ARLINGTON, VA – The National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD) announced that it welcomes U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s signing of the Risk Management Program (RMP) Reconsideration Final Rule. The changes include rescinding requirements in the 2017 RMP Amendments Final Rule including third-party audits, use of safer technology and alternatives analyses, incident investigation and root cause analyses, and many of the public information sharing requirements. The final rule also modifies the emergency coordination and exercise provisions and extends compliance deadlines.

NACD Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Jennifer Gibson said, “NACD shares EPA’s goals of preventing chemical accidents and improving preparedness and supports the approach the agency has taken in the Risk Management Program Reconsideration Final Rule. Throughout the process dating back to the drafting of the 2017 rule, the association has repeatedly stated that the third-party audit, root cause investigation, and safer technology alternatives analysis requirements would impose significant new costs on industry without identifying or quantifying the safety benefits to be achieved.”