Pollution Prevention (P2) Rule and Planning Requirements

Importance of the P2 Plan Rule

Why worry about implementing P2 activities at your place of business if you are storing, generating or creating contaminants?

• Without the implementation of P2 activities after the effective date, owners/operations will not be eligible to take advantage of the VRP and voluntarily cleanup contaminants.

• Important benefits of the VRP, that are not available through any other DEQ program, include issuance of liability assurances after successful site cleanup, the possibility of calculating site-specific soil cleanup levels, and the ability to petition for a Use Control Area, under certain circumstances.

• Preventing accidental releases of contaminants can:

  • Save money by not wasting materials
  • Save money that would otherwise be spent cleaning up the resulting contamination that can occur to soils, surface water and groundwater on your property or your neighbor's property - this can be VERY expensive and take months to years to accomplish; and
  • Prevent exposing employees and the public to the potentially harmful health effects resulting from contact with certain spilled chemicals        

History and P2 Applicability

When creating the Wyoming VRP, the Wyoming Legislature recognized the need for facility owners and operators to do all they can to prevent contaminants from being released to the environment.  As a result, to encourage pollution prevention activities, the Legislature added the requirement that facilities must implement a written P2 Plan or "alternative minimum pollution prevention operating standards" to be eligible for VRP participation.

The P2 Plan rule establishes two categories of "facilities," each with a different level of required P2 Plan documentation as a condition of VRP eligibility. 

Category 1 includes sites or facilities that are:

• large quantity generators (LQGs) of hazardous waste, regulated under Chapter 8 of the Wyoming Hazardous Waste Management Rules and Regulations

• required to have a Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan;

• required to have a DOT Response Plan or Emergency Response Plan;

• subject to EPA's "Toxic Chemical Release Reporting" requirements;

• regulated under Chapters 10 or 11 of the Wyoming Hazardous Waste Management Rules and Regulations (as an interim status or permitted waste treatment, storage or disposal facilities); or

• regulated by the DEQ's Storage Tank Program (STP); VRP eligibility is applicable only for releases from sources other than the regulated tanks.

To be considered for participation in the VRP, these facilities will be required to be implementing a formal, written P2 Plan in accordance with the time frames established in the P2 Plan Rule.

Category 2 includes any other site or facility - storing, using or generating contaminants - that does not meet the threshold classifications listed above.  To be considered for participation in the VRP, these facilities must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the DEQ Administrator that they are implementing the alternative minimum pollution prevention operating standards (described in the rule) in accordance with the time frames established in the P2 Plan Rule.

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