EPA Publishes Final Rule on Emergency Planning and Release

In today’s Federal Register the EPA published a Final Rule for changes to regulations for emergency planning and release notification for Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHS, 40 CFR part 355) and community right-to-know reporting for hazardous chemicals (40 CFR part 370). These revisions were originally introduced in 1998 as part of a proposed rule for some more general revisions to reporting requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Today’s final rule will go into effect on December 3, 2008. According to the summary provided in the Final Rule:

“This final action includes minor revisions to the Emergency Planning Notification, Emergency Release Notification and Hazardous Chemical Reporting regulations, codifying statutory requirements, and clarifying certain interpretations and policy statements that EPA has provided to the regulated community. This final action does not affect public access to any of the information provided under the Emergency Planning Notification, Emergency Release Notification and Hazardous Chemical Reporting regulations. In addition to the regulatory changes, the Agency is finalizing the plain language format of the regulations. Each section in these regulations will be re-numbered and tables will be added for further clarification. Improving the clarity of the regulatory requirements will make the rule easier to understand and improve compliance.”

A quick review of this rule does not show any specific requirements relating to CFATS. The emergency planning notification provisions will have some impact on the facility’s coordination with the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) and the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC). After a more detailed review of this rule, I may find it worthwhile to do some blog posts on this rule.