An Act concerning anhydrous ammonia refrigeration systems and amending P.L.1985, c.403 and R.S.34:7-1.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. Section 3 of P.L.1985, c.403 (C.13:1K-21) is amended to read as follows:

3. As used in this act:

a. "Extraordinarily hazardous accident risk" means a potential for release of an extraordinarily hazardous substance into the environment, which could produce a significant likelihood that persons exposed may suffer acute health effects resulting in death or permanent disability;

b. "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection;

c. "Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection;

d. "Extraordinarily Hazardous Substance Accident Risk Assessment" or "EHSARA" means a review and safety evaluation of those operations in a facility which involve the generation, storage, or handling of an extraordinarily hazardous substance, as provided in section 6 of this act;

e. "Extraordinarily Hazardous Substance" means any substance or chemical compound used, manufactured, stored, or capable of being produced from on-site components in this State in sufficient quantities at a single site such that its release into the environment would produce a significant likelihood that persons exposed will suffer acute health effects resulting in death or permanent disability;

f. "Extraordinarily Hazardous Substance List" means the substances or chemical compounds identified in subsection a. of section 4 of this act and adopted by regulation pursuant to subsection c. of that section;

g. "Extraordinarily Hazardous Substance Risk Reduction Work Plan" or "work plan" means the document developed by the department for each facility at which is generated, stored, or handled an extraordinarily hazardous substance, setting forth the scope and detail of the EHSARA to which the facility will be submitted, as provided in section 6 of this act;

h. "Facility" means a building, equipment, and contiguous area. Facility shall not include a research and development laboratory, which means a specially designated area used primarily for research, development, and testing activity, and not primarily involved in the production of goods for commercial sale, in which extraordinarily hazardous substances are used by or under the supervision of a technically qualified person. Facility shall also not include any structure or system used primarily for anhydrous ammonia refrigeration and operated in accordance with applicable federal law and federal regulations;

i. "Risk management program" means the sum total of programs for the purpose of minimizing extraordinarily hazardous accident risks, including, but not limited to, requirements for safety review of design for new and existing equipment, requirements for standard operating procedures, requirements for preventive maintenance programs, requirements for operator training and accident investigation procedures, requirements for risk assessment for specific pieces of equipment or operating alternatives, requirements for emergency response planning, and internal or external audit procedures to ensure programs are being executed as planned.

(cf: P.L.1985, c.403, s.3)

2. Section 4 of P.L.1985, c.403 (C.13:1K-22) is amended to read as follows:

4. a. The following chemicals or chemical compounds, in the quantities indicated, shall constitute the initial extraordinarily hazardous substance list: hydrogen chloride (HCl) and allyl chloride in quantities of 2,000 pounds or more; hydrogen cyanide (HCN), hydrogen fluoride (HF), chlorine (Cl2), phosphorus trichloride, and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in quantities of 500 pounds or more; and phosgene, bromine, methyl isocyanate (MIC), and toluene-2, 4-diisocyanate (TDS) in quantities of 100 pounds or more.

b. Within 60 days of the effective date of this act, the department shall develop and issue a registration form to be completed within 120 days of the effective date of this act, by the owner or operator of each facility in the State which at any time generates, stores, or handles any of the extraordinarily hazardous substances on the initial extraordinarily hazardous substance list, pursuant to subsection a. of this section. The registration form shall provide, in addition to any other information that may be required by the department, the following: an inventory of the extraordinarily hazardous substance or substances generated, stored, or handled at the facility and the quantity or quantities thereof, which inventory shall identify whether those substances are end products, intermediate products, by-products, or waste products; a general description of the processes and principal equipment involved in the management of the substance or substances; a profile of the area in which the facility is situated, including its proximity to population and water supplies; the extent to which the risks and hazards of the processes, equipment, and operations have been identified, evaluated, and abated, and the expertise and affiliation of the evaluators and any direct or indirect relationship between the evaluators and the owner or operator of the facility; and the name or names of all insurance carriers underwriting the facility's environmental liability and workers' compensation insurance policies and the scope of these policies, including any limitations and exclusions.

c. Within 18 months of the effective date of this act, the Department of Environmental Protection, in consultation with the Department of Health, shall develop and, after public hearing, adopt as a regulation, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L. 1968, c. 410 (C. 52:14B-1 et seq.), an extraordinarily hazardous substance list. The list shall correlate the substances or compounds with the quantities thereof required to produce the potentially catastrophic circumstance. The department shall have the power to amend, by regulation, the extraordinarily hazardous substance list to accommodate new chemical compounds that may be developed or reflect new information or scientific data that may become available to the department.

d. Within 90 days of the adoption by the department of an extraordinarily hazardous substance list pursuant to subsection c. of this section, the owner or operator of each facility in the State which generates, stores, or handles any of the extraordinarily hazardous substances on the extraordinarily hazardous substance list, not registered pursuant to subsection b. of this section, shall complete the registration form developed and issued by the department.

e. The extraordinarily hazardous substance list established pursuant to subsection c. of this section shall not include anhydrous ammonia used primarily for anhydrous ammonia refrigeration in a manner compliant with applicable federal law and federal regulations.

(cf: P.L.1985, c.403, s.4)

3. R.S.34:7-1 is amended to read as follows:

34:7-1. No unlicensed person shall operate a steam generator, similar equipment potentially capable of generating steam having relief devices set over 15 psig. and rated at or developing over 6 boiler horsepower or a steam power generator, if over 6 horsepower; a hoisting machine regardless of motive power, whenever the boom length exceeds 99 feet; a refrigerating plant of over 24 tons of refrigerating capacity, utilizing refrigerants of a flammable or toxic nature; or a steam or hot water heating plant of which the indicated or rated capacity exceeds either 499 square feet of heating surface or 100 boiler horsepower or 1,000 kilowatts or 4,000,000 British thermal units input regardless of pressure or temperature conditions; and no owner, agent, superintendent, manager or other person having charge of any building or work in which such equipment is located, or used, shall use, or cause or allow to be used, any such equipment described in this section unless the same is in charge of a properly licensed person, except in emergency, and then for no longer than 15 days unless the commissioner in writing extends such time, of which emergency the owner of such equipment, or the agent, superintendent, manager or other person in charge thereof shall promptly notify the mechanical inspection bureau in writing, stating fully the circumstances.

The provisions of this chapter shall not require a license of any person in charge of or operating the following:

(1) any equipment installed for emergency purposes only, or

(2) any equipment under the jurisdiction and control of the United States Government, the operation of which is actively regulated by a Federal agency, or

(3) any railroad locomotive boiler or any type locomotive used in the service of a common carrier, or

(4) any refrigerating plant utilizing anhydrous ammonia or refrigerants classified as being in Group 1 in the Safety Code for Mechanical Refrigeration of the American Society of Refrigerating Engineers approved by the American Standards Association, Inc., or

(5) Any equipment having relief devices set at or under 15 pounds per square inch gage or reliably regulated to operate at a temperature not greater than 200`F when serving a heating plant in a building which is unoccupied. A building shall not be deemed to be "occupied" solely on the basis of attendance by custodial or security personnel, or

(6) any steam generating equipment having relief devices set at or under 15 pounds per square inch gage or hot water equipment reliably regulated to operate automatically at a temperature not greater than 250`F, and having relief devices set at or under 160 pounds per square inch gage when serving a heating plant other than in a building of public assembly providing (a) the equipment shall be protected by such type of automatic safety control system which is approved by the State mechanical inspection bureau for automatic operation; and (b) the boiler plant and its safety components are inspected operationally at reasonable intervals, when the building is occupied, by a person designated by the owner, agent, superintendent, or manager, which person's qualifications to operate such equipment have been certified by the State mechanical inspection bureau on the basis of 90 days' experience and reasonable examination by that bureau in respect of such equipment. The "operational inspection" referred to in this subparagraph shall mean visual inspection of all indicators, gages, thermometers, external connections and other items which may be viewed by an external inspection. A log book shall be maintained on the premises recording such inspections, which log book shall be open to inspection by any designated representative of the State mechanical inspection bureau.

The provisions of this article shall be administered by the commissioner through the mechanical inspection bureau. Examinations for license under this article shall be conducted by the examining board or by any member of said board.

(cf: P.L.1967, c.214, s.1)

4. This act shall take effect on the 180th day after the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill removes anhydrous ammonia as a substance regulated by the "Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act" (TCPA). The bill also exempts from State Department of Labor and Workforce Development licensing requirements, persons in charge of, or operators of, any refrigerating plant utilizing anhydrous ammonia.

In 1986, when the TCPA was signed into law, there were no federal laws or regulations governing the use of anhydrous ammonia for refrigeration purposes. The law itself does not specifically identify ammonia as a substance covered under the law, though the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) includes ammonia on the "extraordinarily hazardous substance list" established pursuant to the TCPA.

In 1992, the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) implemented the Process Safety Management (PSM) standard and in 1996, the United States Environmental Protection Agency implemented the Risk Management Program (RM Program). Since that time, New Jersey has been one of four states in the nation to enforce anhydrous ammonia refrigeration regulations in addition to those programs already required by federal law. Applicable standards have been developed by the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration, and are specifically designed for anhydrous ammonia refrigeration operations. New Jersey has not adopted similarly particularized regulations. The result has been an unnecessarily burdensome regulatory framework that poses significant barriers to business development.

This bill would eliminate the unnecessary State regulation of ammonia refrigeration operations, with the understanding that the federal regulatory and enforcement framework is better suited to protect the public and environment from any potential harm caused by anhydrous ammonia refrigeration operations in the State. Anhydrous ammonia would still be regulated under the TCPA if it is used for purposes other than refrigeration.

Current law requires the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development to license operators or persons in charge of facilities that operate boilers, pressure vessels, and refrigerating plants. This bill would eliminate specific licensing requirements for persons who operate refrigeration systems that use anhydrous ammonia. Current requirements place a significant economic burden on facilities using anhydrous ammonia as an industrial refrigerant and do not take into consideration the increased automation and safety features built into modern ammonia refrigeration systems. Moreover, the federal PSM standard and the RM Program regulations already include training requirements for refrigeration operators, making New Jersey's current licensing scheme unnecessary.