EPA's Plan To Wait On OSHA Could Stall Facility Safety Update For Years

摘要

The Trump administration plan to scrap the Obama-era rule strengthening EPA's facility accident prevention program and wait for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSH A) to advance a similar rulemaking could stall changes to facility oversight for the foreseeable future, as OSHA has shelved plans to update its companion rule. "Saying you're waiting for OSHA is saying you're killing it once and for all," says Jordan Barab, OSHA's deputy chief under the Obama administration. EPA May 17 proposed a rule to rescind most requirements of the agency's January 2017 final rule updating its Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility accident prevention rule, though it proposes to retain and amend provisions relating to first responders. The proposed rule is available on InsideEPA.com. (Doc. ID: 211959) The measure backs industry arguments that it should not bolster oversight of facility processes until OSHA advances a rule updating its Process Safety Management (PSM) rule. "EPA believes that we should not retain and put into effect changes to the prevention aspects of [RMP] until we have a better understanding of OSHA's plans for the [Process Safety Management (PSM)] standard changes so that we may move forward in a more coordinated fashion with regulatory changes that improve process safety performance and reduce accidents without causing undue burden and regulatory conflicts," EPA says in the proposed rule.