1. (a) The owner or operator shall conduct an HCA for all existing processes. The HCA for existing processes shall be performed in accordance with the following schedule, and may be performed in conjunction with the PHA schedule:

   1. (1) No less than 50% of existing processes within three (3) years of the effective date of this Article;
   2. (2) Remaining processes within five (5) years of the effective date of this Article.

2. (b) The owner or operator shall also conduct an HCA in a timely manner in the following instances:

   1. (1) For all PHA recommendations for each scenario that identifies the potential for a major incident;
   2. (2) Whenever a major change is proposed at a facility, the owner or operator shall conduct an HCA as part of a Management of Change review required by section 5110.9;
   3. (3) When a major incident occurs, the owner or operator shall complete an HCA on the recommendations of the incident investigation report required by section 5110.12; and
   4. (4) During the design and review of new processes, new process units, and new facilities, and their related process equipment. An HCA report prepared for this purpose shall be provided to the UPA. The UPA shall make these HCA reports available to the public by posting them on the UPA's website within 30 calendar days, with appropriate protections for trade secret information.
3. (c) All HCAs shall be updated consistent with the requirements of this section at least once every five years, in conjunction with the PHA schedule.
4. (d) An HCA shall be performed, updated, and documented by a team with expertise in engineering and process operations and the team shall include at least one operating employee who currently works on the process and has experience and knowledge specific to the process being evaluated. The team shall also include one member knowledgeable in the HCA method being used. The owner or operator shall provide for employee participation in this process, pursuant to section 5110.13. As necessary, the team shall consult with individuals with expertise in damage mechanisms, process chemistry, and control systems.

5. (e) The HCA team shall:

   1. (1) Include all risk-relevant data for each process or recommendation, including incident investigation reports pursuant to section 5110.12;
   2. (2) Identify, characterize and prioritize each process safety hazard.
   3. (3) Identify, analyze, and document all inherent safety measures and safeguards (or where appropriate, combinations of measures and safeguards) in an iterative manner to reduce each hazard to the greatest extent feasible. Identify, analyze, and document relevant, publicly available information on inherent safety measures and safeguards.

6. (f) For each process safety hazard identified using the analysis required by subdivision (e), the team shall develop written recommendations in the following sequence and priority order.

   1. (1) Eliminate hazards to the greatest extent feasible using first order inherent safety measures;
   2. (2) Reduce any remaining hazards to the greatest extent feasible using second order inherent safety measures;
   3. (3) Effectively reduce remaining risks using passive safeguards;
   4. (4) Effectively reduce remaining risks using active safeguards; and
   5. (5) Effectively reduce remaining risks using procedural safeguards.

   The HCA team shall consider all process safety hazards that may be impacted by a particular safety measure or safeguard and shall select those safety measures or safeguards that, in the team's judgment, are most effective at reducing all such process safety hazards.

7. (g) The HCA team shall complete an HCA report within 90 calendar days following development of the recommendations. The report shall include:

   1. (1) A description of the composition, experience, and expertise of the members of the team that performed the HCA;
   2. (2) A description of the methodology used by the team;
   3. (3) A description of each process safety hazard analyzed by the team, pursuant to subdivision (e)(2) above;
   4. (4) A description of the inherent safety measure(s) and safeguards analyzed by the team, pursuant to subdivision (e)(3) above;
   5. (5) The rationale for the inherent safety measures and safeguards recommended by the team for each process safety hazard, pursuant to subsection (f);and
   6. (6) The rationale for not recommending any inherent safety measures and safeguards analyzed by the team and identified pursuant to subsection (e)(3).
8. (h) The owner or operator shall follow the corrective action work process documented in subsections 5110.19(d) and (e) when resolving the HCA team's finding and recommendations determining corrective action for implementation, tracking to completion, and documentation of closeout.
9. (i) The owner or operator shall retain all HCA reports for the life of each process.

Note: Authority cited: Sections 25531, 25533 and 25534.05, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 25531, 25531.2, 25534, 25535 and 25535.1, Health and Safety Code.

History

1. Change without regulatory effect renumbering section 2762.13 to new section 5110.16, including amendment of subsections (b)(2)-(3), (d), (e)(1) and (h), filed 3-6-2024 (Register 2024, No. 10).

2. Amendment of subsections (e)(3) and (f), new subsections (f)(1)-(2) and subsection renumbering, amendment of subsections (g)(4)-(5), new subsection (g)(6) and amendment of Note filed 4-10-2026; operative 7-1-2026 (Register 2026, No. 15).