§ 450-8.002. Background and findings.

The board of supervisors of Contra Costa County finds as follows:

(a)

Recent incidents in Contra Costa County at industrial chemical, petrochemical, and oil industry facilities have prompted the consideration of reviews, inspections, and audits that supplement existing federal and state safety programs and the imposition of additional safety measures to protect public health and safety from accidental releases.

(b)

Section 112(r)(7) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.A. Section 7412(4)) required the Federal Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") to promulgate the rule known as the "Risk Management Program," which is intended to prevent accidental releases of regulated substances, as defined in the federal program, and reduce the severity of those releases that do occur. All facilities subject to this federal regulation must prepare a risk management plan (RMP) based on a risk management program established at the facility, that includes a hazard assessment of the facility, an accidental release prevention program, and an emergency response program (40 CFR Section 68). The facility must submit the Federal RMP to the EPA by June 21, 1999 (40 CFR Section 68-150-68.185). The federal RMP will be available to state and local government and the public.

(c)

The California Health and Safety Code Article 2 (Section 25531 et seq.) of Chapter 6.95 was amended effective January 1, 1997 to implement the federal EPA's risk management program rule with certain state-specific amendments. The state's risk management program is known as the California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP) Program.

(d)

The county recognizes that regulatory requirements alone will not guarantee public health and safety, and that the public is a key stakeholder in chemical accident prevention, preparedness, and response at the local level. Preventing accidental releases of regulated substances is the shared responsibility of industry, government and the public. The first steps toward accident prevention are identifying the hazards and assessing the risks. Once information about chemical hazards in the community is openly shared, industry, government, and the community can work together towards reducing the risk to public health and safety.

(e)

The success of a safety program is dependent upon the cooperation of industrial chemical and oil refining facilities within Contra Costa County. The public must be assured that measures necessary to prevent incidents are being implemented, including changes or actions required by the department or the stationary source that are necessary to comply with this chapter.

(Ord. 98-48 § 2)