Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires covered facilities to develop risk management programs to prevent accidental releases of dangerous chemicals. Facilities are required to submit risk management plans (RMPs) to a central location by June 1999. The RMPs will be electronically available to State and local governments and citizens to help them understand local chemical hazards and take steps to prevent accidents. Obviously, you want to take great care that they are complete and accurate, but do not exaggerate nor understate the risks! This page provides access to information on the legislation, and supporting regulation, guidance, fact sheets, and systems related to this section of the law.
For an overview of Chemical Accident Prevention and Risk Management Planning, please see the EPA fact sheets available here and training modules. Copies of documents may be obtained in hard copy from EHSO (Benivia, LLC) at
For assistance in identifying appropriate information and information sources and in answering factual questions about RMPs and implementation of CAA 112(r), contact EHSO at 770-645-0788 or the RCRA/UST/Superfund/EPCRA Hotline. Regional and EPA Headquarters 112(r) Contacts are available to answer the more interpretive policy questions and handle issues related to RMP implementation. Suggestions or comments about what is on this web page may be sent through the EHSO feedback form. The EHSO feedback form may also be used to pose questions of policy interpretation, too, although these will be routed through our Question and Answer process and answers will only be posted on the Q and A database.
Information related to CAA 112(r) will be posted on this page as it becomes available.
TheElectronic Submission Workgroup page focuses on the task of determining how electronic submission of "risk management plans" (RMPs) can be accomplished and how the public can best access and utilize the data. The Workgroup completed its work in June, 1997.
New RMP Factsheet: A Checklist for Resubmitting Your Risk Managment Plan (RMP) for Chemical Accident Prevention
In 1996, EPA established a list of extremely hazardous substances and issued regulations for the prevention and mitigation of accidental releases of those substances under section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act. Facilities covered by the regulations are required to implement a risk management program and submit a description of the program (called a risk management plan, or RMP) to EPA.
RMPs must be updated at least once every five years. The majority of facilities submitted their initial RMP's by the original June 21, 1999 deadline and have not resubmitted their RMPs since. This means that most RMP's must be fully updated and resubmitted by June 21, 2004.
This factsheet
(an MS Word document)
provides another checklist for preparing a 5-year update. It is important that owners and operators responsible for RMP implementation review this information and take appropriate steps to update their RMPs.
Public Distribution of Off-Site Consequence Analysis Information (PDF)
(3 pp, 406K)
Issued: August 2000
Describes the final regulations governing access to and dissemination of
restricted forms of information about the potential off-site consequences of
accidental chemical releases.
Originally appeared in the December 1997 report, State Strategies and
Considerations for Implementing the Chemical Accidental Release
Prevention Program, which was prepared by the National Governors'
Association Center for Best Practices under a cooperative agreement with
EPA.
Risk Management Program Amendments Rule FAQs
Issued: April 2004
These questions and answers concern the final amendments to the submission
schedule and data elements. This rule was published on April 9, 2004.
Clean Air Act 112(r) Frequently Asked Questions
Revised: February 2006
These questions and answers regarding the Risk Management Program Rule under
the Clean Air Act Section 112(r) have been approved for release.
OSHA's Standard Interpretations and Compliance Letters
A text-searchable web site for of interpretations of the OSHA Standards, by
USDOL OSHA - Directorate
of Compliance Programs. Since OSHA's PSM program is so closely related to
EPA's RMP program, a link
is being made to this OSHA page which provides search capabilities as well
as numeric and chronological listing of frequent questions.
Each regulation is referenced by its location in the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR). For example, "40 CFR 300" means that the regulation is in
Volume 40, Part 300 of the CFR.
April 9, 2004: Accidental Release Prevention Requirements: Risk
Management Program Requirements Under Clean Air Act Section 112(r)(7);
Amendments to the Submission Schedule and Data Requirements; Final Rule.
69 FR 18819 (PDF)
August 4, 2000: Accidental Release Prevention Requirements;
Risk Management Programs Under the Clean Air Act Section 112(r)(7);
Distribution of Off-Site Consequence Analysis Information; Final Rule.
65 FR 48107 (PDF)
March 13, 2000: Amendments to the List of Regulated Substances
and Thresholds for Accidental Release Prevention; Flammable Substances Used
as Fuel or Held for Sale as Fuel at Retail Facilities; Final Rule.
65 FR 13243 (PDF)
February 22, 2000: Delegation of Authority to Conduct
Assessments and Promulgate Regulations On Public Access to Off-Site
Consequence Analysis Information (January 27, 2000 Memorandum).
65 FR 8631 (PDF)
January 6, 1999: Accidental Release Prevention Requirements;
Risk Management Programs Under Clean Air Act Section 112(r)(7); Amendments;
Final Rule.
64 FR 963 (PDF)
January 6, 1998: List of Regulated Substances and Thresholds
for Accidental Release Prevention; Final Rule.
63 FR 639 (PDF)
August 25, 1997: List of Regulated Substances and Thresholds
for Accidental Release Prevention; Final Rule.
62 FR 45129 (PDF)
August 25, 1997: Accidental Release Prevention Requirements;
Interpretations; Final Rule.
62 FR 45133 (PDF)
June 20, 1996: Accidental Release Prevention Requirements: Risk
Management Programs Under the Clean Air Act, Section 112(r)(7); List of
Regulated Substances and Thresholds for Accidental Release Prevention, Stay
of Effectiveness; and Accidental Release Prevention Requirements: Risk
Management Programs Under Section 112(r)(7) of the Clean Air Act as Amended,
Guidelines; Final Rules and Notice.
61 FR 31667 (PDF)
Integrated Contingency Plan Guidance (One Plan)
(Note: The official version of the One Plan Guidance was published in the
Federal Register on June 5, 1996, and the official version in PDF format below
contains the complete document as published. However, a correction was published
in the Federal Register since several lines from table "DOT/RSPA FRP (49 CFR
194)" were omitted in the original published version. The text for the FR
correction notice is also included below. The complete corrected version is
available in WordPerfect format below.)
This update of the 1987 Hazardous Materials Emergency Planning Guide
(NRT-1, "Orange Book") contains updated references to guidance on developing
state and local emergency response plans. Brief references to recent
legislation have been incorporated to encourage plan integration and
coordination. This updated version of NRT-1 includes new guidance on
integrating local emergency response plans prepared and updated by Local
Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) with the planning requirements
contained in recent legislation.
CSB was authorized on November 15, 1990 with the enactment of the amendments to the Clean Air Act (42 USC 7412). Modeled after the National Transportation Board (NTSB), CSB has been directed by Congress to conduct investigations and report on findings regarding the causes of chemical accidents. Those findings will be used to recommend actions to improve the safety of operations involved in the production, transportation, and industrial handling, use and disposal of chemicals.
Includes a brochure, flowchart, and information about ordering the Generic Risk Management Plan For Chlorine Packaging Plants and Sodium Hypochlorite Production Facilities.
A page devoted to CAA 112(r) providing background, frequently asked questions and answers, and a discussion of how Title V sources must report that they are in compliance.
A document issued by the Presidential/ Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment in 1997 and available from the
Commission's web site on
Riskworld . Published in 2 long volumes, but you can view the table of contents for each volume in HTML and go to relevant sections from there. Available at no cost. For a hard copy, contact the Commission's office at (202) 233-9537.
