[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 15]
[Revised as of July 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR68.3]

[Page 158-160]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
         CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)
 
PART 68_CHEMICAL ACCIDENT PREVENTION PROVISIONS--Table of Contents
 
                            Subpart A_General
 
Sec. 68.3  Definitions.

    For the purposes of this part:
    Accidental release means an unanticipated emission of a regulated 
substance or other extremely hazardous substance into the ambient air 
from a stationary source.
    Act means the Clean Air Act as amended (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.)
    Administrative controls mean written procedural mechanisms used for 
hazard control.
    Administrator means the administrator of the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency.
    AIChE/CCPS means the American Institute of Chemical Engineers/Center 
for Chemical Process Safety.
    API means the American Petroleum Institute.
    Article means a manufactured item, as defined under 29 CFR 
1910.1200(b), that is formed to a specific shape or design during 
manufacture, that has end use functions dependent in whole or in part 
upon the shape or design during end use, and that does not release or 
otherwise result in exposure to a regulated substance under normal 
conditions of processing and use.
    ASME means the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
    CAS means the Chemical Abstracts Service.
    Catastrophic release means a major uncontrolled emission, fire, or 
explosion, involving one or more regulated substances that presents 
imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and the 
environment.
    Classified information means ``classified information'' as defined 
in the Classified Information Procedures Act, 18 U.S.C. App. 3, section 
1(a) as ``any information or material that has been determined by the 
United States Government pursuant to an executive order, statute, or 
regulation, to require protection against unauthorized disclosure for 
reasons of national security.''
    Condensate means hydrocarbon liquid separated from natural gas that 
condenses due to changes in temperature, pressure, or both, and remains 
liquid at standard conditions.
    Covered process means a process that has a regulated substance 
present in more than a threshold quantity as determined under Sec. 
68.115.
    Crude oil means any naturally occurring, unrefined petroleum liquid.
    Designated agency means the state, local, or Federal agency 
designated by the state under the provisions of Sec. 68.215(d) .
    DOT means the United States Department of Transportation.
    Environmental receptor means natural areas such as national or state 
parks, forests, or monuments; officially designated wildlife 
sanctuaries, preserves, refuges, or areas; and Federal wilderness areas, 
that could be exposed at any time to toxic concentrations, radiant heat, 
or overpressure greater than or equal to the endpoints provided in Sec. 
68.22(a) , as a result of an accidental release and that can be 
identified on local U. S. Geological Survey maps.

[[Page 159]]

    Field gas means gas extracted from a production well before the gas 
enters a natural gas processing plant.
    Hot work means work involving electric or gas welding, cutting, 
brazing, or similar flame or spark-producing operations.
    Implementing agency means the state or local agency that obtains 
delegation for an accidental release prevention program under subpart E, 
40 CFR part 63. The implementing agency may, but is not required to, be 
the state or local air permitting agency. If no state or local agency is 
granted delegation, EPA will be the implementing agency for that state.
    Injury means any effect on a human that results either from direct 
exposure to toxic concentrations; radiant heat; or overpressures from 
accidental releases or from the direct consequences of a vapor cloud 
explosion (such as flying glass, debris, and other projectiles) from an 
accidental release and that requires medical treatment or 
hospitalization.
    Major change means introduction of a new process, process equipment, 
or regulated substance, an alteration of process chemistry that results 
in any change to safe operating limits, or other alteration that 
introduces a new hazard.
    Mechanical integrity means the process of ensuring that process 
equipment is fabricated from the proper materials of construction and is 
properly installed, maintained, and replaced to prevent failures and 
accidental releases.
    Medical treatment means treatment, other than first aid, 
administered by a physician or registered professional personnel under 
standing orders from a physician.
    Mitigation or mitigation system means specific activities, 
technologies, or equipment designed or deployed to capture or control 
substances upon loss of containment to minimize exposure of the public 
or the environment. Passive mitigation means equipment, devices, or 
technologies that function without human, mechanical, or other energy 
input. Active mitigation means equipment, devices, or technologies that 
need human, mechanical, or other energy input to function.
    NAICS means North American Industry Classification System.
    NFPA means the National Fire Protection Association.
    Natural gas processing plant (gas plant) means any processing site 
engaged in the extraction of natural gas liquids from field gas, 
fractionation of mixed natural gas liquids to natural gas products, or 
both, classified as North American Industrial Classification System 
(NAICS) code 211112 (previously Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 
code 1321).
    Offsite means areas beyond the property boundary of the stationary 
source, and areas within the property boundary to which the public has 
routine and unrestricted access during or outside business hours.
    OSHA means the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 
Owner or operator means any person who owns, leases, operates, controls, 
or supervises a stationary source.
    Petroleum refining process unit means a process unit used in an 
establishment primarily engaged in petroleum refining as defined in 
NAICS code 32411 for petroleum refining (formerly SIC code 2911) and 
used for the following: Producing transportation fuels (such as 
gasoline, diesel fuels, and jet fuels), heating fuels (such as kerosene, 
fuel gas distillate, and fuel oils), or lubricants; Separating 
petroleum; or Separating, cracking, reacting, or reforming intermediate 
petroleum streams. Examples of such units include, but are not limited 
to, petroleum based solvent units, alkylation units, catalytic 
hydrotreating, catalytic hydrorefining, catalytic hydrocracking, 
catalytic reforming, catalytic cracking, crude distillation, lube oil 
processing, hydrogen production, isomerization, polymerization, thermal 
processes, and blending, sweetening, and treating processes. Petroleum 
refining process units include sulfur plants.
    Population means the public.
    Process means any activity involving a regulated substance including 
any use, storage, manufacturing, handling, or on-site movement of such 
substances, or combination of these activities. For the purposes of this 
definition, any group of vessels that are interconnected, or separate 
vessels

[[Page 160]]

that are located such that a regulated substance could be involved in a 
potential release, shall be considered a single process.
    Produced water means water extracted from the earth from an oil or 
natural gas production well, or that is separated from oil or natural 
gas after extraction.
    Public means any person except employees or contractors at the 
stationary source.
    Public receptor means offsite residences, institutions (e.g., 
schools, hospitals), industrial, commercial, and office buildings, 
parks, or recreational areas inhabited or occupied by the public at any 
time without restriction by the stationary source where members of the 
public could be exposed to toxic concentrations, radiant heat, or 
overpressure, as a result of an accidental release.
    Regulated substance is any substance listed pursuant to section 
112(r)(3) of the Clean Air Act as amended, in Sec. 68.130.
    Replacement in kind means a replacement that satisfies the design 
specifications.
    Retail facility means a stationary source at which more than one-
half of the income is obtained from direct sales to end users or at 
which more than one-half of the fuel sold, by volume, is sold through a 
cylinder exchange program.
    RMP means the risk management plan required under subpart G of this 
part.
    Stationary source means any buildings, structures, equipment, 
installations, or substance emitting stationary activities which belong 
to the same industrial group, which are located on one or more 
contiguous properties, which are under the control of the same person 
(or persons under common control), and from which an accidental release 
may occur. The term stationary source does not apply to transportation, 
including storage incident to transportation, of any regulated substance 
or any other extremely hazardous substance under the provisions of this 
part. A stationary source includes transportation containers used for 
storage not incident to transportation and transportation containers 
connected to equipment at a stationary source for loading or unloading. 
Transportation includes, but is not limited to, transportation subject 
to oversight or regulation under 49 CFR parts 192, 193, or 195, or a 
state natural gas or hazardous liquid program for which the state has in 
effect a certification to DOT under 49 U.S.C. section 60105. A 
stationary source does not include naturally occurring hydrocarbon 
reservoirs. Properties shall not be considered contiguous solely because 
of a railroad or pipeline right-of-way.
    Threshold quantity means the quantity specified for regulated 
substances pursuant to section 112(r)(5) of the Clean Air Act as 
amended, listed in Sec. 68.130 and determined to be present at a 
stationary source as specified in Sec. 68.115 of this part.
    Typical meteorological conditions means the temperature, wind speed, 
cloud cover, and atmospheric stability class, prevailing at the site 
based on data gathered at or near the site or from a local 
meteorological station.
    Vessel means any reactor, tank, drum, barrel, cylinder, vat, kettle, 
boiler, pipe, hose, or other container.
    Worst-case release means the release of the largest quantity of a 
regulated substance from a vessel or process line failure that results 
in the greatest distance to an endpoint defined in Sec. 68.22(a).

[59 FR 4493, Jan. 31, 1994, as amended at 61 FR 31717, June 20, 1996; 63 
FR 644, Jan. 6, 1998; 64 FR 979, Jan. 6, 1999; 65 FR 13250, Mar. 13, 
2000]