Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) are crucial to the success of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.
Appointed by State Emergency Response Commissions (SERCs), local planning committees must consist of representatives of all of the following groups and organizations: elected state and local officials; law enforcement, civil defense, firefighting, first aid, health, local environmental, and transportation agencies; hospitals; broadcast and print media; community groups; and representatives of facilities subject to the emergency planning and community right-to-know requirements. In Missouri, the SERC is known as the Missouri Emergency Response Commission (MERC).
The LEPC's initial task was to develop an emergency plan to prepare for and respond to chemical emergencies. EPA's list of extremely hazardous substances can provide the focus for setting priorities. Because the LEPC's members represent the community, they are be familiar with factors that affect public safety, the environment, and the economy of the community.
An emergency plan must include the identity and location of hazardous materials, procedures for immediate response to chemical accidents, ways to notify the public about actions they must take, names of company contacts, and schedules and plans for testing the plan. The MERC reviews the plan and the LEPC must test the plan through emergency exercises and update it at least annually.
The LEPC has other responsibilities besides developing an emergency response plan. It receives emergency release and hazardous chemical inventory information submitted by local facilities, and must make this information available to the public upon request. To obtain facility information from the Franklin County LEPC, interested persons must write the committee at #1 Bruns Lane, Union, MO 63084, stating the nature of their request. The LEPC charges a nominal fee for this service.
LEPCs have the authority to request additional information from facilities for their own planning purposes or on behalf of others. LEPCs can visit facilities in the community to find out what they are doing to reduce hazards, prepare for accidents, and reduce hazardous inventories and releases. LEPCs can take civil actions against facilities if they fail to provide the information required under the act.
In addition to its formal responsibilities, the LEPC serves as a focal point in the community for information and discussions about hazardous substances, emergency planning, and health and environmental risks due to hazardous substances. Citizens can expect the LEPC to reply to questions about chemical hazards and risk management actions.
An LEPC can most effectively carry out its responsibilities as a community forum by taking steps to educate the public about chemical risks, and working with facilities to minimize those risks. However, an LEPC's ability to improve the safety and health of its community is only as effective as the support it receives from an informed and active citizenry.
Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (EPCRA)
In 1986, Congress enacted the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) in an effort to enhance community awareness of and planning for the potential danger posed by hazardous chemicals.
On December 4, 1984, a cloud of methyl isocyanate gas, an extremely toxic chemical, escaped from a Union Carbide chemical plant in Bhopal, India. More than 2,500 people lost their lives. Tens of thousands more were injured, some suffering permanent disabilities.
Americans asked: "Could it happen here?"
A chemical release in West Virginia shortly after the Bhopal tragedy, though not nearly as serious as Bhopal, made the question even more urgent.
Even before 1984, there were groups trained to deal with chemical emergencies at the federal, state and local levels -- the National Response Team, Regional Response Teams, state and local response teams, and others. But there was no mandatory national program, nor were there comprehensive state and local programs everywhere in the country to deal with chemical accidents.
The Environmental Protection Agency established the voluntary Chemical Emergency Preparedness Program (CEPP) to raise state and local awareness of the potential for accidents involving extremely hazardous substances and to foster development of state and local emergency plans.
At the same time, the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA), an industry group, set up a voluntary program called Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER). The CAER program encourages plant managers to become more involved in their plant's operations and participating in local emergency planning.
Environmental and labor groups became more active in working toward local and national legislation to protect against chemical accidents.
More than 30 states passed laws (some before Bhopal) giving workers and citizens access to information about hazardous substances in their work places and communities. There were differences in these laws, but most required reporting of toxic chemical releases and the presence of hazardous substances. In some cases, that information is made available to the public.
With these and other efforts in mind, Congress enacted the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. The law makes many of these voluntary programs mandatory. The federal law does not preempt states or local communities from having more stringent or additional requirements. It requires that detailed information about the nature of hazardous substances in or near communities be made available to the public. The law also provides stiff penalties for companies that do not comply, and it allows citizens to file lawsuits against companies and government agencies to force them to obey the law.
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act contains four major provisions:
Highlights Of The Law
Emergency Planning (Sections 301-303):
Emergency Release Notification (Section 304):
Hazardous Chemical Reporting (Sections 311 - 312):
Toxic Chemical Release Reporting (Section 313):
Trade Secrets (Section 322):
Penalties and Citizen Suits (Sections 325 - 326):
Reporting Hazardous Materials Inventories: Tier II Reports
Under EPCRA, certain persons or businesses with hazardous chemicals or extremely hazardous substances are required to provide inventory information to the Missouri Emergency Response Commission (MERC), their local fire department, and the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). Missouri has adopted the Tier II form as a means to comply with EPCRA.
Who must submit this form? The owner or operator of a facility where hazardous chemicals are used, produced, or stored must submit a Tier II form if the quantity of hazardous chemicals on hand exceeds specific thresholds.
What chemicals must be reported? Hazardous chemicals that must be reported include any substances for which a facility must keep material safety data sheets (MSDS) under OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard. If a facility has more than 10,000 pounds of a hazardous chemical on hand at any one time during the calendar year, the chemical must be reported on the Tier II form.
When are the Tier II report due? The Tier II reports and fees are due annually by March 1. Local governments, family farms, and petroleum businesses who pay federal transportation fees are exempt from paying fees. Bulk fertilizers are also exempt. The fees are used to support LEPCs in their prevention and preparedness activities, hazardous materials response training, and to administer the program.
In addition, extremely hazardous substances as specified in 40 CFR Part 355 must be reported on the Tier II form if a facility has more than 500 pounds or the threshold planning quantity on hand at any one time during the calendar year.
Under Missouri law, explosives and blasting agents in excess of 100 pounds must be reported to the fire department within 24 hours of being present at a facility. If storage is longer than 15 days, these substances must be reported to the MERC, local fire department, and the LEPC. This requirement does not apply to materials in transit provided the carrier is in compliance with US Department of Transportation regulations.
Franklin County Facilities With Extremely Hazardous Substances
Beaufort
AT & T Telephone Company - EHS: Sulfuric Acid
Gray Summit
AT & T Telephone Company - EHS: Sulfuric Acid
Longview Animal Nutrition Center - EHS: Anhydrous Ammonia
Labadie
Ameren Union Electric - EHS: Hydrazine, Sulfuric Acid
Straatmann Feed & Transfer, Inc. - EHS: Anhydrous Ammonia
New Haven
Backes & Toelke Agri. Products - EHS: Anhydrous Ammonia
GDX Automotive - EHS: Sulfuric Acid
Pacific
AT & T Telephone Company - EHS: Sulfuric Acid
Altivity - EHS: Sulfuric Acid
Amteco - EHS: Ammonia (less than reportable quantity)
Baker's Ice - EHS: Anhydrous Ammonia
Integram - St. Louis Seating - EHS: Sulfuric Acid
Madison Warehouse Corporation - EHS: Sulfuric Acid
St. Clair
AT & T Telephone Company - EHS: Sulfuric Acid
Sullivan
AT & T Telephone Company - EHS: Sulfuric Acid
Aerofil Techonology, Inc. - EHS: Hydrogen Peroxide (>52% concentration)
Huggins Metal Finishing - EHS: Nitric Acid, Sulfuric Acid
Union
AT & T Telephone Company - EHS: Sulfuric Acid
Crystal Ice & Fuel - EHS: Anhydrous Ammonia, Chlorine
Huellinghoff Bros. - EHS: Anhydrous Ammonia
Pharma Tech Industries, Inc. - EHS: Sulfuric Acid
Quest Union Region - EHS: Sulfuric Acid
Well #5 - EHS: Chlorine
Washington
AT & T Telephone Company - EHS: Sulfuric Acid
Frick's Meat Products - EHS: Anhydrous Ammonia
M&R Plating - EHS: Sulfuric Acid
MFA Plant Foods - EHS: Anhydrous Ammonia
Shure Manufacturing Corporation - EHS: Sulfuric Acid
Sporlan Valve Plant #1 - EHS: Nitric Acid
Sporlan Valve Plant #3 - EHS: Nitric Acid
Tradco, Inc. - EHS: Hydrofluoric Acid, Nitric Acid