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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-12-06 City Council (13)City of Palo Alto City Manager’s Report TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL FROM: CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC WORKS DATE:DECEMBER 6, 1999 CMR: 433:99 SUBJECT:RISK MANAGEMENT PROGRAM FOR THE PALO ALTO REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL PLANT This is an informational report and no Council action is required. DISCUSSION A new federal law requires all facilities covered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Risk Management Program (RMP) rule conduct a meeting to inform the public of the chemical accident risks. The Palo Alto Water Quality Control Plant (RWQCP) uses chlorine and sulfur dioxide for its treatment of the sewage and is among many facilities in the Bay area that are covered under the RMP rule. In accordance with the federal law, the RWQCP will be conducting a meeting to inform the public of the potential chemical accident risks. The meeting will be held on December 16, 1999 at 7:00 p.m. in the Fireside Room at the Lucie Stem Community Center. A meeting notice is posted in the Palo Alto Weekly. PREPARED BY: DEPARTMENT HEAD: Bill Miks, Manager RWQCP GLENN S. ROBERTS Director of Public Works CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: J~4ILY HARRISON- Assistant City Manager CMR:433:99 Page 1 of 1 County of Santa Clara Environmental Resources Agency Department of Environmental Health Hazardous Materials Compliance Division 2220 Moorpark Avenue, East \Ving, Room 204 San Jose. California 95128-2690 (408) 299-6930 FAX 28043479 ATTACHMENT A Mailing Address Department of Environmental Health Hazardous Materials Compliance Division P.O. Box 28070 San Jose, California 95159-8070 November 4, 1999 Bill Miks Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant 2501 Embarcadero Way Palo Alto, CA 94303 RE:Public Meeting requirement for facilities who submitted a Risk Management Plan Dear Mr. Miks: Under a new law called Chemical Safety Information, Site Security and Fuels Regulatory Relief Act (PL 106-40), facilities must disclose to the public the Offside Consequences Analysis (OCA) of their Risk Management Plan (RMP) by February 1, 2000. This law also prohibits our department from including all OCA sections of the RMP for public review until at least August 5, 2000. Enclosed is a description of the new law and guidelines on the public meeting requirements. The meeting can be coordinated as a joint public meeting with other facilities. A list of facilities that have submitted RMP’s to Santa Clara County will be provided upon request. A representative from Santa Clara County plans to attend all public meetings, so please inform this department of the date and location of your planned public meeting. If a determination is made that you meet the definition of a "small business stationary source" and choose the option of publicly posting a summary of the OCA information, this department request that you submit a copy of the posting with the location and date that it will be posted. Please submit a copy, to this department, of your Certification to the FBI that must be completed by June 5, 2000. If you have any question or need assistance, call Nicole Pullman or George Carson at (408) 299-6930. Sincerely, Nicole Pullman, R.E.H.S. Hazardous Materials Specialist Hazardous Materials Compliance Division Enclosure Board of Supervisors: Donald F. Gage. Blanca Alvarado. Pete McHugh. James T Beall Jr., S. Joseph Simitian Counb, Executive: Richard Wittenberg United States Environmental P rotection Agency United States Federal Bureau of Investigation Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office Office of Domestic Terrorism October 1999 Chemical Safety Informatio_n, Site Security and Fuels Regulatory Relief Act: Public Meetings and Other Notifications On Aug. 5, 1999, President Clinton signed the Chemical Safety Information, Site Security and Fuels Regulatory Relief Act (PL 106-40). The new law primarily concerns the public availability of the Off-site Consequence Analysis (O CA) sections of Risk Management Plans (RMPs) submitted by facilities under regulations implementing Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The new law prohibits government officials from disclosing to the public the OCA sections of RMPs and other related materials until at least Aug. 5, 2000. However, the law does not prohibit facilities from sharing with the public the OCA sections of their RMPs, and it requires most facilities to provide the public with at least a summary of their OCA information by Feb. 1, 2000. Background Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires facilities with more than a threshold quantity of a listed extremely hazardous substance to have a risk management program in place and to submit a summary of that program - the RMP - to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by June 21, 1999. Under Section 112(r) as originally enacted, RMPs, including the OCA sections of RMPs, were publicly available, since one purpose of RMPs is to inform the public about facilities’ safety programs and to stimulate a dialogue between the community and industry about chemical safety. However, concerns were raised that widespread electronic distribution of a database derived from the OCA sections of RMPs could pose a security risk. In response to this concern, the Chemical Safety Information, Site Security and Fuels Regulatory Relief Act was passed. The new law, among other things, limits public access to the OCA sections (i.e., sections 2 through 5) of RMPs and other related materials until at least Aug. 5, 2000. By that date, the federal government is to complete an assessment and rulemaking to address the future public availability of those OCA mate,’ials. In the meantime, the new law requires facilities submitting RMPs to provide the public with certain related information. Public Meetings If your facility was required to submit an RMP for a Program 2 or Program 3 process, you must announce and hold a public meeting by Feb. 1, 2000, to discuss your RMP, including the OCA sections. If you meet the applicable definition of "small business stationary source," you may opt to publicly post a summary of your OCA information. In either case, you must certify to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by June 5, 2000, that you have held the meeting or posted the summary. Facilities having only Program 1 processes are exempt from the public meeting/summary requirement. Cheraical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office ~ Printed on recycled paper The new law requires that the public meeting must: Be convened after "reasonable public notice" of the meeting, and "Describe and discuss the local implications" of your RMP, including a summary of the information in the OCA sections of your plan. Your have broad discretion under PL 106-40 to decide how best to announce and conduct a public meeting that meets these requirements. The new law allows you to conduct joint public meetings with other facilities. Credit for Past Public Meetings If your facility held or participated in a public meeting between Aug. 5, 1998 and Aug. 5, t999 that met the requirements for public meetings, you do not have to conduct another public meeting. You have fulfilled your public meeting requirement if your meeting was open to the public; preceded by reasonable public notice; and you described and discussed the local implications of your RMP and summarized the OCA information. Simply certify to the FBI that you held such a meeting. Note: To meet the requirements of the new law, the past meeting must have considered the same information that you submitted to EPA in your RMP. If the information that you described and discussed at the public meeting was significantly different from that reported in your RMP, you must convene another public meeting. Small Businesses Facilities meeting the CAA Section 507(c)(1) definition of "small business stationary source" have the option of publicly posting a summary of their OCA information instead of holding a public meeting. The new law requires that summaries prepared in lieu of a public meeting must: Be publicly posted; and Summarize the information in sections 2 through 5 of your RMP. Your facility qualifies as a "smal! business stationary source" if it: Is owned or operated by a person~that employs 100 or fewer individuals; ¯Meets the definition of "small business concern" in the Small Business Act (15 USC 631 et seq.); ¯Is not a "major stationary source" under the CAA (see 42 USC 7661(2)); ¯Emits less than 50 tons or more per year of any regulated pollutant; and ¯Emits less than 75 tons per year of all regulated pollutants. "Regulated pollutants" include all of the pollutants regulated under the CAA, not just the Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office ~ PrT"nted on recycled t~aoer substances regulated under section 112(r) of the CAA. You have broad discretion under the new law to decide how best to publicly post your OCA- information. Your town may have a public bulletin board where the community regularly goes for information about local activities. Or, you can contact your Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) or County Emergency Management Association to see if they have any posting tips. Certification to the FBI By June 5, 2000, the owner or operator of your facility must send a certification stating that the public meeting has been held, or the OCA summary posted, to: Director, FBI Attention: RMP Program - Room 1B327 935 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20535-000! The FBI will document receipt of the certifications and provide documentation to the EPA. No other communication should be included with certifications to the FBI. Release of OCA Without Restriction The owner or operator of a facility may chose to share with the public the OCA sections of the facility’s RMP. PL 106-40 provides that the OCA sections of any RMP made available to the public without.restriction by the facility owner or operator is not subject to the restrictions of the law. Once a facility has released that portion of its RMP to the public, government officials may do so, as well. Notification to EPA If your facility makes the OCA portion of your RMP available to the pub.lic without restriction, PL 106-40 requires you to notify EPA that you have done so. EPA must keep a public list of facilities that have released the OCA portion of their RMPs without restriction. Ch~nica! Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office ~ PrT"nted on re.cycled paper Enforcement EPA has the authority to enforce the meeting, certification, and notification provisions of the law. Failing or refusing to comply with the above provisions may result in EPA initiating a judicial action in Federal district court to enforce the obligations under the new law. Mail the notice to: RMP Reporting Center P.O. Box3346 Merrifield, VA 22116-3346 For More Information Full text of the law and some Frequently Asked Questions and Answers are available on EPA’s Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office homepage at http://www.epa.gov/ceppo RMPs, except for sections 2 through 5 (the OCA portion), are available on the Internet in a database called RMP*Info. The public can access the data at http://www.epa.gov/enviro. Contact the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To- Know Hotline at (800) 424-9346 or (703) 412-9810. Chemiectl Era~gency Preparednes~ and Prevention Office ~ Pr~’nted on recycled paper