EPA Proposes to Amend Risk Management Program Regulations

Several proposed amendments to EPA’s risk management program (RMP) regulations are outlined in a proposed rule published last week in the Federal Register. The new “Common Sense Approach to Chemical Accident Prevention” rule would make changes to the “Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention” rule, which was finalized in 2024. According to EPA, the proposed changes are intended to reduce regulatory burden, avoid duplicative requirements, realign RMP requirements with OSHA’s process safety management requirements, and bolster economic growth. The agency also states that the proposed amendments are meant to improve chemical process safety by “eliminating unnecessary burdens placed on facilities where there is not specific data available to show that the current RMP standards would reduce or have reduced the number of accidental releases.”

 

The 2024 updates included requirements for covered facilities to evaluate safer technologies and alternatives and implement reliable safeguards in industry sectors with high accident rates. Other previous changes addressed employee participation, training, and decision-making in accident prevention. Facilities that had reported prior accidents were required to obtain third-party compliance audits and root-cause analyses under the rule as updated in 2024. The amendments finalized that year also aimed to improve information sharing and transparency between facilities, emergency responders, and communities.

 

EPA’s latest proposed changes, published on Feb. 24, 2026, would remove requirements related to safer technology and alternatives analyses for existing facilities. The new proposal also seeks to either completely rescind the third-party audit requirements or modify them to focus only on facilities with two accidents in a five-year period, then potentially sunset the third-party audit program. Other provisions the proposed rule would rescind or modify include those on information availability, employee participation, community and emergency responder notification, stationary source siting, natural hazards, power loss, declined recommendations documentation, emergency response exercises, process safety information and recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices, deregistration form information collection, hot work permit retention, and the retail facility definition.

 

A virtual public hearing on EPA’s proposed changes to RMP regulations is scheduled for next week on March 10. Individuals who are interested in providing verbal input to the agency should pre-register to speak during the hearing by March 9. Registration is also open to those who wish to attend the live event.

 

EPA will accept written comments on the proposed rule until April 10. To read the text of the proposed rule or learn more about the public comment period, see the Federal Register notice. Additional information can be found on the agency’s webpages for the Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention rule and the proposed Common Sense Approach to Chemical Accident Prevention rule.

In a recently updated hazard alert (PDF), OSHA and NIOSH urge employers in the stone countertop industry to protect workers who manufacture, finish, and install natural and engineered stone products from exposure to respirable crystalline silica, or RCS. Workers who inhale RCS are at risk of developing silicosis, described in the alert as “an incurable, progressively disabling, and potentially fatal lung disease,” as well as lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, tuberculosis, and kidney disease. But employers may prevent or significantly reduce RCS exposures by implementing measures like engineering and administrative controls, personal protective equipment, and training, the report explains.

 

Countertops may contain more than 90 percent silica, depending on the type of stone. Products made of certain engineered stone—a substance fabricated by combining silica powder with resins and pigments—and the naturally occurring mineral quartzite contain the greatest percentages of silica. However, some engineered stone contains less than 50 percent crystalline silica, the alert notes, while products comprising recycled glass, pigments, and a Portland cement matrix contain less than 0.2 percent crystalline silica. In comparison, granite contains up to 50 percent silica. A table summarizing the crystalline silica content of various types of countertop material may be found on page 2 of the alert.

 

Dust containing RCS is released when workers quarry, cut, grind, or finish materials with high silica content. In the countertop industry, the highest RCS exposures are associated with tasks that involve powered hand tools such as saws, grinders, and high-speed polishers. Workers manufacturing engineered stone may be exposed to RCS when opening bags of silica powder, moving or mixing materials, cleaning and scraping mixers, changing filters on dust collectors, or cleaning dust collector bag houses. Other workers near areas where dust-generating tasks are performed may also be exposed.

 

The alert instructs employers to first conduct a worker exposure assessment in consultation with a certified industrial hygienist or other qualified occupational safety and health professional. If the assessment indicates RCS exposures above OSHA’s permissible exposure limit of 50 μg/m3 as an eight-hour time-weighted average, the employer must take action to reduce exposures to levels below the PEL, following the hierarchy of controls. For example, choosing products with little or no crystalline silica content eliminates or reduces the hazard. Engineering controls for RCS include the use of local exhaust ventilation or cutting tools that control dust by wetting the stone. Administrative controls include wet sweeping and the completion of as many work tasks as possible in the shop instead of at the site of installation. Finally, if engineering and administrative controls fail to reduce RCS exposures below the PEL, OSHA’s silica standards require employers to provide respirators and train workers in their use. Medical surveillance is also required for all workers exposed to RCS levels above OSHA’s action level, 25 μg/m3 as an eight-hour TWA.

 

The hazard alert on worker exposure to silica during countertop manufacturing, finishing, and installation includes a list of controls and summaries of relevant scientific studies. Both English and Spanish versions may be downloaded from OSHA’s hazard alert index.

 

 

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched DG Digital, IATA’s digital Dangerous Goods Declaration solution, as a feature of DG AutoCheck. The new tool fully digitalizes the creation and approval of shippers’ declarations for more than 3,800 dangerous items—from lithium batteries to explosives and chemicals. This results in faster document sharing, improved safety, and a significant reduction in rejected shipments.

 

Today, 95% of Dangerous Goods Declarations are still received in paper format. These declarations must be scanned, converted into a PDF document, then uploaded into DG AutoCheck to be validated. With DG Digital, declarations are generated and transmitted digitally from creation by the shipper to validation. This creates a more efficient and streamlined workflow compared with traditional paper-based processes.

 

DG Digital captures all required data needed for Dangerous Goods Declarations while enabling users to exchange this information electronically with all partners.

 

Cross-referencing IATA’s Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR), users of DG Digital can easily identify and address issues that may cause a shipment to be rejected or delayed by an airline, including missing or incorrect documents. Having Dangerous Goods Declarations confirmed before the physical shipment takes place also helps avoid costly fines while addressing any safety concerns.

 

DG Digital will further support a seamless and safer logistics and transport supply chain by enabling standardized, transparent data exchange across air cargo stakeholders, communities, and platforms.

 

The launch of DG Digital follows successful trials in Japan last year where digitally validating declarations resulted in only 0.5% of dangerous goods shipments being rejected. This is a significant improvement from the current global average of 4.5% of shipments being rejected due to incomplete or inaccurate declarations. The trial included All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan Airlines (JAL), and six freight forwarders— International Cargo Service, JAS Forwarding Japan, MOL Logistics, Nippon Express, Nissin, and Yusen Logistics.

 

Since its launch in 2019, DG AutoCheck has completed more than one million dangerous goods checks, with more than a third completed in 2025. This reflects a significant growth in dangerous goods shipments, with data from IATA CargoIS showing a 17.5% year-on-year increase for the full year 2025, largely driven by the growing demand for lithium batteries.

 

“IATA’s Dangerous Goods Regulations are focused on reducing complexity and improving safety in the shipment of dangerous goods. DG Digital supports this by digitalizing the shipper’s declaration process, providing all stakeholders—from shipping agents and freight forwarders to ground handlers and airlines—access to the same document. This supports the rapid resolution of any issues in the documentation before an item is physically shipped,” said Frederic Leger, IATA’s Senior Vice President, Product & Services.

 

The Justice Department announced a recently concluded large-scale international operation targeting organized crime networks involved in waste and pollution crime. The global operation code-named Custos Viridis, took place between January and December 2025 on five continents, and was led by Europol working alongside partners from 71 countries and international organizations including the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This is the largest-ever global law enforcement operation focusing exclusively on pollution and waste crime. 

 

The aim was to significantly disrupt criminal networks engaged in environmental crime, waste trafficking, pollution, money laundering, tax evasion, and corruption. The enforcement actions helped protect society and the environment from serious risks. Starting with an intelligence phase between January to June 2025, the operation’s operational phase took place from July to December 2025.

 

The United States. focused on securing the southern border by targeting individuals and organized crime that sought to smuggle hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a type of fluorinated gas (FGas), and dangerous illegal pesticides into the country. The government’s efforts also combatted the sale and use of these illegal pesticides and illicit marijuana grows across the country. Collaboration with international and domestic partners significantly increased the effectiveness of this operation.

 

In the United States, investigations led to:

 

Globally, investigators conducted 1,048 inspections during the operation, leading to the arrest of 337 individuals. In total, the seizures include:

 

Investigators estimate that the commercial value of the illicit FGas trade alone ranged from $17 million to $23 million, depending on the final destination of the illicit goods. The seized waste types, which could generate illicit profits of at least $36 million, included various types of hazardous waste, end-of-life vehicles, scrap metal, plastics, used solar panels, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), tires, and textile waste.

 

Several organized crime networks were identified as responsible for trafficking illicit waste within Europe and exporting waste to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Among other offenses, these networks were also found to be involved in the illicit marketing of FGas, the illegal trade of plant protection products, and illicit gold mining activities using hazardous chemicals like mercury and cyanide.

 

Operation Custos Viridis highlighted the global and flexible nature of environmental crime networks which show little regard for the environment and society.

 

The illegal trafficking and dumping of hazardous waste and polluting substances have severe environmental consequences, including long-term pollution of soil and water. Seizures of mercury highlight the link between environmental crime and illegal gold mining activities, with remediation costs potentially exceeding dozens of millions of dollars.

 

A federal whistleblower investigation has revealed that Union Pacific Railroad Co. again violated the Federal Railroad Safety Act by terminating a switchman/conductor after they reported and sought medical care for a work-related injury.

 

An investigation by the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found Union Pacific violated the law by firing the worker after they reported their work-related injury to management and sought medical treatment.

 

OSHA has ordered Union Pacific to reinstate the employee and pay back wages, interest, compensatory and punitive damages, and attorney's fees totaling over $315,000.

 

OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program enforces 25 whistleblower statutes that protect employees from retaliation for reporting violations of workplace airline, anti-money laundering, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, criminal antitrust, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health insurance reform, maritime, motor vehicle safety, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, safety and health, securities, and tax laws.

 

For information on whistleblower protections, visit OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Programs webpage.

 

Air Cargo Enabled $157 Billion in Frontloaded Trade and Supported AI Growth in 2025