Update Your RMP or Else, Agency Warns
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working to ensure that facilities submit updated risk management plans (RMPs) as required by federal law and has levied fines against companies that do not.
The plans, required under the Clean Air Act, contain information assessing plans in place to prevent and respond to accidental releases of hazardous substances from facilities and must be updated at least every five years. About 140 facilities in the area covered by EPA’s Region 2 office, which includes New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, have plans due this year.
In a streamlined enforcement process, EPA’s Region 2 office continually identifies facilities that currently have risk management plans in place to see which plans are overdue. Where the agency finds facilities that have not updated their plans on time, EPA is giving that facility a chance to comply and pay a discounted penalty. This was the case recently for the Kuehne Chemical Company in South Kearny, N.J. As a result of enforcement efforts, the company updated its plan and paid a $1,400 penalty for late filing. Additional enforcement actions are planned in the coming months.
For assistance in submitting an updated RMP, facilities should contact the RMP Reporting Center at 301.429.5018 or set up an RMP*eSumit account .