Industrial Safety Ordinance

County Ordinance Chapter 450-8 expands on the California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP) Program for facilities meeting the following:

• The facility is within an unincorporated area of the County
• The facility is either a petroleum refinery or chemical plant
• The facility is required to submit a Risk Management Plan (RMP) to the U.S. EPA and Contra Costa County Health Service (CCHS)
• The facility has at least one Program 3 process

In addition to the expanding the prevention program requirements, ISO/RISO requires facilities to submit investigation reports, including root cause analysis after any Major Chemical Accident or Release (MCAR).

Major Chemical Accident or Release means an incident that meets the definition of a Level 2 or Level 3 Incident in the CWS incident level classification system defined in the Hazardous Materials Notification Policy as determined by the Department; or results in the release, including, but not limited to air, water, or soil of a Regulated Substance and meets one or more of the following criteria:

1. One or more fatalities
2. At least 24 hours of hospital treatment of each of at least three persons
3. On or offsite property damage (including clean up or restoration) initially estimated at $500,000 or more
4. Results in a vapor cloud of flammables and/ or combustibles that is more than 5,000 pounds

In addition to oversight by CCHSHMP, the US Chemical Safety and Hazard investigation Board conducts Root Cause Analyses (RCA) on select incidents in the US. To learn more about accidents being investigated in the United States (including past/current investigations), go to the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board website.

The four facilities currently subject to the County's Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) include: Air Products (within the MRC), Phillips 66 Rodeo Refinery, Air Liquide-Rodeo Hydrogen Plant, and PBF Energy - Martinez Refining Company (MRC) [formerly Shell Oil Martinez Refinery].

The City of Richmond has adopted an Industrial Safety Ordinance (Municipal Code Chapter 6.43, RISO) and is identical to the County's Industrial Safety Ordinance after City of Richmond in 2013 and 2014 adopted the 2006 and 2014 County amendments respectively. The two facilities located in the City of Richmond that are subject to this ordinance include: Chevron Richmond Refinery and Chemtrade Richmond Works.