In July, the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), and the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) announced a landmark set of regulations to strengthen workplace and environmental safety at oil refineries across the state.
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According to a DIR press release, the regulatory proposals are intended to make California refineries safer both for workers and for surrounding communities. The two regulations implement key recommendations of the Governor’s Interagency Working Group on Refinery Safety and are the result of a multiyear effort, including extensive consultation with workers, industry, NGOs, and communities, following a serious chemical release and fire at Chevron’s Richmond oil refinery in August 2012.
“The proposed regulations will put into place new strategies to prevent major incidents at refineries, and to protect refinery workers and surrounding communities from exposure to health and safety risks,” said David M. Lanier, secretary of the Labor and Workforce Development Agency.
The proposal includes two complementary regulations—one overhauling the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) worker safety regulations as they apply to refineries and another strengthening the California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP) program regulations designed to prevent the accidental release of hazardous substances that could harm public health and the environment. The DIR, Cal OES, and CalEPA have collaborated to ensure that the two regulations are aligned.
Read the full press release here for key features of the proposed regulations.