California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP) Program, State of Nevada Chemical Accident Prevention Program (CAPP), EPA Risk Management Plan (RMP), and OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM)

In accordance with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the EPA finalized the Chemical Accident Prevention Provisions regulation (40 CFR Part 68) on June 21, 1996.  This regulation requires facilities that handle regulated substances, in quantities that exceed the listed threshold, to prepare and submit a Risk Management Plan (RMP). For a new facility or modified existing systems, the RMP must be in place prior to the introduction of the regulated substance.

In the State of California, if a facility is required to complete an RMP, then that facility is also required to complete the California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP) Program.  The requirements of the CalARP Program encompass the requirements of the RMP.  Thus, the most cost-effective approach is to complete the Programs concurrently. Essentially, the CalARP Program is comparable to the Federal EPA’s RMP; however, the CalARP Program contains additional requirements (such as seismic analysis and interaction with the local Administering Agency), and lower threshold quantities for various regulated substances.  Consequently, a facility that is not required to comply with the Federal EPA's RMP regulation may still be required to develop a California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP) Program upon request of the local Administering Agency.

The State of Nevada also has its own state program with lower threshold quantities.  This program is called the Chemical Accident Prevention Program (CAPP). The CAPP requirements are parallel to the EPA RMP and OSHA PSM programs.  The State of Nevada maintains a list of convenient checklists at http://ndep.nv.gov/bapc/capp/capguid.html that allow an individual to audit their program.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) finalized the Process Safety Management (PSM) standard in February 1992.  This regulation requires facilities to develop PSM programs for processing and handling particular regulated substances.  While there is no specific submittal requirement, the development and implementation of PSM programs for a given facility is subject to audit by OSHA.

Duplication of efforts in developing an OSHA PSM Program, EPA RMP, and CalARP Program is minimal, as demonstrated by the following quote from the EPA RMP regulation 40 CFR Part 68 II (D) (Federal Register Vol. 61, No. 120, Rules and Regulations, Pg 31672), which states that:

“The Program 3 prevention program includes the requirements of the OSHA PSM standard, 29 CFR 1910.119 (c) through (m) and (o), with minor wording changes to address statutory differences.  This makes it clear that one accident prevention program to protect workers, the general public, and the environment will satisfy both OSHA and EPA.” To meet OSHA PSM, EPA RMP, and CalARP Program regulations, Risk Management Professionals conducts the necessary technical studies, prepares compliance documents, and interacts with the local Administering Agency (as appropriate) to obtain approval of the Programs.  Due to the overlapping program requirements all the applicable programs should ideally be developed concurrently.