Risk management programs no longer due by June 21

by Karen Schaefer

for the Business Journal

Intense industry lobbying has led the Washington, D.C., Court of Appeals to order an indefinite stay on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proposed regulation of propane facilities. As a consequence, the June 21 deadline for filing a risk-management program, or RMP, with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources does not apply to businesses holding any amount of propane.

The court action came seven days after the EPA had increased by nearly seven times the threshold for regulating flammable gases such as propane.

The original rules stated that anyone storing more than 10,000 pounds of propane must file an RMP by June 21. Industry pressure led the EPA to change its own rule.

The EPA's modified regulations would apply only to facilities storing more than 67,000 pounds of flammable fuel. Their intention was "to provide relief to fuel users such as farms, hospitals, restaurants and hotels" that hold propane as a stand-by fuel, an EPA news release stated. Relief was not intended for "industrial users or fuel retailers and distributors."

Industry pressure prevailed, however. The court ruling temporarily set aside any propane regulation. Litigation between the EPA and industry continues with the full hearing scheduled for early this fall. Observers expect the court to uphold the EPA's revised limit of 67,000 pounds.

While regulation of propane storage has been postponed, businesses holding other flammable gases must still file RMPs by June 21. Two common substances and the quantities that trigger the regulations are: chlorine, 2,500 pounds[[In-content Ad]]