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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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 Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 12:50 pm Post subject: |
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'Retail exemption' shields some fertilizer facilities from stringent safety inspections, rules
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Closely related OSHA and EPA rules require facilities using large quantities of hazardous substances to take preventive steps and plan for accidents. West Chemical and Fertilizer had enough anhydrous ammonia � a chemical that attacks the eyes, skin and respiratory system � to require it to follow OSHA�s Process Safety Management standard, issued more than two decades ago.
But the standard contains what is known as the �retail exemption.� The Fertilizer Institute spoke out in favor of the exemption while the rule was being developed. Soon after the rule became final, the institute asked OSHA to confirm that it would not apply to facilities that store and blend fertilizer and sell it primarily to end users, often farmers.
OSHA responded that a fertilizer facility could indeed avoid the strictures of the rule as long as more than half of the company�s sales were to end users. OSHA, however, does not check on the validity of an exemption unless it inspects the site, an agency spokesman confirmed. |
The exemption entitled the West Texas plant to freedom from more stringent requirements than mere disclosure.
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| Invocation of the �retail exemption� can begin a chain reaction of less stringent standards. The EPA�s program for designating the risk posed by a facility relies, in part, on the site�s standing with OSHA. The amount of anhydrous ammonia stored at West Chemical and Fertilizer normally would have placed the facility in the EPA category requiring extensive preventive measures and accident-response plans. But because the site claimed the OSHA exemption, it qualified for a �streamlined prevention program� under the EPA�s Risk Management Plan program, known as RMP. |
It had been over twenty years since inspection.
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[B]ecause the site claimed the OSHA exemption, it qualified for a �streamlined prevention program� under the EPA�s Risk Management Plan program, known as RMP.
The agency said in a statement that it �reviewed the RMP from the facility to determine the RMP was complete and correct.� Asked whether it verified the basis for placing the site in a lower-risk category � its exemption from the OSHA rule based on its sales records � the EPA did not respond.
This EPA designation, along with the site�s lack of a history of accidents or recent inspections, removed it from a list of facilities subject to an OSHA special inspection program targeting locations using large amounts of hazardous substances, such as anhydrous ammonia.
It is unclear how many facilities enjoy more relaxed regulation as a result of their self-designation as retailers, but Haywood said the number could be large. �A lot of these businesses like in West, Texas, they�re everywhere,� he said. �They�re in every small farming community in the country.� |
So this retail exemption conceals explosive fertilizer nearly everywhere. |
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