Flammable Fuels Alert - Propane Stay Lifted


		AcuSafe -> January 2000 Newsletter
		Regulatory Update: Flammable Fuels Alert - Propane Stay Lifted

On Jan. 5, 2000, the U.S. District Court of Appeals lifted a judicial stay that applied to facilities that have propane processes. The judicial stay applied only to propane, regardless of how it was used or stored. Under Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act, by June 21, 1999 certain facilities were required to have in place a risk management program and submit a summary of that program - called a Risk Management Plan (RMP) - to EPA. According to the EPA, facilities that use propane in their manufacturing processes or hold propane for purposes other than on-site fuel use at a non-retail facility must immediately come into compliance with Section 112(r) of the CAA.

A final rule, called: "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," is expected to be signed by EPA Administrator Carol Browner in January. Be sure to check the AcuSafe Web Site for the latest, complete version of the rule (with all amendments) when this is published.

To summarize, the final rule will codify the new Chemical Safety Information, Site Security and Fuels Regulatory Relief Act (PL 106-40). Section 2 of this Act immediately removed EPA's authority to "list a flammable substance when used as a fuel or held for sale as a fuel at a retail facility...solely because of the explosive or flammable properties of the substance...." A retail facility is defined as "a stationary source at which more than one-half of the income is obtained from direct sales to end users or at which more than one-half of the fuel sold, by volume, is sold through a cylinder exchange program."

A Chance to Withdraw

Approximately 2,000 of the nearly 15,000 facilities that submitted Risk Management Plans by the June 21, 1999 deadline will receive notice from EPA advising them to evaluate whether their flammable substance is excluded under the final rule. If they meet the exclusion criteria, they will be advised on the process to withdraw or revise the RMP they submitted to EPA. For example, companies that only reported a flammable substance solely used as fuel or held for sale as fuel at a retail facility would no longer be required to report, but could choose to voluntarily leave their RMP in the database. Moreover, companies that had other RMP-reportable substances in addition to a flammable substance that met the exemption criteria may need to revise their RMP.

No Notice for New Rule

To conform to the new law, the EPA is revising the list of regulated flammable substances to exclude those substances when used as a fuel, or held for sale as a fuel at a retail facility. The EPA also will withdraw a previous proposed rule concerning flammable substances, since the new law resolves the issue addressed by the proposal. EPA plans to issue the rule as final, with no notice and comment, because they are codifying legislation that requires little interpretation by the Agency.

The EPA states in their Questions and Answers that the regulation is to be effective immediately with no phase in period. Facilities that did not submit a RMP under the provision of the stay must immediately come into compliance.

Interesting Interpretation Of The Rules

In an interesting interpretation of the rules, the EPA has stated that even though PL106-40 requires facilities to hold a public meeting by Feb. 1, 2000 to discuss their RMP program, facilities submitting RMP’s effective under this change in the rule do not have to hold a meeting. According to EPA, “Only facilities that were required to submit RMP’s for Program 2 and Program 3 processes by June 21, 1999, must hold a public meeting.”