Chemical Facilities and Climate Change
GAO-22-104494, February 28, 2022
Through the Risk Management Plan program, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates approximately 11,000 facilities across the nation that make, use, or store extremely hazardous chemicals in amounts that could harm people, the environment, or property if accidentally released. These facilities include petroleum refineries, chemical manufacturers, and water and wastewater treatment plants.
Amid concerns about increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters, such as wildfires and storm surge, we identified Risk Management Plan facilities in areas that are already threatened by certain natural hazards. These hazards may be exacerbated by climate change, according to the National Climate Assessment.
Dots on the map represent 10,420 facilities we analyzed where the public would be affected by a hazardous chemical release. You can tap or click each dot to see the name of a facility, some basic information about it, and a list of natural hazards in the facility's location. You can also select a category of natural hazards below to highlight all facilities located in areas with each hazard. The colors correspond to the specific natural hazards.
Sources: GAO analysis of Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and U.S. Forest Service data and mapping data from ArcGIS and MapInfo.
Notes: For the purpose of this analysis, each facility is represented by an approximately 0.1-mile radius around the primary coordinate of the facility obtained from the EPA database, regardless of the actual area of the facility. RMP facilities self-report descriptive information about their facility, such as location, to EPA. Facilities for which data on selected natural hazards are not available are included in the "no hazard identified" categories. For example, wildfire data are not available outside the contiguous United States, storm surge data are not available for the West Coast of the United States, Alaska, or Pacific islands other than Hawaii, and sea level rise data are not available for Alaska. In addition, social vulnerability data is not available for all areas analyzed. We did not analyze facilities where a worst-case release of hazardous chemicals from the facility would not affect the public, facilities whose location information we assessed to be insufficiently reliable, facilities that have not submitted a Risk Management Plan to the Environmental Protection Agency during the last five years, or facilities that have been closed or deregistered during the last five years. The map does not provide the information necessary for assessing risks to human health or the environment at these facilities from the selected natural hazards.
For more information, read our report, GAO-22-104494.