Arlington, VA – The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) today expressed deep concern with the release of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) changes to its Risk Management Program (RMP), citing serious national security concerns with new public disclosure requirements.
“The reality is that many of the chemicals that form the foundation of our daily lives could potentially be misused by bad actors,” TFI President and CEO Corey Rosenbusch explained. “The last thing the government should be requiring us to do is share that information with anyone who lives, works, or, as the EPA vaguely states in the new rule, ‘spends significant time’ within six miles of a regulated facility. We may as well paint giant bull’s eyes on them.”
Ensuring the safe, effective, and secure production of essential fertilizers has been a top priority for the fertilizer industry for years. TFI has a long history of working closely with regulating agencies on reducing risks, including supporting the DHS CFATS program, developing the EPA endorsed “myRMP” guidance and web-based compliance assistance tool, and the co-establishment of the independent, not-for-profit “ResponsibleAg” organization that created a comprehensive inspection/assessment mechanism to help ensure fertilizer facilities comply with the industry’s numerous regulatory requirements.
“We support regulatory changes where they make sense, and this doesn’t make sense. Since the RMP was implemented in 1996, reportable incidents have decreased by over 80%. That massive decrease is due to the current system working, as well as other voluntary industry efforts such as ResponsibleAg also having a positive effect,” Rosenbusch concluded. “The changes EPA is making to RMP will not only not yield improved safety outcomes, they will make communities less safe through dangerous public disclosures of exactly what chemicals, in what amounts, are where.”
###
The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) is the leading voice of the nation’s fertilizer industry. Tracing its roots back to 1883, TFI’s membership includes fertilizer producers, wholesalers, retailers and trading firms. TFI’s full-time staff, based in Washington, D.C., serves its members through legislative, educational, technical, economic information and public communication programs. Find more information about TFI online at TFI.org and follow us on Twitter at @Fertilizer_Inst. Learn more about TFI’s nutrient stewardship initiatives at nutrientstewardship.org and on Twitter at @4rnutrients.
