&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste And
Emergency Response
(OS-120)
OSWER 92-009
April 1992
Title III On Indian Lands:
A Guide To The
Emergency Planning And
Community Right-To-Know Act
Chemical Emergency Preparedness
And Prevention Office (CEPPO)
Technical Assistance Bulletin
Volume 10, Number 2
About This Bulletin...
I
PART ONE: How Title III Works
I
In 1986 Congress passed a law to help local
communities, including Indian reservations, protect
public health and safety and the environment from
chemical hazards. This law, the Emergency Planning
and Community Right-to-Know Act, known as Title III of
the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act
(SARA), requires that detailed information about the .
nature of hazardous substances in or near reservations be
made available to the public and that comprehensive
emergency plans be prepared to deal with chemical
accidents. The law also provides stiff penalties for
companies that do not comply, and it allows citizens to
file lawsuits against companies and government and
Tribal agencies to force them to obey the law.
EPA published a rule-making in the Federal Register
(July 26, 1990) designating Indian Tribes and their chief
executive officers as the implementing authority for Title
HI on all Indian lands. EPA policy is to work with
Tribes on a "government-to-government" basis. Unless
Tribal leaders choose another of their various options to
comply with Title III, EPA will regard Federally
recognized Tribal reservations as a Tribal Emergency
Response Commission (TERC), with the same
responsibilities as States for carrying out provisions of
the law.
This bulletin is intended to make Indian leaders
familiar with Title III requirements and provide guidance
for complying with Title HI. The bulletin is divided into
three parts: (1) How Title III Works; (2) Resources
Available to TERCs and LEPCs Implementing Title III;
and (3) Everyone Is Involved in Title HI.
Title III contains four major provisions: (1) planning
for chemical emergencies, (2) emergency notification of
chemical accidents and releases, (3) reporting of
hazardous chemical inventories, and (4) toxic chemical
release reporting.
The law also deals with trade secrets, disclosure of
information to health professionals, and public access to
information gathered under the law. Each of the main
provisions of the law are described in this section.
1. Emergency Planning (Sections 301-303)
Tribal chief executive officers appoint Tribal emergency
response commissions (TERCs). Governors appoint
State emergency response commissions (SERCs).
TERCs (or SERCs) establish emergency planning
districts and appoint, supervise, and coordinate local
emergency planning committees (LEPCs).
Facilities notify TERCs (or SERCs) and LEPCs if they
have extremely hazardous substances present above
"threshold planning quantities," and participate in
emergency planning.
LEPCs develop local emergency response plans and
review them at least annually.
The emergency planning section of the law is designed
to help your reservation prepare for and respond to
emergencies involving hazardous substances. Every
community in the United States, including Indian
reservations, must be part of a comprehensive plan.
Printed on Recycled Paper
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Title in for Indian Lands
Page 2
Indian leaders may select one of the following options
in order to comply with, this part of Title HI:
1. Form an independent TERC and either appoint
a separate LEPC or act as a TERC/LEPC and
perform the same functions as a SERC and
LEPC respectively.
2. Indian Tribes may enter into cooperative
agreements with another Tribe or a consortium
of Tribes or the State within which its lands are
located to achieve a workable Title III program.
For the purposes of Title m, a cooperative agreement
is any formal agreement reached by the States and Tribes
that meets the needs of the parties to the agreement and
is entered into with full knowledge and consent. Each
agreement is expected to be unique and to meet the
specific needs of the parties. Some examples of these
would be the following:
A Memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the
SERC to become a Tribal LEPC or join an off-
reservation LEPC and coordinate with the
SERC
An MOA with the SERC to work with' the
SERC so that the Tribe implements some but
not all of the new law's requirements, while the
State implements the rest of the requirements.
a. Tribal Emergency Response Commission (TERC)
The TERC should include broad-based representation,
including Tribal public agencies and departments
concerned with issues related to environment, natural
resources, emergency services, public health, occupational
safety, and transportation, as well as any other groups
with interest in Title HI issues. If the Tribal chairperson
does not designate a TERC, the Tribal leader operates as
a TERC until a commission is appointed, and assumes all
responsibilities described for the TERC. Among the
TERC's duties are to:
Designate local emergency planning districts;
Appoint a local emergency planning committee
(LEPC) to serve each of the districts;
Coordinate and supervise LEPC activities;
Coordinate proposals for and distribution of
Federal training grant funds;
Review LEPC plans, recommending any needed
changes;
Notify EPA of all facilities covered under
emergency planning requirements, or designated
by the TERC as subject to the requirements;
Establish procedures for receiving and processing
public requests for information collected under
Title III;
Ask for further information about a particular
chemical or facility, when needed;
Request information from EPA on the health
effects of chemicals that EPA has agreed to
designate "trade secret,11 and ensure that this ,
information is available to the public; and
Take civil action against facility owners or
operators who fail to comply with reporting
requirements.
The TERC should ensure that its program is integrated
with the federal law in order to strengthen enforcement.
b. The Tribal LEPC
There may be a need for only one LEPC on a
reservation. The Tribal LEPC ~ whether it is
coordinating with a TERC or a SERC - should be
broadly representative of the community and include the
Tribal chief, elected Tribal officials, chairmen of
appropriate council committees, fire chief, emergency or
environmental manager, Indian Health Services (IHS)
official, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) official, local
news media representatives, Tribal elders, police chief,
school official, Tribal attorney, technical personnel or
first responder, pesticide officer, representatives of
railroads or trucking firms, representatives of chemical or
related industries on or near the reservation, and
community representatives.
The Tribal LEPC's first jobs are to get organized,
receive information, and analyze hazards. The
information submitted under Title III will enable the
LEPC to conduct a community hazards analysis,
identifying the types and locations of chemical hazards,
vulnerable areas and populations (e.g., children, elders,
and even livestock), and the risk of accidents and their
effects on the community. On most Indian reservations
in the past, chemical emergencies have resulted from
spills of chemicals in transit; as economic development
progresses, accidents from fixed facilities may become a
larger concern for Indian Tribes.
The list of 360 extremely hazardous substances (EHSs)
identified by EPA as having immediate health effects and
hazardous properties may serve as a focus for emergency
planning, but plans should address all hazardous
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Title III for Indian Lands
Page3
materials in the community that present risks to public
health and safety. These substances are found in some
widely used insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers,
preservatives, photographic chemicals, and solvents as
well as in wastewater treatment and drinking water
treatment processes.
The list of EHSs includes a threshold planning quantity
for each substance. If this amount or more of the
chemical is present at any manufacturing plant,
warehouse, hospital, farm, small business, or other
facility, the owner or operator must notify both the
TERC and the local emergency planning coordinator.
This lets the planners know what hazardous chemicals
are being used, stored, or transported on or near your
reservation.
Once the hazards have been analyzed, the LEPC can
work with local facilities to identify opportunities for
reducing risks (e.g., by reducing chemical inventories).
The LEPC will also prepare various potential accident
scenarios and develop a local emergency response plan
that must be exercised, reviewed annually, and updated.
As required by Title III, the plan should:
Contain an analysis of hazards on or near the
reservation, including both fixed facilities and
transportation routes;
Identify in detail the on-reservation and off-
reservation resources, both personnel and
equipment, available to respond to a chemical
emergency;
Designate a community coordinator and, where
appropriate, identify the facilities coordinator to
assist in preparing and implementing the plan;
Describe emergency response procedures;
Outline procedures for notifying the community
that a release has occurred;
Describe methods for determining the occurrence
of a release and the probable affected area and
population;
Outline evacuation plans;
Describe a training program for emergency
response personnel; and
Present methods and schedules for exercising
emergency plans.
Since membership on the LEPC is broad-based, the
LEPC should be familiar with the reservation; it should
know about the capacities of local hospitals, and about
the location of schools, nursing homes, and other special
considerations on the reservation. It should consider all
these factors in developing its emergency response plan.
Each facility's owner or operator must also name an
employee as facility coordinator, and that person must
participate in the planning process. The LEPC will
appoint an information coordinator who will receive and
process information as it is submitted to the committee
and make it available to the public.
The LEPC must publish notices and schedule public
meetings to give citizens an opportunity to comment on
the LEPC's activities. LEPC meetings will provide a
forum for discussions of how the reservation should
address hazardous situations identified during the
planning process. The LEPC must also conduct
emergency drills to make sure the plan will work if an
accident occurs.
TERCs must review local emergency plans to ensure
coordination across the reservation if there is more than
one LEPC, or if coordination with an LEPC beyond
reservation boundaries is necessary. EPA encourages
Indian Tribes, SERCs, and LEPCs to participate in joint
planning and cooperative efforts on a regular basis to
prepare for potential emergencies.
2. Emergency Release Notification (Section 304)
Facilities notify TERCs (or SERCs) and LEPCs
immediately of accidental releases of hazardous
substances in excess ofreportable quantities and provide
written reports on actions taken and on medical effects.
TERCs (or SERCs) and LEPCs make accidental release
information available to the public.
If there is a chemical accident at a commercial,
municipal, or other facility or on a transportation route
on your reservation, and if the accident results in the
release of any one of a large number of hazardous
substances, citizens have a right to know about it. Under
Title III, a facility, including facilities owned by the Tribe,
must immediately notify the Tribal LEPC and the TERC
of the release of more than the predetermined amount of
one of these chemicals. If the release results from a
transportation accident, the transporter can dial 911 or
the local telephone operator to report it. Chemicals
covered by this section include not only the 360 EHSs,
but also more than 700 hazardous substances subject to
the emergency notification requirements of the
Superfund hazardous waste cleanup law (some chemicals
are on both lists). Superfund requires notification of
releases to the National Response Center (NRC), which
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Tillc III for Indian Lands
Page 4
alerts federal responders. You can notify the NRC of
releases 24 hours a day by calling (800) 424-8802.
i
Immediate notification must include the name of the
chemical; the location of the release; whether the
chemical is an EHS; how much of the substance has been
released; the time and duration of the incident; whether
the chemical was released into the air, water, or soil, or
some combination of the three; known or anticipated
health risks and necessary medical attention; proper
precautions, such as evacuation; and a contact person at
the facility. The notification will activate emergency
plans.
The law also requires follow-up reporting. As soon as
practicable after the release, the facility coordinator must
submit a written report to both the LEPC and the
TERG The follow-up report must update the original
notification and provide additional information on
actual response actions taken, known or anticipated
health risks, and, if appropriate, advice regarding any
medical care needed by exposure victims. Information on
emergency releases will also be considered in the TERC
and LEPC planning process.
3, Right-to-Khow Reporting (Sections 311-312)
Facilities submit material safety data sheets (MSDSs) or
lists of hazardous chemicals on-site (above "threshold
quantities") to TERCs (orSERCs), LEPCs, and local
fire departments.
Facilities submit emergency and hazardous chemical
inventory forms (amounts and locations of chemicals) to
TERCs (or SERCs), LEPCs, and local fire departments.
TERCs (or SERCs) and LEPCs make hazardous
chemical information available to the public.
Information about accidental chemical releases is only
the beginning of the public's "right to know" about
hazardous substances. Citizens also have a right to
information about the amounts, location, and potential
effects of hazardous chemicals being used or stored on
the reservation. (For a description of the differences
among "hazardous chemicals," "extremely hazardous
substances," and "toxic chemicals," see the box "Lists of
Chemicals.11) Facilities must report this information to
the LEPC, the TERC, and local fire departments. The
LEPC and TERC, in turn, must make the information
available to the public.
This information provides a tool which can be used to
lower chemical hazards in the community by reducing
chemical inventories and possibly eliminating some
hazards by substituting less hazardous chemicals. The
Lists of Chemicals
There are four groups of chemicals subject to reporting under
Title III. Some chemicals appear in several groups. The groups
are:
Extremely Hazardous Substances (Sections 302 - 304). 360
substances chosen because of their extremely toxic properties.
These substances provide an initial focus for chemical
emergency planning. Releases must be reported immediately.
Hazardous Substances (Section 304). About 720 substances
listed under previous Superfund hazardous waste cleanup
regulations (Section 103(a) of CERCLA). Releases must be
reported immediately because they represent an immediate
hazard to the community.
Hazardous Chemicals (Sections 311- 312). Not on a list, but
defined by OSHA regulations as chemicals that represent a
physical or health hazard. This definition could potentially
include many thousands of chemicals. Inventories of these
chemicals and material safety data sheets for each of them must
be submitted.
Toxic Chemicals (Section 313). Over 320 chemicals selected by
Congress because of their long-term toxicity. Estimates of
releases of these chemicals into all media - air, land, and
water must be reported annually and entered into a national
data base.
reports are also essential for LEPCs and emergency
response workers, providing the raw material for the
emergency planning process. Fire departments and
public health officials will use the information to plan for
and respond to emergencies.
Facilities must report on the hazardous chemicals they
use and store in two different ways. The first is through
material safety data sheets (MSDSs), which contain
information on a chemical's physical properties and
health effects. Under federal laws administered by the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),
. companies are required to keep MSDSs on file for
chemicals used in the workplace. They must also make
these sheets available to their employees, so workers will
know about the chemical hazards they are exposed to and
can take necessary precautions in handling the
substances.
Under Title III, facilities must submit either actual
copies of the MSDSs, or lists of MSDS chemicals that
are present at the facilities in excess of certain amounts.
EPA encourages facilities to submit the list of chemicals.
This information must be sent to the LEPC, the TERC,
and the local fire department. The reporting for this
part of the law is based not on any list of specific
chemicals, but on a definition of "hazardous chemical"
under OSHA's requirements -- essentially any chemical
that poses physical or health hazards. As many as
500,000 products can fit this definition and thus, if
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Title Iff for fndian Lands
PageS
present above the threshold quantities, must be reported.
The second way that companies must report on
hazardous chemicals is by submitting annual inventories
of these same hazardous chemicals to the same three
organizations - the LEPC, the TERC, and the local fire
department. The law includes a "two-tier" approach for
annual inventory reporting. Under Tier I, a facility must
report the amounts and general locations of chemicals in
certain hazard categories. For example, a Tier I report
might say that a facility stores 10,000 pounds of
substances that cause chronic health effects. A Tier II
report contains basically the same information, but it
must name the specific chemical. A Tier II report might
say that the facility has 500 pounds of benzene, and it
would indicate the physical and health hazards associated
with benzene.
Congress gave companies the flexibility to choose
whether to file Tier I or Tier II forms, unless State or
local laws require Tier II reporting. EPA encourages
facilities to submit Tier II reports. In fact, some States
require submission of Tier II forms only. TERCs may
pass similar Tribal laws regarding section 312 reporting.
EPA believes that Tier II reports provide emergency
planners and communities with more useful information,
and encourages facilities to submit Tier II forms. Many
companies have voluntarily provided Tier II reports.
Citizens can gain access to MSDSs and annual
inventory reports by contacting the TERC or LEPC.
While the information is available to the public,
companies can ask that the identify and locations of
specific chemicals within the facility be kept confidential
This means that TERCs, LEPCs, and local fire
departments can use the location information but not
disclose it to the public.
4. Toxic Chemical Release Reporting (Section 313)
Covered facilities submit annual reports on yearly routine
and accidental toxic chemical releases to States, Tribes,
and EPA.
EPA establishes a national toxic chemical release
inventory based on facility reports.
TERCs (or SERCs) and EPA make release information
available to the public and communities. EPA makes
the information accessible on a national computerized
data base, and by other means.
Along with the information on hazardous chemical
usage, storage, and accidental release described above,
citizens also have the right to know if certain
manufacturing plants are routinely releasing any of some
320 toxic chemicals into the air, water, or soil of the
reservation. This element of Title III applies to facilities
in the manufacturing sector (Standard Industrial Codes
20 - 39) with ten or more employees that manufacture,
process, or use more than threshold amounts of these
chemicals. They must estimate each year the total
amounts of chemicals that they release into the
environment either accidentally or as a result of
routine plant operations or transport as waste to
another location. Reports must be filed by July 1 of
each year covering releases in the previous calendar year.
The annual release reports are submitted to EPA
headquarters and to the Tribal environmental, health, or
emergency response agency which coordinates with the
TERC. EPA is required to compile them into a national
computerized data base called the Toxic Release
Inventory, or TRI. This data base must be accessible to
the public through computer telecommunications and
other means. The data are available on the National
Library of Medicine's Foxnet data base.
The annual release data can be used, along with the
other information the TERC and LEPC receive, to put
together a more complete picture of the hazardous
substances found on the planning reservation.
Companies can also use the release information they
collect to assess their operations with an eye to reducing
the amount of toxic chemicals they use and release into
the environment.
What the TRI can do best is to serve as a "pointer" to
potential toxic chemical problems. The TRI will enable
EPA, Tribal leaders, and citizens to look for "hot spots,"
or areas with apparently high emission levels. Using this
information, environmental agencies can set priorities for
further investigation and possible regulatory or other
action, if needed, to protect public health and the
environment. Environmental agencies, as well as public-
interest organizations and LEPCs, can also use the data
to encourage facilities to cut back on their releases.
5. Trade Secrets (Section 322)
Facilities may claim chemical identify information trade
secret, but must substantiate the claim.
Trade secret information may be disclosed to health
professionals for diagnostic, treatment, and prevention
purposes.
Citizens may challenge trade secret claims by petitioning
the EPA.
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Title III for Indian Lands
Page 6
PART TWO: Resources Available to
TERCs and LEPCs Implementing
Title in
EPA recognizes that resources are often limited on
Indian lands, but believes that basic emergency planning
can be accomplished with minimal resources. This
section briefly describes resources that are available to
assist Indian tribes in complying with Title III. EPA is
committed to helping Tribes cany out their
responsibilities under Title III, and is providing guidance,
training, and technical assistance tailored to the needs
and capabilities of Indian Tribes. If you have technical
or regulatory questions about Title III, or if you want
information about the various resources available to you,
contact your EPA Regional CEPP coordinator listed
below.
EPA Regional Offices
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
Boston
New York
Philadelphia
Atlanta
Chicago
Dallas
Kansas City
Denver
San Francisco
Seattle
(617) 565-4502
(212) 264-2515
(215)597-9800"
(404) 347-1033
(312) 886-1964
(214) 655-2277
(913) 551-7000
(303) 294-7165
(415) 744-2100
(206) 553-0279
You can also call the toll-free Emergency
Planning and Community Right-to-Know
Information Hotline, between 8:30 a.m. and
7:30 p.m. EST, at 800-535-0202.
Guidance and Technical Assistance
To help Tribal officials as they develop their
emergency plans, the National Response Team (NRT)
has published the Hazardous Materials Emergency
Planning Guide (NRT-1). In addition, EPA, the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the
Department of Transportation (DOT) have published a
follow-up document Technical Guidance on Hazards
Analysis which tells emergency planners how to identify
the hazards in the planning district, determine vulnerable
zones for each hazard, assess risk, and then set priorities
among hazards and begin to develop an emergency plan.
Computer Aided Management of Emergency
Operations, CAMEO, is a software program which can
assist you to manage and use information collected under
SARA Title III and conduct a community hazards
analysis. It also includes response information for over
3,000 chemicals commonly transported in the United
States. The system was developed by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and
EPA to assist emergency responders, emergency planners,
and others involved in activities concerned with the safe
handling of chemicals, and is being used by local
governments, fire departments and industry throughout
the United States. CAMEO is now available for both
Macintosh and IBM-compatible computers. For
information regarding CAMEO, contact your EPA
regional office or the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-To-Know Information Hotline at (800)
535-0202.
EPA has also published documents to help industry
comply with the reporting provisions of Title III, and to
help Tribal and local officials manage and analyze the
information submitted. For example, the requirements of
Section 313 are described in The Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act: Section 313 Release
Reporting Requirements.
To get copies of any of the documents
mentioned in this section, call the toll-free
Emergency Planning and Community Right-
to-Know Information Hotline, between 8:30
a.m. and 7:30 p.m. EST, at 800-535-0202.
EPA and FEMA staff are also helping TERCs
administer the law by sponsoring workshops, speaking at
meetings of TERCs and LEPCs, and providing guidance
for developing and testing local emergency plans and
managing, understanding, and communicating the
information submitted under Title III.
Training
EPA offers a number of training activities in preparing
for, responding to, and preventing chemical accidents
through the Agency's Environmental Response Team and
joint efforts with FEMA, DOT, and other federal
agencies. FEMA provides training grants that may be
used by Tribal officials, which will be provided through
the TERCs or other agencies. The purpose of the grants
is to allow Tribal communities to gain or improve on the
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Title HI for Indian Lands
skills necessary for carrying out emergency planning and
preparedness programs.
The Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform
Safety Act of 1990 (HMTUSA) includes funding grants
for States and Indian Tribes for training public sector
employees in hazmat response; these funds may be used
for tuition costs, employee and trainer travel expenses,
and employee room and board at training facilities.
Eligibility for these grants requires compliance with Title
III. HMTUSA also provides for planning grants for
developing, improving, and implementing Title III plans,
including the determination of transportation flow
patterns of hazardous materials, and for determining the
need for regional hazmat emergency response teams.
Finally, HMTUSA provides for grants for developing a
training curriculum that will be distributed to TERCs
and LEPCs. Tribes should contact EPA Regional offices
to learn how to apply for training grants as well as to
learn whether and how they can qualify for planning
grants.
Page 7
Enforcement
> The government may assess civil and administrative.
penalties of $10,000 to $75,000 per day against facilities
that fail to compfy with the above provisions.
> Anyone who knowingfy and willfully fails to provide
emergency release notification is subject to criminal
penalties of up to $50,000 or five years in prison.
> The TERC, SERC, LEPC, or the State or local
government may initiate actions against facility owners or
operators for failure to comply with Title HI
requirements.
Citizens may initiate civil actions against EPA, TERCs,
SERCs, and facility owners and operators for failure to
compfy with certain aspects of the law.
Anyone who knowingfy and willfulty discloses trade secret
information may face penalties up to $20,000 and/or one
year in prison.
States may sue EPA for failure to provide trade secret
information.
Toxic Release Inventory
EPA annually compiles the computerized Toxic
Chemical Release Inventory. The national data base is
made available to the public through computer
telecommunications. TRI information is also available in
other formats including: microfiche, which is available for
free in many Federal Depository Libraries and other
libraries, and on computer diskettes, CD-ROM,
magnetic tape, and in a published annual report all of
which are available for sale through the Government
Printing Office and the National Technical Information
Service. Information about the TRI data base can be
obtained by writing to:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Attention: TRI Public Inquiry
P.O. Box 70266
Washington, DC 20024-0266
EPA has a major role to play in the enforcement of
Title III. The Agency is providing assistance to Tribal
communities for specific enforcement actions against
violators of sections 302, 311, and 312. Since EPA does
not receive or process information under these sections,
and TERCs and LEPCs do, actions should be initiated at
the reservation and district levels. EPA will assist as
much as possible. Under sections 304 and 313, EPA
does have a statutory mechanism to receive information
directly from submitters. The Agency has already taken
the lead in bringing enforcement actions against violators
of these sections.
or by calling the TRI User Support Service at (202) 260-
1531.
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Title III for Indian Lands
PageS
PART THREE: Everyone Is
Involved in Title
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-
Know Act is meant to involve everyone including
ordinary citizens, health professionals, industry, public-
interest organizations, and the local, Tribal, State, and
federal government agencies responsible for emergency
planning and response, public health, and environmental
protection in the process of understanding chemical
hazards and planning for chemical accidents. In the past,
most of the responsibility for these activities fell to
experts in government and industry. To the extent that
members of the community participated, it was generally
"from the outside looking in." They did what they could
to influence decisions that were, for the most part, out of
their hands. But under the provisions of Title III,
everyone has a role to play in making the law work for
the benefit of the entire community. The law requires
facilities to provide information on the presence of
hazardous chemicals on your lands directly to the people
who are most affected, by the potential risks posed for
public health and safety, the environment, jobs, the local
economy, property values, and other factors. These
people are also best able to do something about assessing
and managing risks, through inspections, enforcement of
local codes, reviews of facility performance, and, when
appropriate, political and economic pressures.
This relationship between the Title III data and
community action can best occur at the local level,
through the work of the TERC or Tribal LEPC. For *
example, if a firm on the reservation has reported the
presence of extremely hazardous substances at its facility,
several accidents, substantial quantities of chemicals, and
continuing releases of toxic chemicals, the Tribal
community has the data it needs to seek appropriate
corrective action. In short, the law opens the door to
community-based decision-making on chemical hazards
for citizens and communities throughout the nation.
Citizens
The TERC or Tribal LEPC serves as a focal point on
the reservation for information and discussions about
hazardous substances, emergency planning, and health
and environmental risks. The TERC or Tribal 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. The LEPC's ability to improve the
safety and health of its community will be greatly
enhanced by the support of an informed and active
community. By volunteering to work with LEPCs,
citizens can play a major role in making the law work.
There are several ways you as individuals can become
involved in obtaining and using this information:
Make sure that the TERC or LEPC has been
formed, attend its meetings, and make sure it is
fully representative of the Tribe. Volunteer to
serve as a community representative.
Make sure that the TERC or LEPC has obtained
all the information it needs from local facilities
to prepare a comprehensive emergency response
plan.
Review and comment on the emergency response
plan, and ask questions about how procedures
set out in the plan affect you, your family, or
your place of business.
Ask for information from the LEPC or TERC
about chemical hazards, inventories, and releases
on your reservation. Make sure both the TERC
and LEPC have established procedures to make
the information reported under Title III readily
available to the public. Ask the LEPC what
facilities are doing to reduce chemical hazards.
Use the national Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)
data base to obtain information on routine
releases of toxic chemicals on your reservation.
Your LEPC should have this information. If
not, you or your LEPC can get the TRI
information from a local library, your State, or
the EPA Reporting Center in Washington, DC.
Call or visit facilities on the reservation and ask
if they have complied with the reporting
requirements.
Title III allows citizens to sue the owner or operator of
a business or facility who does not comply with the law,
as long as that person is not facing a government
administrative order or civil action to force compliance.
Citizens can also sue EPA or the TERC if they fail to
provide information that must be made public under
Title III, petition EPA to add or delete chemicals from
the list of toxic chemicals that must be reported under
the toxic chemical release inventory, and petition to
change the list of extremely hazardous substances used
for emergency planning and accidental release
notification.
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Titfe HI for Indian Lands
Pages*
Fire Departments
Because fire departments are often the first to respond
to a hazardous chemical emergency, they must be
involved in every aspect of the emergency planning and
community right-to-know program. Fire departments
will be involved in emergency planning through their
participation in the work of LEPCs. It is essential that
fire departments are involved in their LEPCs not only to
ensure they are a part of the system but because fire
departments have important expertise regarding chemical
hazards and emergency planning. The community
emergency response plan must include hazardous
chemical emergency training for response workers,
including firefighters. Federal programs are available to
train firefighters for dealing with emergencies involving
chemical hazards. Fire departments will also receive
information about hazardous chemicals from facilities
within their jurisdiction. This information, in the form
of either material safety data sheets (MSDSs) or lists of
MSDS chemicals and hazardous chemical inventory
forms, will be the same as the data submitted to LEPCs
and TERCs. For facilities located on Indian reservations,
the fire department run by the Tribe will be the fire
department designated to receive section 311 and 312
reports.
.Hospitals, Schools, and Other Public Institutions
Public institutions such as hospitals, schools, and
Tribal governments are vital to the success of any
emergency response plan. Ambulance crews and
emergency room personnel must know how to transport
and treat victims of exposure to hazardous chemicals.
Victims of chemical accidents can contaminate emergency
rooms and cause hospitals to close temporarily. Schools
and public buildings should plan for emergencies and
may be identified as emergency shelters for evacuees.
The following are other ways in which public institutions
can participate in emergency planning and hazardous
chemical risk reduction:
Representatives of these institutions should be
members of the LEPC, or at least learn who
represents public institutions on the committee
and stay in contact with that person.
The institutions' officers should inform the
LEPC of sensitive facilities within the community
(e.g., hospitals, schools, and nursing homes) that
should be included in the emergency response
plan. These officers should know how they will
be notified in the event of an accident and be
prepared to respond in accordance with
emergency response plans.
Community environmental and health agencies,
in addition to participating on TERCs and
LEPCs, should take advantage of the new
reporting requirements to build an information
base about hazardous chemicals on their
reservation. The agencies can use this
information to work with industry on voluntary
programs to reduce the amounts and risks of
hazardous chemicals used or released on the
reservation.
Health Professionals
Doctors, nurses, and other trained medical
professionals who serve in government health
departments, hospitals, and private practice can be a
valuable resource in emergency planning and response.
They can also be an important source of information
about risks to the public health in their communities.
Some of the ways they can participate in emergency
planning include:
Volunteering to be a health professional
representative on the LEPC, or offering to assist
the LEPC in its work.
Participating in programs to train medical
personnel to deal with emergencies involving
chemical hazards.
Screening the information submitted under Title
III to determine if any acute or chronic health
effects may be associated with hazardous
substances on the reservation.
In a more general sense, health professionals may be
approached to provide and interpret information on
chemicals available under the law.' The law allows health
professionals to gain access to chemical identity
information, even if it is claimed as trade secret, in three
different situations:
If the chemical identity is needed for the
diagnosis and treatment of an exposed person.
If a medical emergency exists in which the
chemical identity is needed to aid in diagnosis or
treatment.
If a health professional who is a local
government employee requests a chemical's
identity to conduct preventive research studies
and to render medical treatment.
Except for medical emergencies, the request for a
chemical's identity must be accompanied by a written
statement of need and a confidentiality agreement.
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Title HI for Indian Lands
Page 10
Industry and Small Businesses
Hazardous substances are not only found at large
chemical plants. They are also used routinely in many
small operations like garages and dry cleaners, which are
more likely to be present on Indian lands than large
manufacturing facilities. Not all chemicals are hazardous
in normal practice, but they may be of concern if stored
or used improperly, or during an emergency such as a
fire. A company's initial responsibility under Title HI is
to determine whether it has reporting and emergency
planning obligations, and if so, to meet them. The
Indian leaders should check to see if any listed chemicals
are present in buildings owned by the reservation.
The annual toxic chemical release reporting
requirement (Section 313) applies only to manufacturing
facilities with ten or more full-time employees.
Therefore, many small businesses on Indian lands will
not be subject to this requirement because they do not
meet the manufacturing, processing, or use thresholds.
All businesses, however, both manufacturing and non-
manufacturing, are required to report under the
emergency planning, emergency release notification, and
hazardous chemical reporting provisions of the Act if
they have specified chemicals in amounts greater than the
threshold quantities for those chemicals.
Farmers
The presence of pesticides and fertilizers on a farm can
present a potential hazard to the community especially
if the farm is located near a populated area or near
transportation routes. Farmers on your reservation,
therefore, may be subject to one or more of the reporting
requirements of Title III.
Sections 301 - 303. Farmers should determine if
they are using any of the 360 extremely
hazardous substances that trigger the Act's
emergency planning reporting requirement. If
so, and if one or more of the substances exceeds
specified amounts, the farm must notify the
TERC and LEPC that it is covered by the
emergency planning requirements. The farm
must also name a contact person in case the
LEPC needs additional information to develop
the emergency response plan for the community.
Because the circumstances under which farmers
have and use extremely hazardous substances
may be different from other businesses, it is
important that an agriculture representative be
included on the LEPC
* Section 304. Generally, farmers must notify the
TERC and LEPC if there is a release of an
extremely hazardous substance, or a substance
listed under the Superfund hazardous waste
cleanup law, in excess of its "reportable quantity."
There are two exceptions that may exclude
farmers from this reporting requirement. First,
reporting is required only by facilities that
produce, use, or store a "hazardous chemical."
Under the definition of a hazardous chemical,
substances that are used in routine agricultural
operations and household or consumer products
are specifically exempt. Second, the proper
application of a registered pesticide or fertilizer
in accordance with its intended purpose is
exempt from emergency release notification. In
other words, farmers do not need to report
routine pesticide and fertilizer application as
emergency releases. An accidental release above
a reportable quantity of those substances should,
however, be reported.
Sections 311 - 312. These reporting
requirements are tied to the worker notification
rules of OSHA, so farmers may be covered if
they already must comply with the OSHA
regulations. Farms with fewer than ten full-time
employees are not covered by OSHA and
consequently are exempt from this requirement..
Chemicals used in routine agriculture operations
and household and consumer products are
exempt from reporting because they do not meet
the law's definition of hazardous chemicals.
Section 313. These requirements cover only
manufacturing facilities with ten or more
employees. Thus, only farms that are involved in
manufacturing operations as a primary activity
(such as food and tobacco manufacturing) would
be covered under this section, but only if their
use of listed chemicals exceeds the threshold
levels for reporting.
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Title 111 lor Indian Lands
Page 11
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