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EPA Warns Facilities: File Updated Risk Management Plans, or Face Penalties

Release Date: 04/27/2009
Contact Information: Mary Mears (212) 637-3673; mears.mary@epa.gov

(New York, N.Y) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 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, New Jersey. As a result of EPA’s 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 is submitting an updated RMP, facilities should contact the RMP Reporting Center at 301-429-5018. Additionally, EPA has developed a new method for preparing and submitted your RMP which became available on March 13, 2009. The new method is called RMP*eSubmit and information about RMP*eSubmit and how to set up an RMP*eSubmit account can be found at https://www.epa.gov/emergencies/rmp.

For further information about RMP*eSubmit or to view a Checklist for Submitting Your Risk Management Plan (RMP) for Chemical Accident Prevention and the RMP*eSubmit Users’ Manual, visit https://www.epa.gov/emergencies/rmp).

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