[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 73 (Tuesday, April 16, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18584-18586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-9105]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

CHEMICAL SAFETY AND HAZARD INVESTIGATION BOARD


Public Hearing: Reactive Chemical Hazards

AGENCY: U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB).

ACTION: Notice announcing public hearing and requesting public comment 
and participation.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The CSB is planning to hold a public hearing to examine 
findings and preliminary conclusions resulting from its investigation 
into chemical process safety involving reactive hazards. This notice 
provides information regarding the CSB investigation into reactive 
hazards, a request for comments on specific issues raised by the 
investigation, and the date, time, location and format for the public 
hearing.

DATES: The Public Hearing will be held on Thursday, May 30, 2002, 
beginning at 9 a.m. at the Paterson, New Jersey, City Hall, 155 Market 
Street, Paterson, New Jersey.
    Pre-registration: The event is open to the public and there is no 
fee for attendance. However, attendees are strongly encouraged to pre-
register, to ensure adequate seating arrangements. To pre-register, 
please e-mail your name and affiliation by May 22, 2002, to 
[email protected].
    Written Comments: The public is encouraged to not only submit 
written comments but also to provide oral comments at the Public 
Hearing. Individuals, organizations, businesses, or local, state or 
federal government agencies may submit written comments on the 
questions to be addressed at the Public Hearing. Such comments must be 
filed on or before June 30, 2002. For further instructions on 
submitting comments, please see the ``Form and Availability of 
Comments'' section below.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests to provide oral comments at 
the Public Hearing should be submitted to: Mr. John Murphy, U.S. 
Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, 2175 K Street, NW., 
Suite 400, Washington, DC 20037. Alternatively, they may be e-mailed to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Murphy, Office of Investigations 
and Safety Programs, 202.261.7622 or e-mail at: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Introduction
B. Background
C. CSB Hazard Investigation
D. Key Findings

[[Page 18585]]

E. Request for Comments
F. Form and Availability of Comments
G. Registration Information
H. Sunshine Act Notice

A. Introduction

    The CSB is nearing completion of its investigation into incidents 
involving reactive hazards. A public hearing will be held on May 30th, 
2002, at 9 am, at the Paterson, New Jersey, City Hall, 155 Market 
Street. CSB staff will present findings and preliminary conclusions 
from this investigation to the Board. The hearing provides a forum for 
interested parties to provide input prior to CSB's formulation of final 
recommendations and issuance of a report. Witnesses will be called, and 
there will be an opportunity for public comment.

B. Background

    In April 1995, an explosion and fire at Napp Technologies, in Lodi, 
New Jersey, killed five employees, injured several others, destroyed a 
majority of the facility and significantly damaged nearby businesses, 
and resulted in the evacuation of 300 residents from their homes and a 
school. Additionally, firefighting efforts generated chemically 
contaminated water that ran off into a river. Property damage exceeded 
$20 million. The incident occurred as Napp was performing a toll 
blending operation. The chemicals involved were water reactive. During 
the operation, water was inadvertently introduced into a blender in the 
process.\1\ This initiated a sequence of events that led to the severe 
impacts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ EPA/OSHA Joint Chemical Accident Investigation Report, Napp 
Technologies, Inc., Lodi, NJ October 1997
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On August 24, 2000, the CSB approved an investigative report on the 
April 1998 explosion at the Morton International (now Rohm and Haas) 
facility in Paterson, New Jersey.\2\ The report stated that the 
incident might not have occurred had the company's safety program for 
reactive chemicals followed recommended industry safety practices. The 
blast injured nine workers and released chemicals into the neighboring 
community. Although the chemical involved in this incident has the 
capacity to decompose violently, it is not covered under OSHA's PSM or 
EPA's RMP.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ US CSB, Investigation Report, Morton International, Inc.; 
www.csb.gov
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Napp incident, the Morton incident, and other similar events 
led the CSB to conduct a reactive chemical hazard investigation.

C. CSB Hazard Investigation

    The objectives of CSB's investigation included: evaluation of the 
impacts of reactive chemical incidents; examination of how OSHA and EPA 
authorities and regulations address reactive hazards; analysis of the 
appropriateness and consideration of alternatives to reliance on the 
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) instability rating system 
to define reactive substances covered under OSHA's process safety 
management (PSM) standard; examination of how industry and other 
private sector organizations address reactive hazards; and development 
of recommendations for reducing the number and severity of reactive 
chemical incidents.

D. Key Findings

    The data analyzed by CSB include 167 serious incidents in the 
United States involving uncontrolled chemical reactivity that occurred 
from 1980 to June 2001. Forty-eight of these incidents resulted in a 
total of 108 fatalities. Available data reveal that there were an 
average of 6 injury-related incidents that resulted in 5 fatalities per 
year. About 50 of the 167 incidents affected the public.\3\ 
Approximately 70 percent of the 167 incidents occurred in the chemical 
manufacturing industry. Some reactive chemical incidents have caused in 
excess of $100 million in damage.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Public impact is defined as known injury, offsite 
evacuation, or shelter-in-place.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Where causal information is available,\4\ 60 percent of the 
reactive chemical incidents involved inadequate management systems for 
identifying hazards or conducting process hazard evaluations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ Causal information was available in 20 percent of the 167 
incidents.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    OSHA's PSM standard covers listed chemicals that present a range of 
hazards, including reactivity. Reactive chemicals covered by OSHA's PSM 
were selected from a list of chemicals rated by NFPA because they have 
an instability rating of ``3'' or ``4'' (on a scale of 0 to 4). EPA's 
Risk Management Program (RMP; 40CFR68) does not list substances for 
coverage based on reactivity. Over 50 percent of the 167 incidents 
involved chemicals not covered by existing OSHA or EPA process safety 
regulations. Approximately 60 percent of the 167 incidents involved 
chemicals that are either not rated by NFPA or have instability ratings 
indicating ``no special hazard'' (NFPA ``0'').
    NFPA instability ratings have the following limitations with 
respect to identifying reactive hazards: they were designed for initial 
emergency response purposes, not for application to chemical process 
safety; they address the instability of single substances only, not 
reactivity with other chemical substances (with the exception of water) 
or chemical behavior under process conditions. OSHA's PSM covers only 
38 chemicals that are rated as 3's or 4's by NFPA Standard 49 (1975). 
This standard is based on a rating system that relies, in part, on 
subjective criteria.
    The list-based approach for establishing coverage of reactive 
hazards in the OSHA PSM standard is inadequate because it fails to 
address the hazards from combinations of chemicals and process-specific 
conditions. Additional staff findings and conclusions will be presented 
at the public hearing.

E. Request for Comments

    CSB solicits written or verbal comments on the following four 
issues, which will be the main focus of the public hearing:
    1. Is there a need to improve coverage of potentially catastrophic 
\5\ reactive hazards under OSHA's PSM standard? If so, what approaches 
should be pursued?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ Potentially catastrophic reactive hazards covered under the 
provisions of OSHA PSM standard fall in the category of ``highly 
hazardous'' substances. Highly hazardous substances include 
substances listed due to their reactivity or toxicity, and a class a 
flammables.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    a. What criteria could be used, in the context of process safety 
regulations, to classify chemical mixtures as ``highly hazardous'' due 
to chemical reactivity?
    b. Should there be a minimum regulatory requirement for reactive 
hazard identification and evaluation that applies to all facilities 
engaged in chemical manufacturing?
    c. What are alternative regulatory approaches?
    2. For processes already covered under the OSHA PSM standard, do 
the safety management requirements of the standard adequately address 
reactive hazards? If not, what should be added or changed?
    3. Does EPA's RMP regulation provide sufficient coverage to protect 
the public and the environment from the hazards of reactive chemicals? 
If not, what should be added or changed?
    4. What non-regulatory actions should be taken by OSHA and EPA to 
reduce the number and severity of reactive chemical incidents?
    Additional Issues. CSB also solicits comments on the following 
related subjects: (i) suggested improvements to industry guidance or 
initiatives (e.g. Responsible Care, Responsible Distribution 
ProcessSM, etc.) to reduce

[[Page 18586]]

the number and severity of reactive incidents; (ii) suggested 
improvements for the sharing of reactive chemical test data, incident 
data, and lessons learned; (iii) other non-regulatory initiatives that 
would help prevent reactive incidents.

F. Form and Availability of Comments

    Comments should address the questions listed above. CSB will accept 
verbal comments at the public hearing. Verbal comments must be limited 
to 5 minutes. Those wishing to make verbal comments should pre-register 
by May 22nd. To pre-register, send your name and a brief outline of 
your comments to the person listed in ``Addresses.''
    The CSB requests that interested parties submit written comments on 
the above questions to facilitate greater understanding of the issues. 
Of particular interest are any studies, surveys, research, and 
empirical data. Comments should indicate the number(s) of the specific 
question(s) being answered, provide responses to questions in numerical 
order, and use a separate page for each question answered. Comments 
should be captioned ``Reactives Hazard Investigation--Comments,'' and 
must be filed on or before June 30, 2002.
    Parties sending written comments should submit an original and two 
copies of each document. To enable prompt review and public access, 
paper submissions should include a version on diskette in PDF, ASCII, 
WordPerfect, or Microsoft Word format. Diskettes should be labeled with 
the name of the party, and the name and version of the word processing 
program used to create the document. Alternatively, comments may be e-
mailed to [email protected]. Written comments will be available for 
public inspection in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, 5 
U.S.C. 552, and CSB regulations. This notice and, to the extent 
technologies make it possible, all comments will also be posted on the 
CSB Web site: www.csb.gov.

G. Registration Information

    The Public Hearing will be open to the public, and there is no fee 
for attendance. As discussed above, pre-registration is strongly 
encouraged, as seating may be limited. To pre-register, please e-mail 
your name and affiliation to [email protected] by May 22, 2002. A 
detailed agenda and additional information on the hearing will be 
posted on the CSB's Web site at www.csb.gov before May 22, 2002.

H. Sunshine Act Notice

    The United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board 
announces that it will convene a Public Meeting beginning on Thursday, 
May 30, 2002, beginning at 9 a.m. at the Paterson, New Jersey, City 
Hall, 155 Market Street, Paterson New Jersey. Topics will include: 
CSB's investigation into process safety of reactive hazards. The 
meeting will be open to the public. Please notify CSB if a translator 
or interpreter is needed, 10 business days prior to the public meeting. 
For more information, please contact the Chemical Safety and Hazard 
Investigation Board's Office of Congressional and Public Affairs, 
202.261.7600, or visit our Web site at: www.csb.gov.

Christopher W. Warner,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 02-9105 Filed 4-15-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6350-01-P