The 5-Year Accident History (40 CFR 68.42) is one of the most heavily scrutinized sections of the Risk Management Plan. EPA inspectors compare submitted histories against EPCRA Section 304 records, NRC notifications, state agency reports, and OSHA injury logs — gaps and inconsistencies are routinely cited. The history is not assembled only at submission time. It is a rolling record that must be maintained continuously, with each qualifying release added as it occurs and older releases falling off as the five-year window advances. This guide covers the reportability criteria, required data fields, reconciliation with other reporting rules, and how to maintain the history without scrambling.
What the History Captures
The 5-Year Accident History is a list of every accidental release of a regulated substance from a covered process during the most recent five years that resulted in specific consequence thresholds being met. It appears in Section 6 of the RMP submission and is publicly available through EPA reading rooms and the RMP search tool.
Reportability Criteria (40 CFR 68.42(a))
A release qualifies for the 5-year accident history if both of these are true:
Condition 1: Regulated substance from a covered process
The release must involve a substance listed at 40 CFR 68.130 (the regulated substances list) released from a covered process. See our guide to regulated substances for the full list. Releases of non-listed chemicals or releases from non-covered processes (e.g., chemicals below threshold quantity) are not in scope, though they may still be reportable under other rules.
Condition 2: Specified consequences occurred
The release must have caused at least one of the following:
- On-site: deaths, injuries (treatment beyond first aid), or significant property damage
- Offsite: known deaths, injuries, evacuations, sheltering in place, property damage, or environmental damage
If both conditions are met, the release must be included. If either is missing, it is not required in the 5-year history (but document the basis for excluding borderline cases).
What Counts as Each Consequence
| Consequence | What Qualifies |
|---|---|
| On-site deaths | Any fatality of a worker, contractor, or visitor on-site, where the death is causally connected to the release |
| On-site injuries | Injuries requiring medical treatment beyond first aid — aligns with the OSHA 300 log threshold for recordable injuries |
| Significant property damage | Damage above a threshold the facility must define and document — commonly a dollar threshold (e.g., $25,000) or a category (any equipment failure requiring replacement) |
| Offsite deaths or injuries | Same as on-site, but for members of the public outside the facility boundary |
| Evacuation | Any offsite area cleared of occupants in response to the release, regardless of duration or area size |
| Sheltering in place | Any official direction or community advisory to remain indoors due to the release |
| Offsite property damage | Damage to offsite buildings, vehicles, or other property attributable to the release |
| Environmental damage | Documented harm to wildlife, vegetation, soil, or water, including fish kills and contaminated runoff — "documented" means observed and recorded, not just possible |
Required Information per Release (40 CFR 68.42(b))
For each qualifying release, RMP*eSubmit Section 6 captures specific data. Build your incident investigation procedure to gather all of this at the time of the event — reconstructing it years later from memory is unreliable.
Date and timing
- Date of the release
- Time of the release
- Approximate duration of the release
Substance and quantity
- Chemical(s) released (CAS number where applicable)
- Estimated quantity released (in pounds)
Release type
One of: gas release, liquid spill with evaporation, fire, explosion, or other.
Weather at the time
- Wind speed and direction
- Temperature
- Atmospheric stability class
- Precipitation conditions
Pull from on-site weather instrumentation if available, otherwise from the nearest National Weather Service station for the time of the release.
Impacts
On-site deaths, on-site injuries, on-site property damage value; offsite deaths, offsite injuries, evacuations (number of people, area), sheltering in place (number of people, area), offsite property damage value, environmental damage description.
Initiating event and contributing factors
The proximate cause of the release (equipment failure, human error, weather, external event) and the contributing factors identified through root cause analysis (training gaps, procedure deficiencies, supervision, design, MOC failures, etc.).
Notifications
Whether off-site emergency responders were notified, and the time of notification.
Changes implemented
Operational, process, or system changes implemented after the release. EPA looks for evidence that the facility actually learned from the event — an empty "changes" field for a serious release is a finding waiting to happen.
RMP vs EPCRA Section 304: Reconciliation
Many releases that qualify for the RMP 5-year history are also reportable under EPCRA Section 304 (immediate notification to LEPC and NRC for releases of CERCLA hazardous substances or extremely hazardous substances above reportable quantities). The two reporting regimes overlap but are not identical.
What EPCRA 304 requires
Immediate notification (within 15 minutes when feasible) to the local LEPC and the National Response Center for any release of a CERCLA hazardous substance or EPCRA EHS above its reportable quantity. Triggered by quantity, not by consequence.
What RMP accident history requires
Inclusion in the rolling 5-year history if the release was from a covered process and met the consequence thresholds. Triggered by consequence, not just quantity.
Where they overlap
Many serious releases hit both criteria — large enough to exceed the EPCRA reportable quantity and serious enough to trigger RMP consequence thresholds. EPA inspectors compare your RMP submission against publicly available EPCRA 304 notifications. Discrepancies (a release reported under EPCRA but missing from RMP, or vice versa) are common findings.
Where they diverge
A small release that exceeded the EPCRA RQ but caused no qualifying consequences is reportable under EPCRA but not in RMP history. A consequence-triggering release of a regulated RMP substance that was below the EPCRA RQ is in RMP history but not EPCRA-reportable. Track each rule separately and reconcile.
The Empty History: When You Have No Reportable Releases
Marking the section as empty
RMP*eSubmit allows facilities to certify that no qualifying releases occurred in the 5-year period. The submission still requires this affirmative statement — it is not silently empty.
Document the basis
Even with no qualifying releases, document how that determination was made. Maintain a record of every incident reviewed during the 5-year period (including near-misses and minor releases), the criteria applied, and the conclusion that none qualified. EPA inspectors at facilities with empty histories ask for this documentation routinely.
Cross-check against incident logs
Reconcile against your incident management system, EPCRA notification log, OSHA 300 log, and state environmental agency reports. An empty RMP history alongside multiple incidents in the underlying systems requires explanation.
Common Reporting Mistakes
SCCAP Considerations
The 2024 SCCAP final rule reinforces the link between accident history and root cause analysis. Under SCCAP:
Root cause analysis required for incident investigations
Incident investigations under Program 2 and 3 must use a recognized root cause methodology. The depth of investigation feeds the contributing factors entry in the accident history. Surface-level cause statements no longer suffice.
Third-party audit triggers
An RMP-reportable accident at a facility in certain higher-risk sectors triggers a third-party compliance audit requirement. Maintaining an accurate, defensible accident history matters not just for the RMP submission but for the operational consequences of the data within it.
How Software Maintains the History
Single incident system, multiple flags
Incident management software records every event in one database and applies multiple regulatory flags: RMP-reportable, EPCRA 304 reportable, OSHA recordable, state agency reportable, internal-only. A single incident lives in one place but reaches every report it must reach.
Automatic 5-year cutoff
The system automatically rolls qualifying releases on and off the 5-year history as time passes. At RMP submission, the history exported is current as of the submission date with no manual reconciliation.
Linked corrective actions
Changes implemented after a release are tracked through linked corrective actions, MOCs, and PHA findings. The "changes implemented" field in the RMP history is populated from real records, not narrative reconstruction.
EPCRA cross-reconciliation
EPCRA 304 notifications are recorded in the same incident system. At RMP submission, a reconciliation report flags any EPCRA-reportable release that does not have a corresponding RMP entry, and vice versa.
Ecesis Software for Accident History
Incident Management
Single incident system with RMP, EPCRA, OSHA, and state flags
EPA RMP Software
5-year history rolled forward automatically and ready at submission
PSM Software
Integrated PSM and RMP incident investigations and root cause
Compliance Calendar
EPCRA 304 notifications, RMP submission cycles, and reconciliation
Corrective Actions
Changes implemented after releases tracked to closure
Document Management
Investigation reports and supporting evidence
