The mutual objectives of the client and Vanguard herein are to inform the client of the facility’s regulatory compliance issues, and to potentially establish a site-specific Compliance Action Plan should this report justify such a need. It is just as important to define limitations of the client's Compliance Action Plan, thereby avoiding mistakes to have a facility comply with regulations not applicable. Note: All 20 compliance items related to EMS USA! Summary I have been automatically satisfied with a Risk Management Value (RMV) of $542,840.00, according to the U.S. Consumer Price Index of 2024. Enforcement Penalty Policies, by law, are set to increase annually. RMV is defined as the minimum dollar amount in civil penalties offset by Vanguard’s work.
Environmental Compliance Reporting is typically required under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), aka SARA Title III, to Local, County, State, & Federal Agencies relative to the client's chemical inventory (maximum quantities) on hand any given day..
Emergency Planning under Sec. 302 under EPA’s SARA Title III. Section 302 Threshold Planning Quantities (TPQs) for some 375 Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHSs) vary from 1-500 lbs. With TPQs that can go as low as low as 1 lb., it is conceivable that the client could exceed several thresholds under Sec. 302 without being aware of it, all due to EPA’s application for the “Aggregate Total Ruling (ATR).”
Emergency Release Notification under Sec. 304 under SARA Title III in which the thresholds for some 775 CERCLA Chemicals for accidental releases and spills vary among the Reportable Quantities (RQs) of 1 lb. to 15,000 lbs.
Community Right-To-Know, SARA Section 311-312 where literally hundreds of thousands of chemicals qualify here as the "community's right to know." This is to say, the community-at-large, as well as employees, have a “right to know” those chemical hazards exposing them to safety and health risks. Many counties and cities lower this threshold to 500 lbs., 55 gallons, and 200 cu. ft., while even some lower it to 1 lb. and 1 gallon, which many agencies refer to as a "0 threshold" amount.
California Proposition 65. Proposition 65 protects California's drinking water from being contaminated with substances known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. There are currently 1,013 Prop. 65 substances regulated by the State of California, one or more of which may trigger a performance mandate for (1) An entity operating in California, or (2) Labeling/packaging requirements for entities operating external to California.
Toxic Release Inventory, SARA Sec. 313 - aka Form R Reporting. TRI Reporting generally includes those 800+ toxic chemicals manufactured, processed, or “otherwise used” in excess of an annual usage threshold of either 10,000 lbs. or 25,000 lbs. depending upon its use. There are three operational criteria that apply to TRI Reporting: (1) SIC Code; (2) Number of Employees (or number of total hours worked annually); and (3) exceedance of annual-usage thresholds. All three criteria must apply for a reporting responsibility to be triggered. The States of New Jersey, Minnesota, and Arizona have more stringent TRI regulations than the three criteria indicated above.
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), aka “Forever Chemicals.” PFASs is a class of toxics discovered in consumer products. Examples include non-stick cookware, apparel, furniture, and building materials. Vanguard currently screens 10,690 PFAS chemicals regulated by the U.S. EPA. More are expected to be added to EPA’s PFAS chemical list.
Stormwater Runoff Permitting (SWR) is required of facilities in selected industry sectors and/or have materials stored outside, plus many qualifiers covering this requirement. There are 670 Water Priority Chemicals (toxics cross-referenced from SARA, Section 313/TRI). The Pollution Prevention Plan and training for materials handlers/Pollution Prevention Team must be updated annually.
Spill Prevention Control & Countermeasure Plan (SPCC). The SPCC Plan is triggered when a liquid product (primarily oil-related) is stored in any container the size of a 55-gallon drum or larger, equal to or greater than 1,320 gallons. The SPCC must be updated in 5-year increments (unless a facility modification triggers an immediate update) and annual training is required of all oil handlers on the employer’s staff. A Facility Response Plan is required if the following thresholds are exceeded: (1) Oil storage > 42K gallons, IF transferred over water to/from vessel; or (2) Oil storage > 1M gallons & meets one of three additional criteria.
Process/Wastewater Management/Permitting (PW2M). EPA’s regulates 568 pollutants and over 37,000 impaired U.S. water bodies polluted by American Industry. Should a facility discharge wastewater to a municipality’s Publicly-Owned Treatment Works (POTW)), issues regarding permitting, Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs), and related industrial wastewater matters must be explored for applicability.
Air Permitting under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. There are four chemically-based Title Programs imposed upon industry by the U.S. EPA: Title I (VOCs), Title III (187 air toxics, aka Hazardous Air Pollutants, or HAPs), Title IV (Acid Rain Deposition), and Title VI (Class I & II Ozone Depleting Chemicals). Title V is the most common name for air permitting as this represents the document application; however, Part 70, Synthetic Minors, state minor sources, and Federally-Enforceable State Operating Permits (FESOPs) are four more types of air permits. Smaller facilities are typically required to acquire the so-called Permit-By-Rule (i.e., Texas PBR), or ROSS…Registration of Small Sources (i.e., Illinois).
Emissions Inventory Reporting (EIR). The EIR is a state emissions reporting regulation, based on the facility’s air permitting status and the tons of Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) annually emitted to the environment. The EIR can rarely be done without having a facility’s current air permitting status in place. EIRs are typically driven by the Federal EPA’s 187 air toxics (aka HAPs) under Title III of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. There are seven states that have compiled their own separate, independent list of HAPs…CA; GA; IL; NE; OH; OK; and WA.
Risk Management Plan (112r) (RMP). RMP is an offshoot of the Clean Air Act Amendments in which 258 toxic or flammable chemicals, aka Highly Hazardous Substances (HHSs), must be screened for applicability. The first deadline was June 21, 1999. Compliance must be maintained and updated annually. RMP is usually found in combination with similar regulations for OSHA's Process Safety Management (PSM). Fundamentally, if the client’s facility has one or more of EPA’s listed chemicals that would exceed a Threshold Quantity (TQ) assigned to each chemical, at any one time, as long as it is connected to a process, then the facility shall be required to meet compliance under this regulation. Further, if the client has a flammable or toxic chemical in excess of 10,000 lbs. at any one time, as long as it is connected to a process, then the facility is also required to comply.
RCRA Hazardous Waste Management Plan. Any Large or Small Quantity Generator should engage in all the activities encompassing the RCRA Hazardous Waste Management Plan.
RCRA HazWaste Training. When a facility generates hazardous waste, it is required to formalize training for those employees involved in the generation, accumulation, storage, disposal, manifesting, and potential spills/cleanup of those wastes.
RCRA Hazardous Waste Contingency Plan / Emergency Response Plan. A Hazardous Waste Contingency Plan is required of all Large Quantity Generators. It must be accompanied by employee training for the purpose of properly responding to an emergency where hazardous waste spills or releases are concerned. The Emergency Response Plan is required of Small Quantity Generators – also engaging in employee Training – again to properly respond to hazardous waste spills, releases, and potential exposures to Hazardous waste stored onsite.
RCRA Hazardous Waste Re-Notification Mandate for Small Quantity Generators (SQGs) and Large Quantity Generators (LQGs). Under the RCRA Hazardous Waste Improvements Act of 2016, SQGs are required to submit a quadrennial report by September 1, 2025. Large Quantity Generators (LQGs) are required to submit Re-Notifications biennially on even-numbered years, along Biennial Hazardous Waste Reports.
RCRA HazWaste Reporting. For generators of hazardous waste, this activity is regulated at regular intervals for quarterly, annual, and biennial reporting, depending on the state of record and its regulations relative to EPA oversight.
Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is required every four years (the 2024 cycle is underway), in which over 84,000 toxic chemicals are regulated for reporting when annual-usage thresholds (25,000 lbs. and 2,500 lbs.) are exceeded.
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). With hundreds of pesticides, herbicides and insecticides on the open market, all fit into eight (8) hazard classes. When a facility produces any chemical regulated by FIFRA, an Annual Pesticide Report is required by March 1.
Conflict Minerals. Think conflict-free minerals. Many conflict minerals are mined from conflict-affected locations, the sale of which can contribute to the perpetuation of armed violence, instability, insecurity and associated human rights violations. From a regulatory perspective, conflict minerals are most often referred to as the 3TGs (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold).
Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). CWC is an international regulatory compliance law ratified by 179 nations. It became U.S. law on April 29, 2006. CWC regulates 56 chemicals and their precursors under annual threshold reporting guidelines that go as low as 2,000 lbs. Some common chemical substances under CWC’s include acetone, phosphorus, sulfur, and fluorine.
Hazard Evaluation Mandate. In order that all employee training under OSHA be site-specific, it is the legally mandated responsibility of the employer to determine all chemical hazards to which employees are exposed in the workplace.
HazCom Workplace Chemical List. The employer is required to establish an accurate workplace chemical list (even department-specific) communicating the hazards with regard to quantity, container type, and location within the facility.
Carcinogens, Mutagens, Teratogens (CMTs). There are three categories of chemicals more adverse to human health than, perhaps, any others due to the far-reaching, disease-causing illnesses associated with them. Carcinogens cause cancer. Mutagens cause genetic and cell damage carried from one generation to another. Teratogens cause damage to the fetus of an unborn child, which typically results in birth defects. These chemicals must be identified, located, and assessed as to the potential for exposure. A training program must be installed for employee awareness, proper use of CMT-oriented products, and the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
SDS Management (Pct. of Compliance with GHS SDS Regulations). SDSs are required for all chemically-oriented products – liquids, solids, and gases – per the combined requirements of OSHA and the Globally Harmonized System (GHS). They must be reflective of those products used, stored, manufactured, processed, produced, distributed, or imported in the workplace. OSHA mandates that all inactive SDSs must be maintained for 30 years. Employers are mandated to make them accessible in the workplace to employees at all times. Under the Globally Harmonized System (GHS), the deadline for 100% SDS compliance was June 1, 2016.
California Proposition 65. Two purposes: See above under Environmental Protection laws.
Hazard Communication (HazCom) Training (Employee Right-To-Understand). OSHA and the UN’s Globally Harmonized System (GHS) require the employer to train ALL employees to those site-specific chemical hazards present in the workplace. This training is a direct outgrowth to the Hazard Evaluation Mandate mentioned above. HazCom Training is required annually. There are many components to this training, not the least of which are the following: (1) Site-specific written plan, (2) Safety Data Sheet (SDS) familiarity and management, (3) Hazard label management, (4) Record keeping for participants and their training, and (5) The ongoing dissemination of information on new chemicals being introduced to the workplace.
Process Safety Management (PSM). OSHA’s PSM regards any of the 137 highly hazardous substances in excess of a specific threshold as assigned when connected to a process at any point in time. Additionally, any toxic or flammable chemical connected to a process at any point in time in excess of 10,000 lbs. is also covered under this regulation. There is a close inter-relationship between OSHA’s PSM and EPA’s RMP, whereas compliance with these two laws is most often performed in tandem since both are generally triggered by the same hazards requiring similar engineering practices.
HAZWOPER Training (24-Hour & 8-Hour). Hazardous Waste Operations & Emergency Response is training specific to a facility’s emergency response team, and generally associated with hazardous waste, spills, cleanup, decontamination, and disasters of all kinds. The training for general industry in the first year entails 24 hours in which 8-16 team members participate. An 8-hour refresher is required annually once the 24-hour program has been fulfilled.
OSHA “44” Chemical Hazards. This entry represents a special class of chemicals so harsh that OSHA gives each one its own individual OSHA Standard. Each one of these Standards is a separate law requiring employers who inventory said hazards specific protocols and training procedures.
Indoor Air Quality. [The issue of indoor air quality is a matter relative to Employee Health and Safety as regulated under laws pursuant to OSHA and should not be mistaken for regulations involving environmental air emissions or air permitting under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990..] An air contaminant is any substance which is accidentally or unwillingly introduced into the air, having the effect of rendering the indoor atmosphere toxic or harmful. The greatest concern for human health when dealing with hazardous materials is air contamination. Through inhalation, airborne dust, fumes, vapors, mists, smoke, and gases (many invisible) may be taken into the body, irritating the skin, eyes, nose, throat, and lungs, or may also be absorbed into the bloodstream to affect vital organs.
Noise Monitoring & Hearing Conservation. When data indicates that any employee's exposure to noise equals or exceeds an 8-hour time-weighted average of 85 decibels, the employer must develop and implement a noise monitoring program on a consistent basis.
Lockout / Tagout (Machine-Specific LOTO). LOTO prevents injury and accidental death in the workplace through the control of hazardous energy specific to power sources of machinery and equipment. It is a required, stand-alone service to meet OSHA’s compliance requirements to the letter of law. It combines an OSHA Professional’s site visit(s) for an assessment and design of a facility’s site-specific lock-and-tag challenges, plus an employee training program (for authorized, affected and other employees) to be performed annually once the design has been completed.
Machine Guarding. Machine guards shall be affixed to machines where and when possible, and secured elsewhere if an attachment to the machine is not possible. Guards shall not present a hazard, in and of itself. Any machine whose operation exposes an employee to injury shall be guarded. A guarding device shall conform with any appropriate standards or shall be so designed and constructed as to prevent the operator from having any part of his body in danger.
Confined Space Permit & Rescue. Confined Space Permitting is required of facilities having tanks, manholes, crawl spaces, and the like with oxygen-deficient atmospheres (less than 19.5% oxygen to air). Confined spaces must be permitted, labeled with appropriate signage, and accompanied with employee training.
Respirator Fit Test & Training. Respirator Fit Testing is typically required for employees assigned to areas where air is contaminated, including related employee training..
Bloodborne Pathogens Training (BBP). BBP requires the development of an Exposure Control Plan and employee training focused on the nature of exposure to various disease-causing pathogens, such as the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
Forklift Training (Powered Industrial Trucks). Proper training and licensing of drivers on powered industrial trucks is required triennially to avoid injuries and accidental death to workers. Many refer to the forklift as the single most dangerous piece of equipment in the workplace.
Crane Safety & Training. Crane safety hazards are addressed in specific OSHA standards for general industry, maritime, gear certification, and construction. Vanguard’s Crane Safety & Training service is established for general industry per OSHA’s 29 CFR 1910.179.
Fall Protection. OSHA requires employers to provide protection for each employee exposed to falls and falling object hazards, including the installation of fall protection systems and devices.
Arc Flash Safety (NFPA 70E). National Fire Protection Association Guidelines require employers to perform an arc flash risk assessment prior to allowing workers or contractors to perform any task on energized equipment. Instruction includes an arc flash risk assessment to identify the presence and location of potential hazards, recommendations for PPE, boundaries for limited and restricted approaches, recommendations for flash protection, and safe work practices. Arc Flash Safety Training requires instructor certification.
New-Hire Orientation Training (Within 10 Days of New-Hire). OSHA requires that all newly- hired employees, temporary personnel and contract labor be trained on all hazards to which their position would require them to be exposed within the first 10 days of employment.
Hazardous Materials Analysis. DOT has designated 1,932 regulated hazardous materials and Vanguard has screened the client’s facility for these hazards. It is essential that all hazardous materials associated with shipping and receiving depts. within the workplace be identified relative to thresholds, labeling, and placarding from the 9 U.S. Coast Guard Classifications as specified by the DOT.
HazMat Employee Training (HM - 126f). All employees associated with shipping, receiving, packaging, loading/unloading, and driving are to be trained on the site-specific hazardous materials to which they are exposed in the workplace, specifically transportation departments. HazMat Security Plan & HazMat Employee Training is a relatively new law enacted by DOT and Homeland Security in response to the terrorism inflicted upon the U.S. on September 11, 2001. There are 117 regulated agents and toxins in joint administration by the Center of Disease Control in Atlanta, GA.
DOT “24-Hour” Training [Air, Land, & Sea]. “Triennial”…Effective October 1, 1993, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) requires that detailed 24-hour training be given to all "Hazmat Employees" associated with transporting hazardous materials – by air, road, rail, or water – within, to, and from the workplace. This training focuses primarily international HazMat shipping.
International Maritime Dangerous Goods Training (IMDG). IMDG provides hazmat training relative to hazardous materials/ dangerous goods for ocean vessel shipments. International Transport Air Transport Regulations & Training (DOT 49 CFR, Subpart H, 172.700 – 172 provides key action steps for the preparation and offering of hazardous materials/dangerous goods via passenger and/or cargo aircraft.