Risk Management Program Regulation (40 CFR Part 68) Subpart H (68.210)
Background
Based on the results of EPAs internal review of the Risk Management Program (RMP) requirements and taking into account the comments received on the 2022 Proposed Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention (SCCAP) rule, a number of changes and updates were made to the regulation. These updates include new requirements and definitions that are aimed at improving chemical process safety as well as enhancing public awareness of chemical hazards at regulated sources. The revisions further protect vulnerable communities from chemical accidents, particularly those communities located in close vicinity to industrial facilities with high accident rates. The changes came into effect on 10 May 2024.
Subpart H (Section 68.210, Part d)
One of the key changes arising from the updates made to the RMP is in Subpart H (Section 68.210, Part d) related to enhanced information availability. Under this regulation item, facilities required to report under RMP must provide chemical hazard information to any member of the public who lives, works or spends a significant amount of time within six miles of the facility within 45 days of receiving a request for information.
The information to be provided must include:
- Regulated substances information: Provide the names of all regulated substances held on site.
- Safety Data Sheets: Provide SDS for all regulated substances located at the facility.
- Accident History Information: Provide the 5-year accident history information as required under Subpart H (Section 68.42)
- Emergency Response Program: Provide the information concerning the stationary source’s compliance with Section 68.10 Part (f)(3) as well as the emergency response provisions of Subpart E where applicable.
- Exercises: Provide a list of scheduled exercises, excluding dates, that are required under Section 68.96 that occur within one year of the date of request.
- Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) Contact Information: includes the name of the LEPC, contact phone number and web address as available.
- Declined Recommendations and justifications: Include any declined recommendations and the associated justifications as is required under Section 68.170 Part (e)(7) and Section 68.175 Parts (e)(7) through (9).
Using Your eBinder to help you meet this requirement
Whether you are newly setting one up or you have had your eBinder in place for a while, the following are some ways for you to make the data in your eBinder help you meet Subpart H (Section 68.210, Part d). However, first and foremost, ensure that your central SDS inventory is up to date. If you use the Location feature to identify specific sites or locations, make sure that all of the relevant SDS are tagged to each of your facilities. For assistance on this feature, refer to Creating Locations – VelocityEHS Help.
Chemical Management users can utilize the Regulatory Lists Report to help identify the products to which this requirement may apply. Ingredient Indexing is required to compare your products against Regulatory Lists. The following lists identify substances regulated under RMP:
- EPA List of Regulated Toxic Substances and Threshold Quantities for Accidental Release Prevention
- EPA List of Regulated Flammable Substances and Threshold Quantities for Accidental Release Prevention
In addition, Subpart H (Section 68.210, Part e) requires the information a reporting facility makes available should be in English or in AT LEAST any two other commonly spoken languages by the population that will potentially be affected. As a result, ensure that you have identified which of your locations requires SDS to be made available in other languages and update your eBinder accordingly.
There are several options that users may wish to take to set up a dedicated information “package” for purposes of effectively and efficiently addressing any public queries or those from regulatory authorities:
Option 1
Set up a Product Group which will allow you to run a backup for a specific set of chemical products. With this functionality, the user can set up as many Product Groups as they need for their use case and assign a different name to each i.e. RMP Reporting 2024; Site 3 Regulated Chemical Portfolio. Refer to Creating and Managing Product Groups – VelocityEHS Help and to Assigning Products to Product Groups – VelocityEHS Help for detailed steps on setting up one or more Product Groups and assigning chemical products to each group, respectively.
Once the user has set up their Product Group(s), they will be able to run a report using the Product Summary Report feature under Reporting in the main eBinder landing page (Product Summary Report – VelocityEHS Help). This feature allows you to select your choice of which Product Group a summary report is required for; the report will list out the user-selected information (i.e. Product Name, CAS#, etc.) for each of the chemical products that have been placed into that “group”. If the provision of access to SDS is required, however, it is recommended that users utilize either the Product Hazard Details Report or the URL Link Report functions as described below.
Option 2
The First Responders Share Services feature which can be accessed on the main eBinder landing page, is primarily used to allow you to securely provide real-time access to information about the hazardous chemicals in your facilities with your first responders. Where users may be required to provide access to authorities (i.e. USEPA, DHS, DOT, etc.) for information on regulated chemicals used at their facility(ies) and show proof of the access to that information for First Responders, users who have set up First Responder accounts are able to do so with the provision of a unique URL link. For more information on how to set up First Responder accounts, refer to Setting up first responder access to your eBinder – VelocityEHS Help.
This option is not recommended for sharing the same information to the general public.
In addition to the Product Summary Report function, users may also make use of the following functions to consolidate and share information regarding hazardous chemicals that are stored / used at their site(s).
- The Product Hazard Details Report is able to be filtered by Location, Product Group(s), or by Reporting Group. There is an option to add and export URL links for the products selected. You may wish to assign the SDS needed to a location/group first, then export with links. Or export all products with their links, and then narrow down the spreadsheet to the ones needed. Reference: Product Hazard Details Report – VelocityEHS Help.
- The URL Link Report function (URL Link Report – VelocityEHS Help) is an easy and quick way for users to get a list of URLs for ALL the products in your eBinder. These URLs give you direct links to the products in your eBinder that can then be imported into other systems. By default, the URLs on this report will point to the PDF for the newest versions of the safety data sheets in your eBinder. This functionality is best suited when you are wanting to share the SDS for a few specific chemical products in your portfolio. For larger quantities of information to be shared, it is recommended for users to run a Product Hazard Details Report – VelocityEHS Help.
