U.S. EPA HURRICANE RESPONSE 2017

Risk Management Plan (RMP) Program

www.epa.gov/hurricane-response

Risk Management Plans (RMPs)

•	This is an important safety rule that requires certain facilities to develop plans that identify potential effects of a
chemical accident, and take certain actions to prevent harm to the public or the environment.

•	Facilities that hold more than a threshold quantity of any of 140 regulated toxic and flammable substances are
required to comply with this rule.

•	EPA's website includes a list of the names and synonyms of these regulated substances and the threshold quantities
for each.

•	RMP-subject facilities must implement accident prevention and emergency response programs, conduct hazard
assessments, and submit risk management plans to EPA every five years.

•	RMPs help local fire, police, and emergency response personnel and are useful to citizens in understanding the
chemical hazards in communities.

•	Facilities may voluntarily release their risk management plan to the public. Some facilities choose not to release the
full plan because portions of the plan contain sensitive security information.

RMP Facilities in the U.S.

•	Many RMP facilities are located in and around Houston.

•	RMP facilities include chemical manufacturing, agriculture, food & beverage, water & wastewater treatment, energy
production, and other industries.

In the Event of a Storm

•	Facilities could suffer damage from flooding and other impacts following a hurricane.

•	In those cases, EPA may work with the affected state agency to contact industrial sources within the impacted area
to determine operational status and what support could be provided.

•	In some instances, facilities located in the path of the hurricane may choose to perform organized shutdowns of
their operations in anticipation of the storm.

•	EPA's Office of Emergency Management works with other federal agencies, state and local governments to respond
quickly to environmental concerns and natural disasters, including hurricanes. In the event of an emergency, EPA
has cutting-edge technology, including aircraft and mobile laboratory air monitoring resources, that may be
deployed in impacted areas.

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