When must RMPs be submitted, updated, and corrected?

When must the risk management plans (RMPs) required under 40 CFR Part 68, Subpart G, be submitted? When are updates and corrections required?

Compliance with the risk management program requirements (including submission of an RMP) is required by the date on which a regulated substance first becomes present above a threshold quantity in a process at a stationary source (the initial compliance deadline was June 21, 1999 for sources holding more than a threshold quantity of a regulated substance in a process prior to that date) (40 CFR §68.10(a)). If EPA adds a chemical to the list of regulated substances, part 68 requirements must be met with respect to that chemical within three years of the date on which the chemical is listed (40 CFR§68.10(a)(2)).  

RMPs must be fully updated and resubmitted at least every five years (40 CFR §68.190(b)(1)). Under certain circumstances, RMPs must be fully updated and resubmitted before their five-year anniversary. Specifically, a facility must update and resubmit its RMP if it begins to use more than a threshold quantity of a regulated substance that it has not previously reported for the process in which it is being used. For instance, a facility may add to a process more than a threshold quantity of a regulated substance that it has not previously used in the process, or it may increase the amount of the regulated substance in a process to the point that the threshold quantity is exceeded for the first time. In either case, the facility must update and resubmit its RMP to reflect the change by the time the regulated substance exceeds the threshold quantity in the process. (See 40 CFR §68.190(b)(3) and (4).)

An updated RMP is also due within six months of a change that requires a revised process hazard analysis or hazard review (40 CFR §68.190(b)(5)) or a revised offsite consequence analysis (40 CFR §68.190(b)(6)), or a change that alters the program level that applied to any covered process (40 CFR §68.190(b)(7)). RMPs updated and resubmitted for any of these reasons have their five-year anniversary reset from the date of submission of the most recent update.  Under certain circumstances, facilities must correct their RMPs before a full update is due. If a facility experiences an accidental release that meets the criteria for reporting in the five-year accident history section of the RMP, information about that accident must be added to the accident history and incident investigation sections of the RMP within six months of the date of the accident (revising other RMP sections is not required unless facility changes resulting from the accident trigger a full update). If facility emergency contact information changes, the emergency contact information in the RMP must be corrected within one month of the change (revising other RMP sections is not required).