Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)

The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986 created the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA, also known as SARA Title III), a statute designed to improve community access to information about chemical hazards and to facilitate the development of chemical emergency response plans by State and local governments. EPCRA required the establishment of State emergency response commissions (SERCs), responsible for coordinating certain emergency response activities and for appointing local emergency planning committees (LEPCs).

EPCRA and the EPCRA regulations (40 CFR Parts 350-372) establish four types of reporting obligations for facilities that store or manage specified chemicals:

• EPCRA §302 requires facilities to notify the SERC and LEPC of the presence of any extremely hazardous substance (the list of such substances is in 40 CFR Part 355, Appendices A and B) if it has such substance in excess of the substance's threshold planning quantity, and directs the facility to appoint an emergency response coordinator.
• EPCRA §304 requires the facility to notify the SERC and the LEPC in the event of a release equaling or exceeding the reportable quantity of a CERCLA hazardous substance or an EPCRA extremely hazardous substance.
• EPCRA §311 and §312 require a facility at which a hazardous chemical, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, is present in an amount exceeding a specified threshold to submit to the SERC, LEPC and local fire department material safety data sheet (MSDSs) or lists of MSDS's and hazardous chemical inventory forms (also known as Tier I and II forms). This information helps the local government respond in the event of a spill or release of the chemical.
• EPCRA §313 requires manufacturing facilities included in SIC codes 20 through 39, as well as SIC codes 10, 12, 4911, 4931, 4939, 4953, 5169, 5171, and 7389, which have ten or more employees, and which manufacture, process, or use specified chemicals in amounts greater than threshold quantities, to submit an annual toxic chemical release report. This report, known commonly as the Form R, covers releases and transfers of toxic chemicals to various facilities and environmental media, and allows EPA to compile the national Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) database.

Since local governments do not have operations that fall within the identified SIC codes, they are not subject to §313 reporting requirements.

All information submitted pursuant to EPCRA regulations is publicly accessible, unless protected by a trade secret claim.

Local governments may store and use hazardous chemicals in various operations. Hazardous chemicals may be used as refrigerants, for cleaning, for disinfecting, or for other maintenance activities. If a local government stores or uses specified amounts of certain chemicals, it may be subject to planning and reporting requirements of EPCRA.

The table below provides an overview of the regulatory requirements local governments may have under EPCRA. Due to the range of types and quantities of chemicals used by local governments in these activities, the requirements will vary based on their applicability to how particular functions are conducted.