EPA Mulls Third-Party Audits on Chemical Risk

04 February 2002 00:00  [Source: ICB Americas]

A voluntary program under which independent firms would audit plans by industrial facilities for managing chemical risks is being developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), says an agency official.

The third-party audits would not necessarily replace required EPA audits of the facilities' risk management plans (RMPs). But EPA is considering an incentive that would allow the third-party audits to temporarily exempt participating facilities from EPA inspections, the official says.

The agency hopes plans to publish a proposal for public comment within the next few months, according to James Belke, an official in EPA's chemical preparedness and prevention office.

The voluntary third-party audit program would enhance the overall implementation of RMPs, provide a more open approach because of the specialized knowledge of outside auditors, and ultimately improve chemical safety at facilities, he says.

Under a Clean Air Act rule, thousands of chemical plants and other facilities that manufacture or use hazardous chemicals are required to submit RMPs to EPA. At present, the regulation requires two audits at these facilities, including self-audits of their accident prevention programs, and EPA audits of the facilities' RMPs.

"Now we would like to add the third-party component," says Mr. Belke, noting that the voluntary program would allow for auditor independence. In addition, he says the initiative is needed because in many places there are "few government auditors."

Mr. Belke adds that risk management plan auditing requires "specialized expertise that does not exist widely in government."

Under the program, EPA would set certification and auditing standards for third-party auditors. After an audit is conducted, the auditor would give the results to the facility, which would have the option of submitting the findings to EPA.

If a facility chose not to turn over the results to EPA, it would not be eligible for any of the incentives for completing the outside audit, Mr. Belke says.

The incentives, he explains, would be in the form of regulatory relief, such as a temporary exemption from future EPA risk management plan inspections, a waiver of enforcement penalties for most non-serious violations, and a policy that the third-party audit would satisfy the existing requirements for prevention program compliance audits.

The EPA official outlined the evolving program at a meeting of the accident prevention panel of the agency's Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, which is made of government officials, industry representatives and environmental activists.

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly