EPA's residual risk program has long been a source of interest and concern for the regulated community. This is more pronounced for petroleum refineries, as EPA has been performing refinery residual risk assessments for over a decade. EPA is scheduled to propose a residual risk decision for refineries in December 2011. This paper reviews the statutory basis for this residual risk program, along with the approaches EPA uses to address the related Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements. The paper examines the types of risk assessments and analyses that have been conducted in recent residual risk rulemakings and that are expected to be conducted for refineries. It will discuss the uncertainties in the assessments, focusing on the source input parameters that most significantly impact risk. It also discusses how EPA considers the results of the assessments and analyses in regulatory decisions.
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