Washington—ResponsibleAg, the nonprofit industry initiative founded in 2014 to promote the safe storage and handling of fertilizer, announced on Sept. 6 that Yara’s West Sacramento Terminal in California on Aug. 29 became the 1,000th audit performed under the program, which now has enrolled more than 2,100 facilities. “Yara places a high importance on compliance and safety throughout our activities, and our association with ResponsibleAg has supported us in this effort,” said Jørgen C. Arentz Rostrup, president of Yara North America Inc. “We have a responsibility to the industry and to our communities to be safe and secure, and we encourage the entire industry to continue to share these goals and to work along the principles of ResponsibleAg.” Launched in the wake of the April 2013 West Fertilizer Co. explosion in West, Texas, ResponsibleAg provides regulatory compliance assessments for agribusinesses to assist them in meeting federal environmental, health, safety, and security requirements regarding the safe handling and storage of fertilizer products. The assessment checklist contains more than 320 questions and was developed by a technical committee comprised of industry, regulatory, and safety professionals. Auditors credentialed under the ResponsibleAg Certification Program use the checklist to assess compliance with federal regulations at participating facilities, and to recommend corrective actions where needed. “Fertilizer retailers, distributors, and suppliers have stepped up to the plate to show – as an industry – how committed we are to employee and community safety and security,” said J. Billy Pirkle, chairman of the ResponsibleAg board of directors. “This is a significant milestone for the organization, but we still have more work to do.” ResponsibleAg works closely with the Asmark Institute and maintains a training center and office in Owensboro, Ky.