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The US Environmental Protection Agency released its long-delayed Risk Management Program (RMP) final regulation March 1, calling it "EPA's most protective safety provisions for chemical facilities in history." Development of this final version of the 30-year-old regulation generated nearly 60,000 public comments. The rule covers 11,740 facilities, including chemical plants, warehouses, and storage facilities. Some 131 million people live within 3 mi (4.8 km) of a covered facility, according to EPA officials who spoke at a briefing for reporters. Although the regulation is broad, it focuses on about 620 plants that the EPA identified as handling high levels of toxic chemicals and being in industrial sectors with high accident rates. It requires facility owners to consider more stringent action to reduce the risk of chemical releases. The owners will be required to analyze alternatives—such as safer technologies or chemicals—that they could use to reduce risk. If they don't introduce safer
special to C EN Jeff Johnson (Mon,) studied this question.