Many facilities handle chemicals that could pose a risk to the surrounding community if an accident were to occur.  State and federal laws now require facilities that use any of 140 listed toxic or flammable chemicals to develop a Risk Management Program for preventing accidental releases and responding to any that might occur. The laws also require the facility to document its Risk Management Program in a Risk Management Plan (RMPlan).

These laws, which include the chemicals list, can be found on the Internet. The federal U.S. EPA’s law, 40 CFR 68, which was promulgated in 1996 and revised in 2004, can be found at www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_05/40cfrv15_05.html. The state law, 401 KAR 68:010-68:200, is virtually identical to the federal law and can be found at www.lrc.state.ky.us/kar/TITLE401.htm. Additional guidance can be found in the attached fact sheet and on U.S. EPA’s Emergency Management Web site.

To comply, facilities must develop a Risk Management Program and then submit their RMPlan electronically to U.S. EPA’s RMP Reporting Center, which in turn makes the RMPlans available to state and local government agencies, community officials, and the public to promote awareness of chemical hazards and to identify the precautions that are being taken to control them. The RMPlans must be updated at least once every five years.

For more information on RMPlans, either visit the Internet sites identified above or call the Field Operations Branch at the number listed below or the Division of Compliance Assistance at 800-926-8111.