WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) filed comments on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed amendments to the Risk Management Program (RMP) of the Clean Air Act asking it to withdraw the proposal. AFPM’s President Chet Thompson expressed the following concerns with the proposal:
“EPA rushed forward with a number of proposed amendments that will undoubtedly cause confusion, impose undue burdens, and saddle the regulated community with excessive paperwork exercises. These changes will levy a series of unlawful, arbitrary, and costly obligations on RMP facilities, while doing nothing to prevent offsite releases or otherwise improve protections to the environment and general public.”
AFPM’s comments review how the proposed changes fail to provide any evidence of systemic problems with the RMP program, but instead add requirements to RMP covered facilities that would inhibit safety innovations, require unlawful reporting to EPA, and could increase security concerns in the surrounding communities.
