adopt this alternative, the annual net cost savings under the 
proposed rule would decline by up to $3.1 million.
3. Summary of Cost Savings
    Approximately 12,500 facilities have filed current RMPs with EPA 
and are potentially affected by the proposed rule changes. These 
facilities range from petroleum refineries and large chemical 
manufacturers to water and wastewater treatment systems; chemical and 
petroleum wholesalers and terminals; food manufacturers, packing 
plants, and other cold storage facilities with ammonia refrigeration 
systems; agricultural chemical distributors; midstream gas plants; and 
a limited number of other sources that use RMP-regulated substances.
    Table 5 presents the number of facilities according to the latest 
RMP reporting as of February 2015 by industrial sector and chemical 
use.

[[Page 24879]]

                                Table 5--Number of Affected Facilities by Sector
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                   Total
             Sector                              NAICS codes                    facilities       Chemical uses
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Administration of environmental  924........................................           1,923  Use chlorine and
 quality programs (i.e.,                                                                       other chemicals
 governments).                                                                                 for treatment.
Agricultural chemical            111, 112, 115, 42491.......................           3,667  Store ammonia for
 distributors/wholesalers.                                                                     sale; some in
                                                                                               NAICS 111 and 115
                                                                                               use ammonia as a
                                                                                               refrigerant.
Chemical manufacturing.........  325........................................           1,466  Manufacture,
                                                                                               process, store.
Chemical wholesalers...........  4246.......................................             333  Store for sale.
Food and beverage manufacturing  311, 312...................................           1,476  Use (mostly
                                                                                               ammonia as a
                                                                                               refrigerant).
Oil and gas extraction.........  211........................................             741  Intermediate
                                                                                               processing
                                                                                               (mostly regulated
                                                                                               flammable
                                                                                               substances and
                                                                                               flammable
                                                                                               mixtures).
Other..........................  44, 45, 48, 54, 56, 61, 72.................             248  Use chemicals for
                                                                                               wastewater
                                                                                               treatment,
                                                                                               refrigeration,
                                                                                               store chemicals
                                                                                               for sale.
Other manufacturing............  313, 326, 327, 33..........................             384  Use various
                                                                                               chemicals in
                                                                                               manufacturing
                                                                                               process, waste
                                                                                               treatment.
Other wholesale................  423, 424...................................             302  Use (mostly
                                                                                               ammonia as a
                                                                                               refrigerant).
Paper manufacturing............  322........................................              70  Use various
                                                                                               chemicals in pulp
                                                                                               and paper
                                                                                               manufacturing.
Petroleum and coal products      324........................................             156  Manufacture,
 manufacturing.                                                                                process, store
                                                                                               (mostly regulated
                                                                                               flammable
                                                                                               substances and
                                                                                               flammable
                                                                                               mixtures).
Petroleum wholesalers..........  4247.......................................             276  Store for sale
                                                                                               (mostly regulated
                                                                                               flammable
                                                                                               substances and
                                                                                               flammable
                                                                                               mixtures).
Utilities......................  221 (except 22131, 22132)..................             343  Use chlorine
                                                                                               (mostly for water
                                                                                               treatment).
Warehousing and storage........  493........................................           1,056  Use mostly ammonia
                                                                                               as a refrigerant.
Water/wastewater Treatment       22131, 22132...............................             102  Use chlorine and
 Systems.                                                                                      other chemicals.
                                                                             ----------------
    Total......................  ...........................................          12,542  ..................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Table 6 presents a summary of the annualized cost savings estimated 
in the regulatory impact analysis.\75\ In total, EPA estimates 
annualized cost savings of $87.9 million at a 3% discount rate and 
$88.4 million at a 7% discount rate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \75\ A full description of costs and benefits for this proposed 
rule can be found in the Regulatory Impact Analysis; Reconsideration 
of the 2017 Amendments to the Accidental Release Prevention 
Requirements: Risk Management Programs Under the Clean Air Act, 
Section 112(r)(7). This document is available in the docket for this 
rulemaking (Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725).

               Table 6--Summary of Annualized Cost Savings
                        [Millions, 2015 dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Provision                       3%              7%
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Third-party Audits......................           (9.8)           (9.8)
Incident Investigation/Root Cause.......           (1.8)           (1.8)
STAA....................................          (70.0)          (70.0)
Information Availability................           (3.1)           (3.1)
Rule Familiarization....................           (3.2)           (3.7)
                                         -------------------------------
    Total Cost Savings..................          (87.9)          (88.4)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Most of the annual cost savings under the proposed rulemaking are 
due to the repeal of the STAA provision (annual savings of $70 
million), followed by third party audits (annual savings of $9.8 
million), rule familiarization (annual net savings of $3.7 million), 
rule familiarization (annual net savings of $3.7 million), information 
availability (annual savings of $3.1 million), and root cause incident 
investigation (annual savings of $1.8 million). See the RIA for 
additional information on costs and cost savings.
4. Summary of Potential Benefits and Benefit Reductions
    The RMP Amendments Rule produced a variety of benefits from 
prevention and mitigation of future RMP and non-RMP accidents at RMP 
facilities, avoided catastrophes at RMP facilities, and easier access 
to facility chemical hazard information. The proposed Reconsideration 
rule would largely retain the revised local emergency coordination and 
exercise provisions of the 2017 Amendments final rule, which convey 
mitigation benefits. The proposed rescission of the prevention program 
requirements (i.e., third-party audits, incident investigation, STAA), 
would result in a reduction in the magnitude of these benefits. The 
proposed rescission of the chemical hazard information availability 
provision would result in a reduction of the information sharing 
benefit, although a portion of this benefit from the Amendments rule 
would still be conveyed by the public meeting, emergency coordination 
and exercise provisions. The proposed rule would also convey the 
benefit of improved chemical site security, by modifying previously 
open-ended information sharing provisions of the Amendments rule that 
might have resulted in an increased risk of terrorism against regulated 
sources. See the RIA

[[Page 24880]]

for additional information on benefits and benefit reductions.

B. Executive Order 13771: Reducing Regulation and Controlling 
Regulatory Costs

    This action is expected to be an Executive Order 13771 deregulatory 
action. Details on the estimated cost savings of this proposed rule can 
be found in EPA's analysis of the potential costs and benefits 
associated with this action.\76\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \76\ See ``Regulatory Impact Analysis; Reconsideration of the 
2017 Amendments to the Accidental Release Prevention Requirements: 
Risk Management Programs Under the Clean Air Act, Section 
112(r)(7)'', in docket EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)

    The information collection activities in this proposed rule have 
been submitted for approval to the OMB under the PRA. The Information 
Collection Request (ICR) document that the EPA prepared has been 
assigned EPA ICR number 2537.03. You can find a copy of the ICR in the 
docket for this rule, and it is briefly summarized here.
    The ICR that covers the risk management program rule, promulgated 
on June 20, 1996; including previous amendments, codified as 40 CFR 
part 68, is ICR number 1656.15, OMB Control No. 2050-0144. This ICR 
(2537.03) addresses the following information requirements that were 
promulgated in the final RMP Amendments rule and not proposed to be 
rescinded by the proposed revision to the rule:
Improve Information Availability (Applies to all Facilities)
    1. Hold a public meeting within 90 days of an accident subject to 
reporting under Sec.  68.42 (i.e., an RMP reportable accident) and for 
this accident provide the accident information required under Sec.  
68.42 (b).
Improve Emergency Preparedness (Applies to P2 and P3 Facilities)
    2. Meet and coordinate with local responders annually to exchange 
emergency planning information and coordinate exercise schedules. 
Responding facilities' updates of their facility emergency response 
plans will include appropriate changes based on information obtained 
from coordination activities, emergency response exercises, incident 
investigations or other information. Emergency response plans will have 
procedures for informing appropriate Federal and state emergency 
response agencies, as well as local agencies and the public (informing 
local agencies and the public is already required under the original 
rule).
    3. Conduct an annual notification drill with emergency responders 
to verify emergency contact information.
    4. Responding facilities conduct and document emergency response 
exercises including:
    a. Field exercises according to a schedule established by the 
facility in consultation with local responders, and;
    b. A tabletop exercise at least every three years.
    Respondents/affected entities: Manufacturers, utilities, 
warehouses, wholesalers, food processors, ammonia retailers, and gas 
processors.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (CAA sections 
112(r)(7)(B)(i) and (ii), CAA section 112(r)(7)(B)(iii), 114(c), CAA 
114(a)(1)).
    Estimated number of respondents: 14,280
    Frequency of response: On occasion.
    Total estimated burden: 682,665 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.3(b).
    Total estimated cost: $44,712,465 (per year), includes $83,600 
annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control numbers for the 
EPA's regulations in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9.
    Submit your comments on the Agency's need for this information, the 
accuracy of the provided burden estimates and any suggested methods for 
minimizing respondent burden to the EPA using the docket identified at 
the beginning of this rule. You may also send your ICR-related comments 
to OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs via email to 
[email protected], Attention: Desk Officer for the EPA. Since 
OMB is required to make a decision concerning the ICR between 30 and 60 
days after receipt, OMB must receive comments no later than June 29, 
2018. The EPA will respond to any ICR-related comments in the final 
rule.

D. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)

    I certify that this action will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities under the RFA. In 
making this determination, the impact of concern is any significant 
adverse economic impact on small entities. An agency may certify that a 
rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities if the rule relieves regulatory burden, has no 
net burden or otherwise has a positive economic effect on the small 
entities subject to the rule.
    The RMP Amendments final rule considered a broad range of costs on 
small entities based on facility type. As estimated in the 2017 
Amendments RIA, the provisions in that final rule had quantifiable 
impacts on small entities. This proposed rule largely repeals, or 
retains with slight modification, the provisions incurring costs on 
small entities. As a result, EPA expects the proposed rule to impose 
negative costs for all facilities, including small entities. The only 
new costs imposed on small entities would be rule familiarization with 
the proposed rule, but even that cost would be offset by savings 
associated with eliminating the larger costs associated with becoming 
familiar with the RMP Amendments final rule. The impact of this 
proposed rule on small entities is discussed further in the RIA, which 
is available in the rulemaking docket.\77\ We have therefore concluded 
that this action will relieve regulatory burden for all directly 
regulated small entities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \77\ See ``Regulatory Impact Analysis; Reconsideration of the 
2017 Amendments to the Accidental Release Prevention Requirements: 
Risk Management Programs Under the Clean Air Act, Section 
112(r)(7)'', Chapter 7, EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)

    This action does not contain any unfunded mandate as described in 
UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531-1538, and does not significantly or uniquely affect 
small governments. The action imposes no enforceable duty on any state, 
local or tribal governments or the private sector.

F. Executive Order 13132: Federalism

    This action does not have Federalism implications. It will not have 
substantial direct effects on the states, on the relationship between 
the national government and the states, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities among the various levels of government.

G. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian 
Tribal Governments

    This action has tribal implications. However, it will neither 
impose substantial direct compliance costs on federally recognized 
tribal governments, nor preempt tribal law. EPA will be consulting with 
tribal officials as it develops this regulation to permit them to have 
meaningful and timely input into its development. Consultation will 
include conversations with interested

[[Page 24881]]

tribal representatives to ensure that their concerns are addressed 
before the rule is finalized. In the spirit of Executive Order 13175 
and consistent with EPA policy to promote communications between EPA 
and tribal governments, EPA specifically solicits comment on this 
proposed rule from tribal officials.

H. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental 
Health Risks and Safety Risks

    This action is not subject to Executive Order 13045 because it is 
not economically significant as defined in Executive Order 12866, and 
because the EPA does not believe the environmental health risks or 
safety risks addressed by this action present a disproportionate risk 
to children. This action's health and risk assessments are contained in 
the RIA for this proposed rule, available in the docket.

I. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution or Use

    This proposed action is not a ``significant energy action'' because 
it is not likely to have a significant adverse effect on the supply, 
distribution, or use of energy. This proposed action is not anticipated 
to have notable impacts on emissions, costs or energy supply decisions 
for the affected electric utility industry.

J. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA)

    This rulemaking does not involve technical standards.

K. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations

    The EPA believes that this action may have disproportionately high 
and adverse human health or environmental effects on minority 
populations, low-income populations and/or indigenous peoples, as 
specified in Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
    The documentation for this decision is contained in chapter 8 of 
the Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA), a copy of which has been placed 
in the public docket for this action.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR part 68

    Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Air pollution control, Chemicals, Hazardous substances, 
Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: May 17, 2018.
E. Scott Pruitt,
Administrator.
    For the reasons set out in the preamble, title 40, chapter I, part 
68, of the Code of Federal Regulations is proposed to be amended as 
follows:

PART 68--CHEMICAL ACCIDENT PREVENTION PROVISIONS

0
1. The authority citation for part 68 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  42 U.S.C. 7412(r), 7601(a)(1), 7661-7661f.

Sec.  68.3   [Amended]

0
2. Amend Sec.  68.3 by removing the definitions ``Active measures'', 
``Inherently safer technology or design'', ``Passives measures'', 
``Practicability'', ``Procedural measures'', ``Root cause'' and 
``Third-party audit''.
0
3. Amend Sec.  68.10 by:
0
a. Revising paragraphs (b), (d), and (e);
0
b. Redesignating paragraphs (f) through (j) as paragraphs (g) through 
(k); and
0
c. Adding new paragraph (f).
    The revisions read as follows:

Sec.  68.10  Applicability.

* * * * *
    (b) By [DATE 1 YEAR AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE FINAL RULE], 
the owner or operator of a stationary source shall comply with the 
emergency response coordination activities in Sec.  68.93.
* * * * *
    (d) By [DATE 4 YEARS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE FINAL RULE], 
the owner or operator shall have developed plans for conducting 
emergency response exercises in accordance with provisions of Sec.  
68.96.
    (e) After [DATE 2 YEARS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE FINAL RULE] 
the owner or operator of a stationary source shall comply with the 
public meeting requirement in Sec.  68.210(b) for any accident meeting 
the five-year accident history requirements of Sec.  68.42 that occurs 
after [DATE 2 YEARS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE FINAL RULE].
    (f) By [DATE 5 YEARS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE FINAL RULE], 
the owner or operator shall comply with Sec.  68.160 (b)(21) of the 
risk management plan provisions of subpart G of this part promulgated 
on [PUBLICATION DATE OF FINAL RULE] and with Sec.  68.180 of the risk 
management plan provisions of subpart G of this part promulgated on 
January 13, 2017.
* * * * *

Sec.  68.12   [Amended]

0
4. Amend Sec.  68.12 by:
0
a. In paragraph (b):
0
1. In the introductory text removing the text ``68.10(b)'' and adding 
``68.10(g)'' in its place;
0
2. In paragraph (4) second sentence, removing the text ``68.10(b)(1)'' 
and adding ``68.10(g)(1)'' in its place;
0
b. In paragraph (c) introductory text by removing the text ``68.10(c)'' 
and adding ``68.10(h)'' in its place;
0
c. In paragraph (d) introductory text by removing the text ``68.10(d)'' 
and adding ``68.10(i)'' in its place.
0
5. Amend Sec.  68.50 by revising paragraph (a)(2) to read as follows:

Sec.  68.50   Hazard review.

    (a) * * *
    (2) Opportunities for equipment malfunctions or human errors that 
could cause an accidental release;
* * * * *
0
6. Amend Sec.  68.54 by revising the first sentence in paragraphs (a) 
and (b), paragraph (d), and removing paragraph (e) to read as follows:

Sec.  68.54   Training.

    (a) The owner or operator shall ensure that each employee presently 
operating a process, and each employee newly assigned to a covered 
process have been trained or tested competent in the operating 
procedures provided in Sec.  68.52 that pertain to their duties. * * *
    (b) Refresher training. Refresher training shall be provided at 
least every three years, and more often if necessary, to each employee 
operating a process to ensure that the employee understands and adheres 
to the current operating procedures of the process. * * *
* * * * *
    (d) The owner or operator shall ensure that operators are trained 
in any updated or new procedures prior to startup of a process after a 
major change.
0
7. Amend Sec.  68.58 by revising paragraph (a) and removing paragraphs 
(f) through (h) to read as follows:

Sec.  68.58   Compliance audits.

    (a) The owner or operator shall certify that they have evaluated 
compliance with the provisions of this subpart at least every three 
years to verify that the procedures and practices developed under this 
subpart are adequate and are being followed.
* * * * *

Sec.  68.59   [Removed]

0
8. Remove Sec.  68.59.
0
9. Amend Sec.  68.60 by:
0
a. Revising paragraph (a);
0
b. Removing paragraph (c);

[[Page 24882]]

0
c. Redesignating paragraph (d) as paragraph (c)
0
d. In the newly designated paragraph (c):
0
1. Revising the paragraph introductory text, and paragraphs (1) and 
(3);
0
2. Removing paragraphs (4) through (6);
0
3. Redesignating paragraphs (7) and (8) as paragraphs (4) and (5); and
0
4. Revising the newly designated paragraphs (4) and (5);
0
e. Redesignating paragraphs (e) through (g) as paragraphs (d) through 
(f); and
0
f. Revising newly redesignated paragraph (f).
    The revisions read as follows:

Sec.  68.60   Incident investigation.

    (a) The owner or operator shall investigate each incident which 
resulted in, or could reasonably have resulted in a catastrophic 
release.
* * * * *
    (c) A summary shall be prepared at the conclusion of the 
investigation which includes at a minimum:
    (1) Date of incident;
* * * * *
    (3) A description of the incident;
    (4) The factors that contributed to the incident; and,
    (5) Any recommendations resulting from the investigation.
* * * * *
    (f) Investigation summaries shall be retained for five years.
0
10. Amend Sec.  68.65 by revising the first sentence of paragraph (a) 
and revising the note to paragraph (b) to read as follows:

Sec.  68.65   Process safety information.

    (a) In accordance with the schedule set forth in Sec.  68.67, the 
owner or operator shall complete a compilation of written process 
safety information before conducting any process hazard analysis 
required by the rule. * * *
    (b) * * *

    Note to paragraph (b):  Safety Data Sheets (SDS) meeting the 
requirements of 29 CFR 1910.1200(g) may be used to comply with this 
requirement to the extent they contain the information required by 
paragraph (b) of this section.

0
11. Amend Sec.  68.67 by:
0
a. Revising paragraphs (c)(2);
0
b. Amending (c)(6) by adding the word ``and'' at the end of the 
paragraph;
0
c. Amending paragraph (c)(7) by removing ``, and '' and adding a period 
at the end of the paragraph; and
0
d. Removing paragraph (c)(8).
    The revisions read as follows:

Sec.  68.67   Process hazard analysis.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (2) The identification of any previous incident which had a likely 
potential for catastrophic consequences;
* * * * *

Sec.  68.71   [Amended]

0
12. Amend Sec.  68.71 by removing paragraph (d).
0
13. Amend Sec.  68.79 by revising paragraph (a) and removing paragraphs 
(f) through (h) to read as follows:

Sec.  68.79   Compliance audits.

    (a) The owner or operator shall certify that they have evaluated 
compliance with the provisions of this subpart at least every three 
years to verify that procedures and practices developed under this 
subpart are adequate and are being followed.
* * * * *

Sec.  68.80   [Removed]

0
14. Remove Sec.  68.80.
0
15. Amend Sec.  68.81 by revising paragraphs (a) and (d) to read as 
follows:

Sec.  68.81   Incident investigation.

    (a) The owner or operator shall investigate each incident which 
resulted in, or could reasonably have resulted in a catastrophic 
release.
* * * * *
    (d) A report shall be prepared at the conclusion of the 
investigation which includes at a minimum:
    (1) Date of incident;
    (2) Date investigation began;
    (3) A description of the incident;
    (4) The factors that contributed to the incident; and,
    (5) Any recommendations resulting from the investigation.
* * * * *
0
16. Amend Sec.  68.93 by revising paragraph (b) and adding paragraphs 
(d) and (e) to read as follows:

Sec.  68.93   Emergency response coordination activities.

* * * * *
    (b) Coordination shall include providing to the local emergency 
planning and response organizations: The stationary source's emergency 
response plan if one exists; emergency action plan; and updated 
emergency contact information. For responding stationary sources, 
coordination shall also include consulting with local emergency 
response officials to establish appropriate schedules and plans for 
field and tabletop exercises required under Sec.  68.96(b). The owner 
or operator shall request an opportunity to meet with the local 
emergency planning committee (or equivalent) and/or local fire 
department as appropriate to review and discuss those materials.
* * * * *
    (d) Classified information. The disclosure of information 
classified by the Department of Defense or other Federal agencies or 
contractors of such agencies shall be controlled by applicable laws, 
regulations, or executive orders concerning the release of classified 
information.
    (e) CBI. An owner or operator asserting CBI for information 
required under this section shall provide a sanitized version to the 
local emergency planning and response organizations. Assertion of 
claims of CBI and substantiation of CBI claims shall be in the same 
manner as required in Sec. Sec.  68.151 and 68.152 for information 
contained in the RMP required under subpart G. As provided under Sec.  
68.151(b)(3), an owner or operator of a stationary source may not claim 
five-year accident history information as CBI. As provided in Sec.  
68.151(c)(2), an owner or operator of a stationary source asserting 
that a chemical name is CBI shall provide a generic category or class 
name as a substitute.
0
17. Amend Sec.  68.96 by:
0
a. Revising the first sentence of paragraph (a);
0
b. Revising paragraph (b)(1)(i) and (ii);
0
c. Revising paragraph (b)(2)(i) and (ii); and
0
d. Revising paragraph (b)(3).
    The revisions read as follows:

Sec.  68.96   Emergency response exercises.

    (a) Notification exercises. At least once each calendar year, the 
owner or operator of a stationary source with any Program 2 or Program 
3 process shall conduct an exercise of the source's emergency response 
notification mechanisms required under Sec.  68.90(b)(3) or Sec.  
68.95(a)(1)(i), as appropriate, before [DATE 5 YEARS AFTER EFFECTIVE 
DATE OF FINAL RULE] and annually thereafter. * * *
    (b) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (i) Frequency. As part of coordination with local emergency 
response officials required by Sec.  [thinsp]68.93, the owner or 
operator shall consult with these officials to establish an appropriate 
frequency for field exercises.
    (ii) Scope. Field exercises should include: Tests of procedures to 
notify the public and the appropriate Federal, state, and local 
emergency response agencies about an accidental release; tests of 
procedures and measures for emergency response actions including 
evacuations and medical treatment; tests of communications systems; 
mobilization of facility emergency

[[Page 24883]]

response personnel, including contractors, as appropriate; coordination 
with local emergency responders; emergency response equipment 
deployment; and any other action identified in the emergency response 
program, as appropriate.
    (2) * * *
    (i) Frequency. As part of coordination with local emergency 
response officials required by Sec.  [thinsp]68.93, the owner or 
operator shall consult with these officials to establish an appropriate 
frequency for tabletop exercises, and shall conduct a tabletop exercise 
before [DATE 7 YEARS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE FINAL RULE] and at 
a minimum of at least once every three years thereafter.
    (ii) Scope. The exercise should include discussions of: Procedures 
to notify the public and the appropriate Federal, state, and local 
emergency response agencies; procedures and measures for emergency 
response including evacuations and medical treatment; identification of 
facility emergency response personnel and/or contractors and their 
responsibilities; coordination with local emergency responders; 
procedures for emergency response equipment deployment; and any other 
action identified in the emergency response plan, as appropriate.
    (3) Documentation. The owner/operator shall prepare an evaluation 
report within 90 days of each exercise. The report should include: A 
description of the exercise scenario; names and organizations of each 
participant; an evaluation of the exercise results including lessons 
learned; recommendations for improvement or revisions to the emergency 
response exercise program and emergency response program, and a 
schedule to promptly address and resolve recommendations.
* * * * *
0
18. Amend Sec.  68.160 by revising paragraph (b)(21) and removing 
paragraph (b)(22) to read as follows:

Sec.  68.160   Registration.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (21) Whether a public meeting has been held following an RMP 
reportable accident, pursuant to Sec.  68.210(b).
0
19. Amend Sec.  68.170 by revising paragraph (i) to read as follows:

Sec.  68.170   Prevention program/Program 2.

* * * * *
    (i) The date of the most recent compliance audit, the expected date 
of completion of any changes resulting from the compliance audit.
* * * * *
0
20. Amend Sec.  68.175 by:
0
a. Revising paragraph (e) introductory text and paragraphs (e)(1), (5) 
and (6);
0
b. Removing paragraph (e)(7); and
0
c. Revising paragraph (k).
    The revisions read as follows:

Sec.  68.175   Prevention program/Program 3.

* * * * *
    (e) The date of completion of the most recent PHA or update and the 
technique used.
    (1) The expected date of completion of any changes resulting from 
the PHA;
     * * *
    (5) Monitoring and detection systems in use; and
    (6) Changes since the last PHA.
* * * * *
    (k) The date of the most recent compliance audit and the expected 
date of completion of any changes resulting from the compliance audit.
* * * * *
0
21. Amend Sec.  68.180 by revising paragraph (a)(1) to read as follows:

Sec.  68.180   Emergency response program and exercises.

    (a) * * *
    (1) Name, phone number and email address of local emergency 
planning and response organizations with which the stationary source 
last coordinated emergency response efforts, pursuant to Sec.  
68.10(g)(3) or Sec.  68.93.
* * * * *
0
22. Amend Sec.  68.190 by revising paragraph (c) to read as follows:

Sec.  68.190   Updates.

* * * * *
    (c) If a stationary source is no longer subject to this part, the 
owner or operator shall submit a de-registration to EPA within six 
months indicating that the stationary source is no longer covered.
0
23. Amend Sec.  68.210 by:
0
a. Removing paragraphs (b), (c), (d), and (g);
0
b. Redesignating paragraph (e) and (f) as paragraphs (b) and (c); and
0
c. Revising newly redesignated paragraph (b).
    The revision reads as follows:

Sec.  68.210   Availability of information to the public.

* * * * *
    (b) Public meetings. The owner or operator of a stationary source 
shall hold a public meeting to provide information required under Sec.  
68.42 (b), no later than 90 days after any accident subject to 
reporting under Sec.  68.42.
* * * * *
0
24. Amend Sec.  68.215 by revising paragraph (a)(2)(i) to read as 
follows:

Sec.  68.215   Permit content and air permitting authority or 
designated agency requirements.

    (a) * * *
    (2) * * *
    (i) A compliance schedule for meeting the requirements of this part 
by the date provided in Sec.  68.10(a) through (f).
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2018-11059 Filed 5-29-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P