The federal Clean Air Act requires facilities that have on site more than specified quantities of chemicals which could be hazardous to offsite communities to develop Risk Management Plans (RMP) to address ways to safely acquire, store, and use these substances in ways that assure that they are safely used, that employees are appropriately trained, and that first responders and nearby residents are informed of the presence of potentially hazardous chemicals which, if released to the environment, could require evacuation or sheltering in place for offsite residents.
As part of its compliance enforcement activities, the EPA has an audit program to visit facilities to assess their level of compliance with the RMP program.
EPA reported this week that it conducted compliance inspections of Thatcher Chemical’s Salt Lake City facility in February and April of 2010 to assess compliance with the RMP regulations.