New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 31 - TOXIC CATASTROPHE PREVENTION ACT PROGRAM › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 7:31-1.5 - State definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Acute toxicity concentration" or "ATC" means a minimum lethal concentration which is greater than the Threshold Limit Value (TLV) or the Short Term Exposure Limit (STEL), as defined by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, and equivalent to the lowest of the following three categories: one-tenth of the median lethal concentration (LC[LESS THAN]50[GREATER THAN]); or one times the lowest lethal concentration (LC[LESS THAN] L0 [GREATER THAN]) of test data for any mammalian species in test periods up to eight hours; or the Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH) concentration. LC[LESS THAN]50[GREATER THAN], LC[LESS THAN] L0 [GREATER THAN], IDLH, TLV, and STEL have been defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the "Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substance" (RTECS) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) "Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards".
"Agent of the Department" means a person, including a consultant or a contractor, authorized by the Department to act for it in implementing the Act and this chapter.
"ANSI" means the American National Standards Institute.
"Budget-expenditure variance" means the difference, either positive or negative, between the gross expenditures and the spending plan (budget) of the same fiscal year of the TCPA program. Where budget exceeds expenditures, this difference is positive.
"Change" means any modification in existing EHS equipment or procedures which are directly involved with an EHS, including additions or deletions. Change does not include routine maintenance, which means the repair or replacement in kind of existing EHS equipment to provide continuity of operation, or replacement with identical equipment.
"Claimant" means any person who submits a confidentiality claim under this chapter.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection or the person delegated to act on his behalf.
"Confidential copy" means a copy of any information submitted to the Department pursuant to the Act or this chapter which contains all the required information including any information which the claimant requests to be treated as confidential. The confidential copy shall be labelled as such and all confidential information contained therein shall be clearly identified.
"Confidential information" means information required to be submitted or disclosed to the Department pursuant to this chapter, the public disclosure of which would competitively disadvantage the owner or operator or compromise the security of the covered process or its operations; consisting of non-privileged trade secret information, proprietary information and non-privileged security information.
"Confidentiality claim" or "claim" means a written request made by an owner or operator of a covered process pursuant to this chapter to withhold from public disclosure certain information required to be submitted to the Department.
"Consequence analysis" means the determination of the potential consequence of an EHS release on the surrounding population, using dispersion, thermal or overpressure analysis and, at a minimum, identifying potential populations exposed to the toxic, thermal or overpressure endpoint for each EHS.
"Department" means the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
"Dispersion analysis" means the calculation, by means of EPA Offsite Consequence Analysis look-up tables or a model acceptable to the Department, of the ambient concentrations of an EHS after its release, taking into account the physical and chemical states and properties of the EHS, the release scenario and the geographical, topographical, geological and meteorological characteristics of the environment, which will influence the migration, movement, dispersion, or degradation of the EHS in the environment.
"EHS accident" means an unplanned, unforeseen or unintended incident, situation, condition, or set of circumstances which directly or indirectly results in an EHS release.
"EHS equipment" means that equipment within a covered process whose failure or improper operation could directly or indirectly result in or contribute to an EHS accident, including, but not limited to, vessels, piping, compressors, pumps, instrumentation and electrical equipment. EHS equipment includes fire suppression, risk mitigation, EHS release detection equipment, and EHS shipping container handling equipment.
"EHS operator" means an employee who is directly involved with an EHS and qualified and trained in the operations of EHS equipment or procedures.
"EHS procedure" means a step of an operation involving an EHS, which if conducted improperly, could directly or indirectly result in or contribute to an EHS accident.
"EHS release" means a discharge or emission of an EHS from a piece of EHS equipment in which it is contained, excluding discharges or emissions occurring pursuant to and in compliance with the conditions of any State permit or regulation.
"EHS service" means the handling, use, manufacture, storage or generation of an EHS.
"Electrical classification" means the electrical area or bubble classification according to the National Electrical Code (NEC) which provides the NEC group number of the flammable or combustible substance(s) handled, stored or used. The NEC may be obtained from the National Fire Protection Association, 11 Tracy Drive, Avon, MA 02322.
"Electrical one-line diagram" means a diagram including legend of the electrical power distribution system that could contribute to an EHS release showing such items as power consumers, the chain of supply back through starters, distribution centers, substations to the main feeder, emergency power supply, and connections to various components. For complex systems, the one-line diagram may be a group of drawings.
"Emergency condition" means any situation at a covered process during which an EHS release is in progress or will occur because no preventive measures would be effective.
"Emergency response team" means those personnel identified in the emergency response plan that respond to an emergency at the facility which involves an EHS. Functions for which the emergency response team shall be responsible include activities such as alarm identification and response, response to an EHS release, use of emergency protective equipment, rescue procedures, evacuation procedures, medical assistance, action plans for dealing with specific scenarios, and specifically assigned emergency response duties. Owners or operators of a covered process may arrange with outside providers for any portion of these functions as needed.
"Employee" means any person allowed or permitted to work by an owner or operator of a covered process, except that independent contractors, subcontractors, consultants and employees of affiliated companies or corporations shall not be considered employees of the owner or operator of a covered process.
"External forces and events" means forces of nature or sabotage or such events as neighboring fires or explosions, neighboring EHS releases, electric power failures, and intrusions of external transportation vehicles such as aircraft, ships, trucks or automobiles.
"Extraordinarily hazardous accident risk" means a potential for an EHS release which could produce a significant likelihood that persons exposed may suffer acute health effects resulting in death or permanent disability.
"Extraordinarily hazardous substance accident risk assessment" or "EHSARA" means a review and safety evaluation of those operations at a covered process which involve the generation, storage, or handling of an extraordinarily hazardous substance.
"Extraordinarily hazardous substance" or "EHS" means any substance or chemical on the extraordinarily hazardous substance list in Table I in 7:31-6.3.
"Extraordinarily Hazardous Substance List" means the list of substances and chemical compounds set forth in Table I of N.J.A.C. 7:31-6.3.
"Extraordinarily Hazardous Substance Risk Reduction Work Plan" or "work plan" means the document developed by the Department for each covered process at which is generated, stored, or handled an extraordinarily hazardous substance, setting forth the scope and detail of the EHSARA to which the covered process will be submitted.
"Facility" means the combination of all structures, buildings, and processes that are located on a single property site or on contiguous or adjacent property sites and that are under common control of the same owner or operator. Facility shall not include a research and development laboratory, which means a specially designated area used primarily for research, development, and testing activity, and not primarily involved in the production of goods for commercial sale, in which extraordinarily hazardous substances are used by or under the supervision of a technically qualified person. Facility shall include pilot plant scale operations as specified at 40 CFR 68.115(b)(5)(ii) with changes specified at 7:31-6.1(c)4.
"Failure mode and effects analysis" or "FMEA" means a specifically designed method to identify the conceivable ways that EHS equipment or its components can fail and the effect of the failure on the system with respect to an EHS release. The failure and effects are determined in a study of updated piping and instrument diagrams that describe the covered process taking into consideration process chemistry, standard operating procedures, maintenance procedures, operator job descriptions, process flow diagrams, EHS inventory tabulations, electrical one-line diagrams and other documents. The resulting qualitative analysis is translated into a quantitative FMEA when probabilities of the failure of components are assigned. The results of the FMEA are reported for a unit or system of a covered process on an FMEA table. The results entered on an FMEA table for each equipment item or component studied are as follows: the identification number of the item, the name of the item, entries of failure modes of the item and for each entry of failure mode, the other equipment potentially affected with the equipment identification number and the effect of the failure on that equipment, a classification of the criticality ranking of the failure based on quantity or rate of the potential EHS release, the probability of the failure and the suggested action in terms of equipment or procedure to prevent the failure or to mitigate the results of the failure.
"Fault tree analysis" or "FTA" means the analysis of the logic diagram constructed from a study of the updated piping and instrument diagrams that describe the covered process taking into consideration process chemistry, standard operating procedures, maintenance procedures, operator job descriptions, process flow diagrams, EHS inventory tabulations, electrical one-line diagrams and other documents. The logic diagram will contain the conceivable human or mechanical event sequences that could result in an EHS accident. The logic diagram is called a fault tree and represents a qualitative analysis of the hazards. Results of the FTA are reported for a unit or system on a table. Entered on the table are the descriptions of the various combinations of equipment or procedural failures that can lead to an EHS release. The combinations are determined by solving the fault tree logic diagram for the minimal cut sets, that is, the smallest combination of equipment or procedural failures, which if all occur, will result in the "top event", that is the EHS release. The table is also entered with a criticality ranking based on the quantity or rate of the potential EHS release, a probability for the respective failures and the suggested action in terms of equipment or procedure to prevent the failure or to mitigate the results of the failure. The analysis of the logic diagram includes the identification of "minimal cut sets." When probabilities are assigned to each element of the event sequence, a quantitative fault tree is obtained which gives the probability or frequency of occurrence of the EHS release.
"Feasible" means capable of being successfully accomplished, taking into account environmental, public health and safety, legal, technological, and economic factors.
"Fire water system piping diagram" means one or more diagrams relevant to the covered process and its potential releases showing that portion of the site plan that includes fire water pumps and piped distribution system showing the location of branches for fire monitors, fire hydrants, sprinklers and deluge systems and, where available, the sizes and designation numbers of header and subheader piping and piping specifications.
"Functional group" means a group of chemical compounds that have similar structural and/or molecular features which impart similar physical characteristics to the compounds in that group.
"Grace period" means the period of time afforded under 13:1D-125 et seq., commonly known as the Grace Period Law, for a person to correct a minor violation in order to avoid imposition of a penalty that would be otherwise applicable for such violation.
"Hazard analysis" means a systematic identification of the potential conditions that may result in an EHS accident.
"Hazard and operability study" or "HAZOP" means a systematic study of updated piping and instrument diagrams that describes the covered process taking into consideration process chemistry, standard operating procedures, maintenance procedures, EHS operator job descriptions, process flow diagrams, EHS inventory tabulations, electrical one-line diagrams and other documents. The study is performed by a multidisciplinary team to identify hazard or operability problems that would result in an EHS accident. Deviations from the design value of key parameters (flow, temperature, composition, time, quantity, etc.) of each segment of the covered process and its procedures are studied using guide words (such as, more of, less of, none of, part of, more than and other) to control the examination and evaluation. Results of the HAZOP study shall be reported by tabulation for a unit by key equipment, such as vessels or pipelines, and process parameter. The results are entered on the table as follows: guide word, causes of the deviation, consequences of the deviation in terms of a potential EHS release, the criticality based on the quantity or rate of potential release and the suggested action in terms of equipment or procedure to mitigate the deviation.
"Hazard unit" means the measure of inventory of an EHS expressed as multiples of its threshold quantity, used in calculating TCPA fees.
"Heat of reaction" or "[DELTA]" H[LESS THAN] R [GREATER THAN]" means the change in the amount of heat energy of the substances contained in a process vessel that occurs during a chemical reaction expressed as calories per gram; or specifically, the energy content of the reaction products minus the energy content of the reactants. The heat of reaction includes heat energies such as the heat of decomposition, heat of explosion or heat of combustion depending on the chemical reaction(s) taking place.
"Inherently safer technology" means the principles or techniques that can be incorporated in a covered process to minimize or eliminate the potential for an EHS release.
"Inventory" means the instantaneous static quantity of the EHS contained and stored in a process, the hourly generation rate of the EHS in a process, or the amount of the EHS that can be released in one hour from the process, whichever is greatest.
"Management system" means the composite of organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing, evaluating and maintaining the required Risk Management Program.
"Material deficiency" means an inadequacy or omission of an owner's or operator's risk management program that reduces the effectiveness of the risk management program.
"Maximum achievable temperature" means the highest temperature that can be attained during abnormal conditions in a process vessel taking into consideration the vessel design, heating and cooling systems connected to the vessel, and the potential chemical reactions involving the vessel's contents. Abnormal conditions include scenarios such as:
1. A vessel having a steam heating system where maximum heating is applied to the vessel;
2. A vessel having a cooling system where there is a total loss of cooling;
3. An exothermic reaction generating heat that takes place inside the vessel;
4. Contamination to the normal vessel contents causing an exothermic reaction;
5. External fire; and
6. Unintended ratio or amounts of reaction ingredients.
"Operating alternative" means an alternative procedure, schedule or process chemistry or a combination thereof.
"Overpressure analysis" means the computation of the distance that a criterion level of overpressure extends from the center of a explosion due to a release/ignition scenario of a flammable substance.
"Person" means corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies, as well as individuals, and shall also include all political subdivisions of this State or any agencies or instrumentalities thereof, and any legal successor, representative, agent or agency of the foregoing.
"Petition to withhold privileged trade secret or security information" or "petition" means a written request made by an owner or operator of a covered process pursuant to this chapter to withhold from disclosure to the Department certain information which is privileged trade secret or security information.
"Petitioner" means any person who submits a petition to withhold privileged trade secret or security information under this chapter.
"Piping and instrument diagram" or "P & ID" means one or more detailed diagrams including legends and citations of referenced documents, showing: every item of EHS equipment and its identification number (including installed spare equipment); every pipe including size, flow direction, identification number and indication of ANSI piping specification and break between piping specifications; symbols and identification of every instrument including instrument function to show trips and interlocks represented in accordance with Instrument Society of America standards or a standard adequate for the conduct of a safety review or hazard analysis with an appropriate symbol legend shown; every valve; the failsafe position of control valves or non-hand operated valves in the case of instrument air or power failure; steam traps; representation of insulation or heat tracing of piping, EHS equipment and instruments; sizes of all important equipment nozzles with location shown schematically to reflect function and elevation, such as, drains, vents, flushing connections and steam connections; references to inter-facing with other diagrams describing process, service, treatment, disposal, or utility systems; data on type, size, and set pressures of every relief valve and relieving device; instruments to monitor early detection of abnormal conditions or an EHS release; where critical, the relative elevations between equipment and of key piping; notes or symbols on such items as slope of critical piping to avoid pockets, or, where critical, symmetrical piping; notes on each item of EHS equipment, such as, material of construction, design temperature, design pressure, design thermal duty of heat exchangers, design capacity and dynamic head of rotating equipment, etc.
"Potential catastrophic event" means an incident that could have reasonably resulted in a catastrophic release of an EHS.
"Privileged trade secret or security information" means trade secret or security information which the Department has determined the owner or operator of a covered process is entitled to withhold from and not disclose to the Department; consisting of trade secret or security information which is not otherwise required to be disclosed to either the public or to any governmental agency or entity by any Federal or state law or regulation, and which has never been released to any person other than the owner's or operator's employees involved in its use.
"Process chemistry" means the chemical reactions which are relevant to possible scenarios of EHS release, including information on raw materials, intermediates, products, and waste products.
"Process flow diagram" means one or more diagrams of a covered process including legends and citations of referenced documents showing the use, generation, storage or handling of an EHS, items of equipment (groups of duplicate equipment may be represented by one symbol, if desired), flow of material from item to item, simplified basic control loops or major control schemes, points of discharge to the environment, and showing or cross-referencing documents which give details of material balance, flows, raw materials, products, intermediates, treatment chemicals, operating conditions of temperature, pressure, and stream characteristics, operating cycles and batch sizes where applicable. A process flow diagram includes, or references, a block flow diagram that depicts the receipt, handling and storage steps at the stationary source of shipping containers of the EHS.
"Public copy" means a copy of any information submitted to the Department pursuant to the Act or this chapter which is identical to the confidential copy except that any confidential information shall be deleted. The public copy can be a photocopy of the confidential copy, with the confidential information blacked out.
"Qualified person or position" means the member of management who has the overall responsibility for the development, implementation and integration of the risk management program elements for the facility and who shall possess sufficient corporate authority and technical background to adjudicate issues relating to the execution of the risk management program based on information provided by manufacturing, engineering, maintenance, safety and environmental representatives.
"Rate of energy release" means the amount of heat energy released in a specified unit of time during a chemical reaction involving an EHS.
"Reactive hazard substance" or "RHS" means an EHS that is a substance, or combination of substances, which is capable of producing toxic or flammable EHSs or undergoing unintentional chemical transformations producing energy and causing an extraordinarily hazardous accident risk. RHSs are identified at 7:31-6.3(a), Table I, Part D, Group I (List of Individual Reactive Hazard Substances).
"Reactive hazard substance (RHS) mixture" means an EHS that is a combination of substances intentionally mixed in a process vessel and is capable of undergoing an exothermic chemical reaction which produces toxic or flammable EHSs or energy. RHS mixtures include a reactant, product, or byproduct that is a chemical substance or a mixture of substances having one or more of the chemical functional groups specified in 7:31-6.3(a), Table I, Part D, Group II. RHS mixture does not include non-reacting substances such as solvents. An RHS mixture has a heat of reaction which, by convention, is expressed as a negative value for an exothermic reaction, that has an absolute value greater than or equal to 100 calories per gram of RHS mixture.
"Registered EHS" means an EHS which is listed in the Risk Management Plan for a covered process.
"Reliability study" means the determination of the probability of a piece of EHS equipment performing its required function in the desired manner under all relevant conditions and on the occasion or during the time intervals when it is required to so perform. It includes the analysis of the failure of EHS equipment to perform its normal required function.
"Risk assessment section" means all Department personnel engaged in the following activities concerning the review of risk management programs developed by owners and operators to ensure their compliance with TCPA: detailed review of the risk management programs; creation and implementation of work plans; review of submittals to construct and operate new EHS covered processes; and periodic inspections and audits of risk management programs.
"Risk management program" means the sum total of programs for the purpose of minimizing extraordinarily hazardous accident risks, including, but not limited to, requirements for safety review of design for new and existing equipment, requirements for standard operating procedures, requirements for preventive maintenance programs, requirements for operator training and accident investigation procedures, requirements for risk assessment for specific pieces of equipment or operating alternatives, requirements for emergency response planning, and internal or external audit procedures to ensure programs are being executed as planned. Risk management program includes all activities performed and documents prepared pursuant to 40 CFR 68.12(c) and (d) as incorporated by reference at 7:31-1.1(c).
"Risk reduction plan" means the plan developed as a result of a hazard analysis, risk assessment or EHSARA which identifies the risk reduction measures, recommends corrective actions, and provides for scheduling and implementation of remedial actions.
"Security information" means information the release of which could either compromise the physical security of the covered process or its operations, or adversely affect national security. Examples include, but are not limited to, offsite consequence analysis data and quantities and locations of EHSs at facilities.
"Sewer system piping diagram" means one or more diagrams relevant to the covered process and its potential releases showing those portions of the site plan that include the chemical sewers, sanitary sewers and storm water sewers drainage systems in the covered process or the adjoining areas.
"Site plan" means a diagram of the stationary source showing exact locations to scale of all units or areas, warehouses, buildings, roads, access ways, walkways, parking areas, fences, gates and property lines plus the covered process.
"Standard operating procedures" or "SOP" means the documents setting forth the operating procedures covering all details of operation involving an EHS that are currently in effect at the covered process.
"Substantiation" means the written submittal on a Department provided form which supports either a confidentiality claim or a petition to withhold privileged trade secret or security information.
"Tabletop exercise" means an activity in which the participants are gathered informally to describe actions to be taken to respond to a pre-planned simulated EHS release scenario based upon the emergency response plan as if it were an actual release, to include documents relevant to the EHS release scenario such as site plans, equipment arrangement plans and local street maps referenced by the participants during the exercise.
"TCPA" means the Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act, 13:1K-19 et seq.
"TCPA program operating expense" means the cost for normal TCPA program operating items such as postage, telephone, travel supplies and data management systems.
"Thermal analysis" means the computation of the distance from the center of a fireball that a criterion thermal radiation dose extends subsequent to specific release/ignition scenarios of a flammable substance.
"Total spending plan of the TCPA program" means the total annual estimated cost of operating the TCPA program approved by the Department for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
"Trade secret" means information concerning a formula, process, device or compilation which an owner or operator of a covered process uses to gain a business advantage over competitors who do not know or use it.
"What if Checklist" means a method of hazard analysis based on a systematic study of updated piping and instrument diagrams that describe the covered process taking into consideration process chemistry, standard operating procedures, maintenance procedures, EHS operator job descriptions, process flow diagrams, EHS inventory tabulations, electrical one-line diagrams and other documents. The study is composed of a comprehensive list of questions prepared in advance from study of the documents by team members either in conference or independently usually corresponding to their individual background. Results of the study shall be reported for a unit on a table. The results are entered on the table as follows: the "what if" question and its corresponding consequence/hazard, the criticality based on the quantity or rate of the potential release and the recommended action in terms of equipment or procedure to mitigate the consequence/hazard.