EPA’s Vulnerability Analysis Requirement Under their FRP Rule

Today’s topic is one part of the planning process that tends to cause much concern for many people. Under the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Facility Response Plan (FRP), 40 CFR 112.20, there is a requirement to develop what is referred to as the “horizontal rage” of a release, also termed in the rule the “planning distance”. I discussed this very thing last week here. Once this has been established, it is required to conduct a vulnerability analysis based on this planning distance. What does this entail? Under the rule, 112.20(h)(4), this requires:

(4) Hazard evaluation. The response plan shall discuss the facility's known or reasonably identifiable history of discharges reportable under 40 CFR part 110 for the entire life of the facility and shall identify areas within the facility where discharges could occur and what the potential effects of the discharges would be on the affected environment. To assess the range of areas potentially affected, owners or operators shall, where appropriate, consider the distance calculated in paragraph (f)(1)(ii) of this section to determine whether a facility could, because of its location, reasonably be expected to cause substantial harm to the environment by discharging oil into or on the navigable waters or adjoining shorelines.

The EPA in Appendix F of the rule goes on to provide further guidance on how to do this by outlining the below.

1.4.2 Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability analysis shall address the potential effects (i.e., to human health, property, or the environment) of an oil discharge. Attachment C-III to Appendix C to this part provides a method that owners or operators shall use to determine appropriate distances from the facility to fish and wildlife and sensitive environments. Owners or operators can use a comparable formula that is considered acceptable by the RA. If a comparable formula is used, documentation of the reliability and analytical soundness of the formula must be attached to the response plan cover sheet. This analysis must be prepared for each facility and, as appropriate, must discuss the vulnerability of:

(1) Water intakes (drinking, cooling, or other);

(2) Schools;

(3) Medical facilities;

(4) Residential areas;

(5) Businesses;

(6) Wetlands or other sensitive environments;2

(7) Fish and wildlife;

(8) Lakes and streams;

(9) Endangered flora and fauna;

(10) Recreational areas;

(11) Transportation routes (air, land, and water);

(12) Utilities; and

(13) Other areas of economic importance (e.g., beaches, marinas) including terrestrially sensitive environments, aquatic environments, and unique habitats.

The list of items to capture is not the point in which people generally become concerned. Moreover, after having calculated the planning distance, they arrive at 50, 100 or even more miles to contend with. People may become concerned at this point, as this can be a lot of area to research. However, this is where this process tends to become mistakenly over complicated. Many think they must do radial searches; five miles seems to be some weird go to number for many plan writers or even one mile.

Let’s pause. Think of the characteristics of oil. It’s a liquid and its going to follow topography only. Once in a water body it will be restricted by the water body. Yes, oils like gasoline with have fumes, but these will be limited to the spill path area and will not impact a large radius covering many miles. Keeping this in mind, conducting a radial research is not necessary, given we’re not dealing with gas clouds. Rather, attention should be focused on areas that will be impacted along the banks of the water body only. Two exceptions to this. First, is the immediate vicinity of an operation, as this is impacted by response resources arriving during an incident. Second, consider a small radius around the facility to account for an explosion or large fire, and those that may be impacted by such an event. There is nothing wrong doing a radial research for the entire planning distance, but it’s not needed, and can add a tremendous amount of unnecessary detail to the plan, which makes annual updates more difficult.

How does all this come together?

When I hold our internal bootcamp on building FRPs for our project staff, we go over this process:

• First, develop the planning distance
• Next, conduct research on planning distance:

1. Look for any prepared Area Contingency Plan (ACP) maps that can be used
2. Use Google Earth to research area
3. Reach out to water boards for wells/intakes
4. Research U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s database
5. Work with GIS teams to pull any state/local databases that are relevant
6. Interview facility personnel for any special concerns of the area

• Once data is collated:

1. Develop detailed legible environmental sensitivity maps (ESM)
2. Develop a detail list with names, locations and important concerns for those items noted above for the FRP
3. Develop the phone list – this is one many overlook, but one of the more important parts. Beyond just knowing what one may impact, one must be able to reach out to them and warn them if about to be impacted by a release.

As I often preach during this process -- “KISS” -- ‘keep it simple stupid’. More importantly, it’s important to remember that a story is being told. One that anyone walking off the street should be able to understand. And a story that is backed up by data to prove the statements.

For a complete listing of archived blogs and compliance insights, click here. Past blogs cover training requirements, clarification on additional confusing elements within the above rules and much more.

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