This morning, September 23, 2016, the US Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. agreed with the Ag Retailers Association and The Fertilizer Institute that OSHA did not follow proper procedures in determining that ag retail anhydrous ammonia facilities are subject to Process Safety Management (PSM) regulations.  The court's decision is summarized here:

 

"Under our decisions, when an action by OSHA corrects a particular hazard, as opposed to adjusting procedures for detection or enforcement, it amounts to a "standard."  Applying that understanding, we conclude that the agency's narrowing of the substantive scope of the exemption for retail facilities qualified as an issuance of a "standard."  We therefore have jurisdiction, and OSHA was required to adhere to notice-and-comment procedures.  Consequently, we grant the petitions for review and vacate OSHA's action."

 

This means that action by OSHA to apply PSM to retail ammonia facilities is vacated, or set aside, for the time being.  The October 1, 2016 compliance date for PSM at ag retail ammonia facilities is also not enforceable at this time.  We will have to wait and see what OSHA's next steps will be.   IFCA will keep you posted.  ARA and TFI's argument all along was that this decision by OSHA to apply PSM to ag retail facilities, without going through a transparent rulemaking process and taking public comments, was not justified. 

 

In the meantime, the rules here in Illinois requiring upgrades to anhydrous ammonia facilities to keep our systems current with the national standards and to enhance safety went in effect on July 1, 2016 and there are workshops planned in October to review these regulations in detail.  The dates for these workshops are:

 

October 4 @ KC Hall in Effingham

October 5 @ Asmark Agricenter in Bloomington

October 6 @ Mendota Civic Center in Mendota

 

Please call the Illinois Department of Ag at 217.782.3817 to register for one of these classes.  Classes begin at 8:30 am and run till noon, and are free of charge.  Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn about the compliance requirements, deadlines and methods to assure compliance for ammonia storage tanks and application procedures/equipment.  As always if you have questions about anhydrous ammonia please call IFCA at 309.827.2774.