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III.C. Public Safety
In terms of public safety operations, local governments are responsible for providing emergency planning and response to releases of hazardous substances, fire protection, and police protection. Emergency planning activities include analyzing community hazards and developing a local emergency response plan to prepare for and respond to chemical emergencies. While also involved in emergency planning, fire department activities include fire suppression and hazardous materials response.
Local governments have the basic responsibility for understanding risk posed by chemicals at the local level, managing and reducing those risks, and dealing with emergencies. Local governments must meet requirements both as regulated entities and as regulators under EPCRA. These activities related to emergency planning and chemical information are presented below:
· Activities with aspects regulated under EPCRA:
- Emergency planning
- Providing information from hazardous chemical inventories, emergency release notifications, and toxic chemical release reporting to the public.
Emergency Planning
Under the emergency planning section of EPCRA, local governments must prepare for and respond to emergencies involving hazardous substances. Local governments and fire departments are expected to participate in the local emergency planning efforts under EPCRA. LEPCs, appointed by SERCs for every local emergency planning district, are broadly representative of their communities and generally include representatives of elected local officials; law enforcement officials, civil defense workers, and firefighters; first aid, health, environment, and transportation workers; owners/operators of facilities; and community group representatives.
LEPCs must analyze community hazards and develop local emergency response plans to prepare for and respond to chemical emergencies. The focus for emergency planning for LEPCs is the list of 366 "extremely hazardous substances" identified by EPA as having immediate health effects and hazardous properties, but plans also address all hazardous materials in the community that present risks to public health and safety. These substances are found in some widely used insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers, photographic chemicals, and solvents, as well as in wastewater treatment and drinking water treatment processes.
Local emergency response plans lay out potential local hazards, response capabilities, and procedures to follow in an emergency. An emergency plan must include the identity and location of hazardous materials; procedures for immediate response to a chemical accident; ways to notify the public about actions they must take; names of coordinators at industrial plants; and schedules and plans for testing the plan. Initial plans were required by October 1988. The LEPC publicizes the plan through public meetings or newspaper announcements. In addition, the LEPC updates the plan at least annually based on chemical information reported by local industries and the public.
In addition to requirements imposed by federal law, local governments must comply with all applicable state and local right-to-know laws. State and local emergency response committees are permitted to impose requirements in addition to those imposed by EPCRA.
Local government operations may be required to develop risk management plans under CAA Section 112(r) if they store certain chemicals onsite. Sources that produce, process, handle, or store hazardous substances above threshold quantities will be required to implement a risk management plan to detect and prevent or minimize accidental releases. The list of chemicals contains 77 toxic substances and 63 flammable substances. Examples of the substances include anhydrous ammonia, chlorine, hydrochloric acid, methane, and propane. (Dowden et. al., 1994)
Providing Chemical Information to the Public
Under EPCRA, LEPCs receive hazardous chemical inventory and emergency release information submitted by facilities and have access to toxic chemical release information supplied by facilities to EPA. LEPCs can provide all this information to local officials, community leaders, and the public to aid in preparing for emergencies and managing chemical risks.
· Hazardous Chemical Reporting. Under EPCRA, LEPCs receive hazardous chemical inventory information submitted by facilities and make it available to the public upon request. Facilities with chemicals that are present in excess of certain amounts are required to submit either actual copies of material safety data sheets (MSDSs) or lists of MSDS chemicals to the LEPC, the SERC, and the local fire department. This reporting requirement has been in effect since October 1987. In addition, these facilities must submit annual inventories on the same hazardous chemicals to the LEPC, the SERC, and the local fire department. These inventory forms are due on March 1 of each year. LEPCs make this information available to the public, and fire departments and public health officials use the information to plan for and respond to emergencies. It should be noted that local governments are subject to the reporting requirements, also. That is, if the local government has or uses any of the specific chemicals in excess of the threshold amounts, it, too, must report.
· Emergency Release Notification. Under EPCRA, LEPCs receive emergency release information submitted by facilities and make it available to the public upon request. A facility is required to immediately notify the community and the state (i.e., the LEPC and the SERC) of the release of more than a predetermined amount of certain hazardous chemicals. Chemicals covered by this requirement include not only the 366 "extremely hazardous substances," but also more than 700 hazardous substances subject to the emergency notification requirements of the Superfund hazardous waste cleanup law. The emergency release notification activates emergency plans and the information on emergency releases is considered in the LEPC planning process. As with the above, local governments are subject to this notification requirement, also.
· Toxic Chemical Release Reporting. LEPCs have access to an EPA database called the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) which contains information on annual toxic chemical releases submitted by certain facilities. Under EPCRA, specific facilities must estimate and report each year the total amount of toxic chemicals that they release into the environment, either accidentally or as a result of routine plant operations, or transport as waste to another location. EPA compiles this information into the database, which is accessible to the public and LEPCs. The annual release data are used, along with the other information the LEPC receives, to put together a more complete picture of the hazardous substances in each district.
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