API: Final RMP Reconsideration Rule Strengthens Operational Safety, National Security

WASHINGTON, November 21, 2019 – The American Petroleum Institute (API) today welcomed the release of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final Risk Management Plan (RMP) Reconsideration Rule. 

“The oil and gas industry’s top priority is ensuring the safety and security of employees, local communities and the environment,” API Refining, Downstream and Industry Operations Manager Ron Chittim said. “We welcome the EPA’s efforts to adhere to the statutory scope of the Clean Air Act and issue performance-based RMP regulations that provide both regulatory consistency and appropriately balance transparency with national security and public safety.”

API and its members devote substantial resources to assuring safe operations through numerous safety programs, standards, training and information sharing activities. Industry initiatives, including API’s Process Safety Site Assessment Program (PSSAP), underscore the industry’s commitment to leveraging innovative practices that allow for continuous safety improvements. It is efforts like PSSAP that have made the oil and natural gas industry one of the safest industries to work in, with occupational injuries and illnesses significantly lower than the rest of the U.S. private sector. 

API represents all segments of America’s oil and natural gas industry. Our more than 600 members produce, process and distribute most of the nation’s energy. The industry supports more than ten million U.S. jobs and is backed by a growing grassroots movement of millions of Americans. API was formed in 1919 as a standards-setting organization. In our first 100 years, API has developed more than 700 standards to enhance operational and environmental safety, efficiency and sustainability.

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