United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
September 1988
Washington DC 20460
Chemicals
in Your Community
A Guide to the
Emergency Planning
and Community
Right-to-Know Act
-------
-------
Preface
by Lee M. Thomas, Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Most of us have driven past an industrial plant and
wondered what was happening inside. Did you ever
think to yourself:
"I wonder what they're making in there?"
"Could they be using any dangerous chemicals?"
"What if there's an accident—will they be able to
warn me and my family about toxic gases—before it's
too late? Has anybody made plans for an evacuation?"
"What's in that smoke that's always coming out of
that smokestack? When the wind's right, it looks like
it's blowing right toward my house!"
If questions like these have occurred to you, you're
not alone. More and more people have become
concerned about hazardous chemicals in the last few
years—especially since the 1984 chemical tragedy in
Bhopal, India, where a release of toxic gas killed and
injured thousands of people.
In the past, citizens who wanted to know more
about the hazardous and toxic chemicals in their
communities had to depend on the cooperation of
industry for information. Some companies were
willing to answer questions and even opened their
gates for public tours a few times a year. But if a
company wasn't willing to share information about its
operations with its neighbors, there wasn't much a
concerned citizen could do about it.
All that has changed. In November of 1986,
Congress passed a law designed to help America's
communities deal safely and effectively with the many
hazardous substances that are used throughout our
society. The law is called the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act; and this booklet has
been written to help you understand and take
advantage of your rights and opportunities under this
far-reaching law.
-------
The law has two main purposes: to encourage and
support emergency planning for responding to
chemical accidents; and to provide local governments
and the public with information about possible
chemical hazards in their communities.
For the law to work, industry, interested citizens,
environmental and other public-interest organizations,
and government at all levels must work together to
plan for chemical accidents and to reduce the risk to
the public from releases of toxic chemicals into the
environment. The law establishes an ongoing forum at
the local level for discussion and a focus for
action—the Local Emergency Plannning Committee.
This is a ground-breaking new approach to
environmental protection. It assumes that the more
citizens know about chemical hazards in their
communities, the better equipped they and their local
governments will be to make decisions and take
actions that will better protect their families and their
neighbors from unacceptable risks.
A key to successful environmental protection
programs, both now and in the future, is exactly this
kind of community and citizen awareness and
involvement in environmental decision-making. The
federal government is developing a number of
products and programs to assist communities in this
process, and EPA continues to have important
responsibilities for controlling pollution on a national
basis. But local environmental problems cannot be
solved by the federal government alone. Solutions
must involve the people who have a direct, immediate
stake in both the problems and their resolution,
supported by government at all levels.
In response to the law's requirements, states,
communities, industries, and citizens' groups around
the country have joined forces to:
• Write emergency plans to protect the public from
chemical accidents.
• Set up procedures to warn and, if necessary,
evacuate the public in case of emergency.
• Provide citizens and local governments with
information about hazardous chemicals and
accidental releases of chemicals in their
communities.
• Prepare public reports on annual releases of toxic
chemicals into the air, water, and soil.
-------
All of this planning and information-gathering is
directed toward a common goal: to help you, your
local officials and community leaders to be better
informed as together, you make important decisions
about how to deal with toxic and hazardous materials.
This guide explains your rights and opportunities
under the Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act. It is also intended to help you
exercise those rights and take advantage of those
opportunities. The first part of the guide describes
how the law works; what its provisions were intended
to accomplish; and how all members of the
community can play an active part in making sure that
both the letter and the spirit of the law are carried out.
The second part discusses specific groups and
organizations affected by the law; describes what they
can do or are required to do to make it work; and tells
how they can benefit from it.
As a citizen, you now have the right to know about
the chemicals in your community. You have the right
to make your own informed decisions as to whether
these chemicals are a threat to your health or
environment. The more each of us learns about,
understands, and participates in managing chemical
hazards, the safer our communities will be for
everyone. Working together through the Emergency
Planning and Community Right-to-Know program, we
may save some lives.
-------
Contents
Part One: An Introduction to the Emergency Planning
and Community Right-to-Know Act 1
Why a New Law? 2
Dealing With Chemicals: It's Everybody's Job 3
How the Law Works 4
Emergency Planning 4
Emergency Release Notification 6
Hazardous Chemical Reporting 7
Toxic Chemical Release Reporting 9
Trade Secrets 14
Lists of Chemicals 15
Part Two: How Key Groups Are Affected by the
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know
Act 17
A New Relationship 18
Local Emergency Planning Committees 19
Citizens 20
Fire Departments 22
Public Institutions 23
Health Professionals 24
Industry and Small Businesses 25
Farmers 26
State Emergency Response Commissions 28
The Federal Role 30
For Further Information 32
State Emergency Response Commissions 33
State Designated TRI Contacts 34
EPA and FEMA Regional Offices 35
Glossary 36
Charts and Boxes
"Required Elements of a Local Emergency Plan" 5
"Highlights of the Law" 12
"It's in the Federal Register" 13
"Key Deadlines" 16
"Indian Tribes" 29
-------
PART ONE
An Introduction to
the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act
-------
Why a New Law?
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 Bhopal tragedy started a chain of
events in this country that is still
unfolding:
• 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, also set up a voluntary
program called Community Awareness
The National Response Team is composed
of representatives of 14 federal agencies with
responsibilities for emergency preparedness
and response. Regional Response Teams
consist of regional representatives of the
federal agencies on the NRT, as well as state
emergency response and preparedness
officials.
and Emergency Response (CAER). The
CAER program encourages plant
managers to become more involved in
their local community by explaining
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
workplaces and communities. There are
differences in these laws, but most
require 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 new 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.
-------
Dealing with Chemicals:
It's Everybody's Job
The Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act
creates a new relationship among
government at all levels, business and
community leaders, environmental and
other public-interest organizations, and
individual citizens. For the first time,
the law makes citizens full partners in
preparing for emergencies and
managing chemical risks. Each of these
groups and individuals has an
important role in making the program
work:
• Local communities and states have
the basic responsibility for
understanding risks posed by chemicals
at the local level, for managing those
risks, for reducing those risks, and for
dealing with emergencies. By
developing emergency planning and
chemical risk management at the levels
of government closest to the
community, the law helps to ensure the
broadest possible public representation
in the decision-making process.
• Citizens, health professionals,
public-interest and labor organizations*
the media, and others are working with
government and industry to use the
information for planning and response
at the community level. The new law
gives everyone involved access to more
of the facts they need to determine
what chemicals mean to the public
health and safety.
• Industry is responsible for operating
as safely as possible using the most
appropriate techniques and
technologies; for gathering information
on the chemicals it uses, stores, and
releases into the environment and
providing it to government agencies and
local communities; and for helping set
up procedures to handle chemical
emergencies. Beyond meeting the letter
of the law, some industry groups and
individual companies are reaching out
to their communities by explaining the
health hazards involved in using
chemicals, by opening communications
channels with community groups, and
by considering changes in their practices
to reduce any potential risks to human
health or the environment.
• The federal government is
responsible for providing national
leadership and assistance to states and
communities so they will have the tools
and expertise they need to receive,
assimilate, and analyze all Title III data,
and to take appropriate measures in
accidental risk and emissions reduction
at the local level. EPA is also working to
ensure that industry complies with tire
law's requirements; the public has
access to information on annual toxic
chemical releases; and the information is
used in various EPA programs to
protect the nation's air, water, and soil
from pollution. EPA is also working
with industry to encourage voluntary
reductions in the use and release of
hazardous chemicals wherever possible.
(Part II of this booklet provides more
detailed information on the roles and
responsibilities of these groups.)
-------
How the Law Works
The Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act
contains four major provisions:
• Planning for chemical emergencies.
• Emergency notification of chemical
accidents and releases.
• Reporting of hazardous chemical
inventories.
• Toxic chemical release reporting.
The law also deals with trade secrets,
disclosure of information to health
professionals, public access to
information gathered under the law,
and other topics. The four major
elements are described in this section.
(The main provisions of the law are also
outlined in the box on pages 12 and 13.)
Emergency
Planning
The emergency planning section of the
law is designed to help your community
prepare for and respond to emergencies
involving hazardous substances. Every
community in the United States must be
part of a comprehensive plan.
The governor of your state must
appoint a State Emergency Response
Commission (SERC). The governor can
choose to name one or more existing
state agencies, such as the
environmental, emergency, health,
transportation, commerce, and other
relevant agencies, as the SERC.
Members of trade associations, public-
interest organizations, and others with
experience in emergency planning may
also be included on the SERC. These
commissions have already been named
in all 50 states, and the U.S. territories
and possessions (see page 33).
Each SERC in turn has divided its
state into local emergency planning
districts, and must appoint a Local
Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)
for each district. These committees
should be broadly representative of
their communities. They must include:
• Representatives of elected state and
local officials.
• Law enforcement officials, civil
defense workers, and firefighters.
• First aid, health, hospital,
environmental, and transportation
workers.
• Representatives of community groups
and the news media.
• Owners and operators of industrial
plants and other users of chemicals,
such as hospitals, farms, small
businesses, etc.
Around the country, LEPCs have
been getting organized, and thousands
of people, both volunteers and
professionals, are participating in this
program.
Your LEPC's first jobs are to get
organized, receive information, analyze
hazards, and proceed to develop a plan
to prepare for and respond to chemical
emergencies in your district. The initial
plan must be completed by October 17,
1988 and must be exercised, reviewed
annually, and updated. It should be
based on the chemical information
reported to the LEPC by local industries
and public and other facilities with
chemicals. This information enables the
LEPC to conduct a community hazard
analysis, identifying types and location
of chemical hazards, vulnerable areas
and populations, and the risk of
accidents and their effects on the
community.
Once the hazards have been
analyzed, the LEPC develops a local
emergency response plan. The plan lays
out potential local hazards, response
-------
capabilities, and procedures to follow in
an emergency. (The box on this page
shows the elements of a comprehensive
plan.) The planning process may
identify opportunities for reducing risks
by reducing chemical inventories.
The list of 366 "extremely hazardous
substances" 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 materials in the
community that present risks to public
health and safety. These substances are
Required Elements of a
Local Emergency Plan
An emergency plan must:
• Use the information provided by
industry to identify the facilities and
transportation routes where hazardous
substances are present.
• Establish emergency response
procedures, including evacuation
plans, for dealing with accidental
chemical releases.
• Set up notification procedures for
those who will respond to an
emergency.
• Establish methods for determining
the occurrence and severity of a release
and the areas and populations likely to
be affected.
• Establish ways to notify the public
of a release.
• Identify the emergency equipment
available in the community, including
equipment at facilities.
• Contain a program and schedules for
training local emergency response and
medical workers to respond to
chemical emergencies.
• Establish methods and schedules for
conducting "exercises" (simulations) to
test elements of the emergency
response plan.
• Designate a community coordinator
and facility coordinators to carry out
the plan.
found in some widely used
insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers,
preservatives, photographic chemicals,
and solvents as well as in wastewater
treatment and drinking water treatment
processes. (This and other chemical lists
covered by the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act are
discussed on page 15.)
The list of extremely hazardous
substances 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 your state
emergency response commission and
your local emergency planning
coordinator. This lets the planners know
what hazardous chemicals are being
used and stored in your community.
The facility's owner or operator must
also name an employee as "facility
coordinator," and that person must
participate in your district's planning
process.
Facility owners or operators who
violate the reporting provisions of this
section of the law are subject to civil
penalties of up to $25,000 a day for
each day a violation continues.
Your 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.
One of the distinctive characteristics
of Title III is that an emergency
response plan must address these
unique characteristics in your
community—a fill-in-the-blanks plan
will not do this. Since membership on
the LEPC is broad-based, your LEPC
should be familiar with your
community. It should know about the
capacities of local hospitals, and about
the location of schools, nursing homes
and other special considerations in the
community. It should consider all these
-------
factors in developing the emergency
response plan.
The LEPC must let you and your
neighbors know about the plan by
publishing notices and scheduling
public meetings, where you will have a
chance to comment on the LEPC's
activities. Your LEPC must also conduct
emergency drills to make sure the plan
will work if an accident occurs.
The plan due in October 1988 is the
beginning, not the end, of your LEPC's
responsibilities. The LEPC must review
the plan annually, and as new
information becomes available, your
district's plan will have to be updated.
The LEPC will be a focal point in the
community for information on
hazardous chemicals. LEPC meetings
will also provide a forum for discussions
of how your community should address
hazardous situations identified during
the planning process.
The SERCs also have continuing
responsibilities: they must supervise
and coordinate the activities of LEPCs,
and they and LEPCs must establish
procedures for receiving and processing
public requests for information collected
under other sections of the new law.
They must also review local emergency
plans annually to make sure of such
things as coordination across the state.
If your SERC and LEPC do their jobs
well under this new planning process,
your community should be much better
prepared to deal with chemical
accidents than in the past, and will be
better able to make decisions about the
presence of chemicals in the
community.
Emergency Release
Notification
If there's a chemical accident at a
commercial, municipal, or other facility
or on a transportation route in your
community, and if the accident results
in the release of any one of a large
number of hazardous substances, you
have a right to know about it.
Under the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know law, a
facility must immediately notify the
community and the state—the LEPC
and the SERC—of the release of more
than a 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 366 "extremely
hazardous substances" mentioned in the
preceding section, 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 alerts federal
responders.
For some of the most hazardous and
toxic chemicals on these lists, releases of
more than one pound must be reported.
For others, the reporting quantities
range from ten to 10,000 pounds. EPA
is combining these two lists of chemicals
into a single master list for accidental
release reporting so that releases will be
reported to federal, state, and local
levels.
-------
• The name of the chemical.
• The location of the release.
• Whether the chemical is on the
"extremely hazardous" list.
• 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.
• A contact person at the facility.
The notification will activate
emergency plans. Information on
emergency releases will also be
considered in the SERC and LEPC
planning process.
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 SERC. The follow-up
report must update the original
notification and provide additional
information on response actions taken,
known or anticipated health risks, and,
if appropriate, advice regarding any
medical care needed by exposure
victims.
Any person who fails to notify the
authorities of a release or to submit a
follow-up emergency report is subject to
civil penalties of up to $25,000 a day for
each day of non-compliance. Repeat
offenders can be fined up to $75,000 a
day.
In addition, criminal penalties may
be imposed on any person who
knowingly and willfully fails to provide
notice; criminal violators face fines of
up to $25,000 or prison sentences of up
to two years. Repeat criminal offenders
can be fined up to $50,000 and
imprisoned for as long as five years.
Hazardous Chemical
Reporting
Information about accidental chemical
releases is only the beginning of your
"right to know" about hazardous
substances. You also have a right to
information about the amounts, location
and potential effects of hazardous
chemicals present in your
community.
Facilities must report this information
to your LEPC, your SERC, and your
local fire departments. The LEPC and
SERC, in turn, must make the
information available to the public.
Never before has such comprehensive
information on chemicals been so
accessible to the public. All companies,
large or small, manufacturing or non-
manufacturing, are potentially subject to
this requirement.
This information provides a tool
which can be used to lower chemical
hazards in the community by reducing
chemical inventories. The reports are
also essential for LEPCs and emergency
response workers, providing the raw
material for the emergency planning
process discussed earlier. Fire
departments and public health officials
will use the information to plan for and
respond to emergencies.
Facilities must report on the
hazardous chemicals 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
all hazardous chemicals 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 the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act,
facilities must submit either actual
copies of the MSDSs, or lists of MSDS
chemicals that are present at the
facilities. These must be sent to the
LEPC, the SERC, and the local fire
department. This reporting requirement
has been in effect since October 17,
1987.
The reporting for this part of Title III
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 the
definition and thus, if present in
amounts above the thresholds, must
be routinely reported. Information
below the thresholds must be
provided by the facility when it is
requested by the LEPCs.
When the Act was passed in 1986,
OSHA's regulations applied only to
manufacturers. OSHA has since
expanded its requirements to include
most facilities where workers are
exposed to hazardous chemicals, and
the community reporting requirements
are tied to OSHA's by law. Before the
change, about 350,000 facilities were
covered by OSHA; now, an estimated
4.5 million facilities are covered.
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
SERC, and the local fire department.
The first annual inventory report was
due on March 1, 1988.
The law includes a "two-tier"
approach for annual inventory
reporting. Under Tier I, a facility must
report the amounts and general location
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 the
SERC, LEPC, or fire department
request Tier II. EPA believes that Tier
II reports provide emergency
planners and communities with more
useful information, and is
encouraging facilities to submit Tier
II forms. Many companies have
voluntarily provided Tier II reports.
You can gain access to MSDS and
annual inventory reports by contacting
your SERC or LEPC. While the
information is available to the public,
companies can ask that the locations of
specific chemicals within the facility be
kept confidential. This means that
SERCs, LEPCs, and local fire
departments can use the location
information but not disclose it to the
public.
Violators of the hazardous chemical
reporting provisions are subject to the
following penalties: for failing to submit
MSDSs or lists of MSDS chemicals, civil
penalties of up to $10,000 a day for each
violation; for non-compliance with the
annual inventory requirements, $25,000
per violation.
8
-------
Toxic Chemical
Release Reporting
Along with all the information on
hazardous chemical use, storage and
accidental release described above, you
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
your community.
This fourth major element of the
Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act applies to facilities
with ten or more employees that
manufacture, process or use more than
"threshold" amounts of these chemicals.
An estimated 30,000 facilities
nationwide are subject to reporting.
They must estimate each year the total
amount of the 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 first
reports, covering 1987, were due on
July 1, 1988.
Many chemicals covered by this
section, although not all, pose
long-term (chronic) health and
environmental hazards such as cancer,
disorders of the nervous system, and
reproductive disorders from on-going
routine exposure. Descriptions of the
different groups of chemicals covered by
the law are on page 15. To find out
more about their health and
environmental effects, see the "For
Further Information" section on page
32.
While all Title III reports are intended
for community use, some are submitted
to LEPCs and SERCs, and fire
departments; the annual release reports
are submitted to EPA headquarters and
to the state environmental, health, or
emergency response agency which
coordinates with the SERC. 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.
You will be able to obtain the release
information on microfiche from a public
library in your county; your state office
where the forms are filed; federal
depository libraries; the LEPCs,
which also are a focal point for the data
dissemination at the local level and will
be able to access and review TRI for
your community; and from EPA
regional offices. Until the information
has been computerized, you can get
copies of the actual reports submitted
by industry from your state or EPA. (A
guide to obtaining TRI and other
information collected under the
Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act is on page 32.) You
may also be able to get copies of the
reports from submitting facilities,
although they are not required to
release their reports directly to citizens.
If you own a home computer and a
telephone modem, you will also be able
to call up the TRI data base "on line" on
your computer to see what releases
-------
have occurred in your community (a
nominal access fee will be charged). You
will be able to search through the
reports electronically and pull out
information of interest from more than
one report at a time—for example, all
reports filed by facilities in your zip
code, or all discharges to a particular
river, or all reports which include
releases of a specific chemical. The
public data base will be available in the
spring of 1989.
The annual release data can be used,
along with the other information the
LEPC receives, to put together a more
complete picture of the hazardous
substances in your district. 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.
Information that must be gathered
and reported under this section of the
Act includes:
• Which toxic chemicals were released
into the environment during the
preceding year.
• How much of each chemical went
into the air, water and land.
• How much of the chemicals were
transported away from the site of the
facility for disposal.
• How chemical wastes were treated
on-site.
• The efficiency of that treatment.
Companies that fail to file annual
toxic chemical release reports are subject
to civil penalties up to $25,000 a day for
each chemical they should be reporting.
Many companies already report data
on chemical emissions to EPA and the
states under other environmental laws
such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean
Water Act, and the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act. The
annual release reporting requirement is
different because releases of a specific
chemical to air, water, and land will
appear on one form, and because the
public will have direct access to the
data.
By using the TRI data base, you will
be able to determine the estimated
annual emissions of the same chemical
in a specific geographic area. You will
also be able to compare the emissions
reported by similar facilities in different
parts of the country, to see which ones
are doing the best job of controlling
their releases.
The information reported under this
section of the Act has some limitations.
For one thing, much of the data in the
Toxic Release Inventory will be based
on estimates, not on actual
measurements of releases. Because most
facilities do not normally monitor their
releases, EPA is providing guidance to
ensure that estimates are as accurate as
possible. EPA will also conduct some
audits and inspections to help facilities
improve the accuracy of the data they
report.
A second limitation is that not all
toxic chemicals or sources of toxic
chemical releases are covered. Only
facilities in the manufacturing sector
with ten or more employees must
report.
A third limitation of the reports is
that they show only total annual
emissions, so you will not be able to
learn from the Toxic Release Inventory
whether a chemical was released in
large amounts over a short period of
time, or in small amounts every day
throughout the year. Information on the
rate that chemicals are released can be
important in determining the effects of
the release on human health and the
10
-------
environment; but the TRI will not
provide this information, at least in the
early years of the program.
A final limitation is that the reports
cover releases of chemicals, but do not
show the extent of public exposure to
the chemicals after they enter the air,
water or soil. (An exposure is the
concentration of a chemical at the time
an individual comes in contact with it.)
Many things can happen to a chemical
once it is released into the environment;
these processes make it difficult to
determine the extent to which people
are actually being exposed to chemicals
as the result of any particular release.
What the Toxic Release Inventory can
do best is to serve as a "pointer" to
potential toxic chemical problems. The
TRI will enable EPA, state and local
agencies, 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 the 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.
As you learn more about toxic
chemical releases and other hazardous
substances in your area, you may want
to consult with local and state health
officials, environmental professionals,
labor union officials, and other experts
for advice on how you can use this
information to make your community a
safer and healthier place to live.
11
-------
Highlights of the Law
Emergency Planning
(Sections 301-303)
• Governors appoint state emergency
response commissions (SERCs).
• SERCs establish emergency planning
districts and appoint, supervise, and
coordinate local emergency planning
committees (LEPCs).
• LEPCs develop local emergency
response plans and review them at least
annually.
• Facilities notify SERCs and LEPCs if
they have extremely hazardous
substances present above "threshold
planning quantities," and participate in
emergency planning.
Emergency Release Notification
(Section 304)
• Facilities notify SERCs and LEPCs
immediately of accidental releases of
hazardous substances in excess of
"reportable quantities" and provide
written reports on actions taken and on
medical effects.
• SERCs and LEPCs make accidental
release information available to the
public
Hazardous Chemical Reporting
(Sections 311-312)
• Facilities submit material safety data
sheets (MSDSs) or lists of hazardous
chemicals on-site (above "threshold
quantities") to SERCs, LEPCs, and local
fire departments.
• Facilities submit emergency and
hazardous chemical inventory forms
(amounts and locations of chemicals) to
SERCs, LEPCs, and local fire
departments.
• SERCs and LEPCs make hazardous
chemical information available to the
public.
Toxic Chemical Release
Reporting (Section 313)
• Covered facilities submit annual
reports on yearly toxic chemical
releases to states and EPA.
• EPA establishes a national toxic
chemical release inventory based on
facility reports.
• States 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.
12
-------
Trade Secrets
(Section 322)
• Facilities may claim chemical identity
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 EPA.
It's in the Federal Register
You can find detailed information on
the various provisions of the
Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act in the Federal
Register, which is available at public or
university libraries. Here are the Federal
Register citations for the EPA
regulations covering various sections of
the Act:
• Sections 301 to 303 (emergency
planning): April 22, 1987, December 17,
1987, February 25, 1988 (40 CFR 300
and 355)
• Section 304 (emergency release
notification): April 22, 1987, December
19, 1987, February 25, 1988 (40 CFR 300
and 355)
• Sections 311-312 (hazardous chemical
reporting): October 15, 1987, August 4,
1988 (40 CFR 370)
• Section 313 (toxic chemical release
reporting): February 16, 1988, June 20,
1988 (40 CFR 372)
• Section 322 (trade secrets): July 29,
1988 (40 CFR 350)
• Sections 325-326 (penalties and
citizen suits): to be published
Penalties and Citizen Suits
(Sections 325-326)
• The government may assess civil and
administrative penalties of $10,000 to
$75,000 per day against facilities that fail
to comply with the above provisions.
• Anyone who knowingly and willfully
fails to provide emergency release
notification is subject to criminal
penalties of up to $50,000 or five years
in prison.
• The SERC, LEPC, or the state or local
government may initiate actions against
facility owners or operators for failure to
comply with Title III requirements.
• Citizens may initiate civil actions
against EPA, SERCs, and facility owners
and operators for failure to comply with
the law.
• Anyone who knowingly and
willfully 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.
13
-------
Trade Secrets
Companies reporting under the
Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act can,
under very limited conditions, request
that the identity of specific chemicals in
their reports not be disclosed to the
public. No other information required
by this law in the reports can be
withheld from the public.
To protect a chemical's identity from
disclosure, the company must be able to
prove among other things that the
information has not been reported
under any other environmental
regulation, and that it is a legitimate
trade secret—in other words, that
disclosure could damage the company's
competitive position.
The chemical's identity must be
included in the company's reports to
EPA. EPA will keep the original reports
in a confidential file, and "sanitized"
versions, with the chemical name
deleted, will be available to the public.
SERCs and LEPCs will also receive
sanitized versions and make them
available to the public. Information
about the general category of the
chemical, which will enable you to
determine its health and environmental
effects, will be included in the public
version of the report.
Facilities must substantiate any trade
secret claims when they are submitted.
If you or any other citizen wants to
challenge a trade secret claim, you can
do so by filing a petition requesting
disclosure of the chemical identity with
EPA. EPA will then review the claim to
insure that it is a valid trade secret.
Companies should be careful when
preparing trade secret claims. Owners
and operators who submit frivolous
claims can be penalized up to $25,000
for each such claim.
The law also allows health
professionals to obtain access to trade
secret chemical information if they need
it to diagnose and treat patients or to do
research. To receive the information,
they must submit a written request for
access to the chemical identity, along
with a statement of need and a
confidentiality agreement. (In medical
emergencies, physicians and nurses can
obtain the information without
providing a confidentiality agreement
and statement of need in advance. They
must, however, submit these
documents as soon as circumstances
permit, if asked to do so by the
company.)
14
-------
Lists of Chemicals
There are four groups of chemicals subject to reporting under the Emergency
Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. Some chemicals appear in several
groups.
Extremely Hazardous Substances (Sections 301-304)
This list currently contains more than 300 chemicals. Because of their extremely
toxic properties, these chemicals were chosen to provide an initial focus for
chemical emergency planning. If these chemicals are released in certain amounts,
they may be of immediate concern to the community. Releases must be reported
immediately.
Hazardous Substances (Section 304)
These are hazardous substances listed under previous Superfund hazardous waste
cleanup regulations (Section 103(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Resource
and Conservation Liability Act—Superfund). The current list contains about 720
substances. Releases of these chemicals above certain amounts must be reported
immediately because they may represent an immediate hazard to the community.
Hazardous Chemicals (Sections 311-312)
These chemicals are not on a list at all, but are defined by Occupational Safety and
Health Administration regulations as chemicals which represent a physical or health
hazard. Under this definition many thousands of chemicals can be subject to
reporting requirements. Inventories of these chemicals and material safety data sheets
for each of them must be submitted if they are present in the facility in certain
amounts.
Toxic Chemicals (Section 313)
There are now more than 320 chemicals or chemical categories on this list, which
were selected by Congress primarily because of their chronic or 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.
For further information on the chemical lists, contact your local Emergency
Planning Committee or State Emergency Response Commission.
15
-------
Key Deadlines
Requirement
Governors establish State Emergency Response
Commissions (SERCs)
Facilities subject to emergency planning
requirements notify state commissions
SERCs designate emergency planning districts
SERCs appoint members of Local Emergency
Planning Committees (LEPCs)
Facilities subject to emergency planning
requirements notify LEPCs of their facility
coordinator
Covered manufacturing and importing facilities
submit material safety data sheets (MSDSs) or lists
of MSDS chemicals to SERCs, LEPCs, and local fire
departments
Covered manufacturing and reporting facilities
submit hazardous chemical inventory forms to
SERCs, LEPCs, and local fire departments
Facilities submit their first toxic chemical release
reports to EPA and designated state agencies
Covered non-manufacturing facilities submit
MSDSs or lists of MSDS chemicals to SERCs,
LEPCs, and fire departments
LEPCs complete their first emergency plans
Covered non-manufacturing facilities submit
hazardous chemical inventory reports to SERCs,
LEPCs, and fire departments
Deadline
April 17, 1987
May 17, 1987, or 60 days
after they become subject
to this provision
July 17, 1987
August 17, 1987
September 17, 1987
October 17, 1987
March 1, 1988 (and
annually thereafter)
July 1, 1988 (and
annually thereafter)
September 24, 1988
October 17, 1988
March 1, 1989 (and
annually thereafter)
16
-------
PART TWO
How Key Groups
Are Affected by the
Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act
17
-------
A New Relationship
The Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act has
forged a closer, more equal relationship
among citizens, health professionals,
industry, public-interest organizations,
and the local, state, and federal
government agencies responsible for
emergency planning and response,
public health and environmental
protection.
In the past, most of the responsibility
for these activities fell to experts in
government and industry. To the extent
that citizens or their representatives
participated, it was generally "from the
outside looking in," as they did what
they could to influence decisions that
were, for the most part, out of their
hands.
But under the provisions of the
Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act, all of these groups,
organizations and individuals have vital
roles to play in making the law work for
the benefit of everyone. The law
requires facilities to provide information
on the presence of hazardous chemicals
in communities directly to the people
who are most affected, both in terms of
exposure to potential risks and the
effects of those risks on public health
and safety, the environment, jobs, the
local economy, property values, and
other factors.
These "stakeholders" are also the
people who are 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 LEPC. For example, if a
local firm has reported the presence of
extremely hazardous substances at its
facility, several accidents, substantial
quantities of chemicals, and continuing
releases of toxic chemicals, a
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.
This section describes how each of the
key groups and organizations—as well
as individual citizens—can help to fulfill
the promise of the Emergency Planning
and Community Right-to-Know Act: a
safer, healthier environment for you
and your family.
18
-------
Local Emergency Planning
Committees (LEPCs)
Local Emergency Planning
Committees, or 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.
The LEPC's initial task is to develop
an emergency plan to prepare for and
respond to chemical emergencies. EPA's
list of extremely hazardous substances
may provide a focus for setting
priorities in your planning effort. The
plan is required to be completed by
October 17, 1988. This is only the
beginning. The plan must be reviewed
annually, tested, and updated. Because
the LEPC's members represent the
community, they should be familiar
with factors that affect public safety, the
environment, and the economy of the
community. That expertise will be
essential as the LEPC develops a plan
tailored to the needs of its planning
district.
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
plants; and schedules and plans for
testing the plan. Once the plan is
written, the SERC must review it. The
LEPC must publicize the plan through
public meetings or newspaper
announcements, get public comments,
and periodically test the plan by
conducting emergency drills. The LEPC
must also update the plan at least
annually and let the public know of its
activities.
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. It must establish and publicize
procedures for handling those requests.
LEPCs have the authority to request
additional information from facilities for
their own planning purposes or on
behalf of others. LEPCs may want to
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. Citizens will expect the LEPC to
reply to questions about chemical
hazards and risk management actions. It
can also anticipate questions about the
extent and the health and
19
-------
Citizens
environmental effects of routine toxic
chemical releases. Even though this
information is not required by the law
to be sent to LEPCs, EPA and the states
are working together to ensure this
information is available at the local
level. Many companies are voluntarily
providing local committees and other
citizens with this information.
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. The value of the
information provided by the Emergency
Planning and Community Right-to-
Know Act will be limited unless citizens
are given the means to understand the
information and its implications. 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 citizenry.
The Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act was
written specifically with you, the
citizen, in mind. It is based on the
principle that the more you and your
neighbors know about hazardous
chemicals in your community, the better
prepared your community will be to
manage these potential hazards and
to improve public safety and
health as well as environmental quality.
By volunteering to work with your
LEPC, you can play a major role in
making the law work.
The law requires industry and others
to make available to you information on
potential chemical hazards and
inventories, and on releases of toxic
chemicals into the environment. There
are several ways you can become
involved in obtaining and using this
information to enhance the quality of
life in your community:
20
-------
• Make sure that your Local Emergency
Planning Committee (LEPC) has been
formed, attend its meetings, and make
sure it is fully representative of the
community. Volunteer to serve on it as
a citizen representative.
• Make sure that the 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 your LEPC
or State Emergency Response
Commission (SERC) about chemical
hazards, inventories, and releases in
your community. Make sure both the
SERC and LEPC have established
procedures to make the information
reported under Title III readily available
to the public. Ask your 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 in your community. 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. (A guide to obtaining
information is on page 32.) If you have
a home computer and a telephone
modem, you can call up the national
data base on the National Library of
Medicine's TOXNET® computer system
(a nominal access fee will be charged.)
• Call or visit facilities in your
community and ask if they have
complied with the reporting
requirements.
Under certain conditions, facilities can
withhold the name of a chemical on a
"trade secret" basis (other information
must be provided). You can challenge
trade secret claims by submitting a
petition to EPA.
Title III also allows you 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. You can
also sue EPA, the SERC or the governor
of your state if any of them fails to
provide information that must be made
public under the Act.
Finally, you can petition EPA to add
or delete chemicals from the list of toxic
chemicals that must be reported under
the toxic chemical release inventory.
You also can petition to change the list
of extremely hazardous substances used
for emergency planning and accidental
release notification.
The Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act creates a
groundbreaking opportunity for you as
a citizen to become directly involved in
the decisions that affect your safety and
health. Your knowledge of and
participation in this program can help
ensure that it accomplishes its goals in
your community.
21
-------
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
and state programs are available to train
firefighters for dealing with emergencies
involving chemical hazards.
In addition to participating in
emergency planning and training, fire
departments will 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 SERCs.
Having access to this information will
help a fire department responding to a
chemical emergency know which
chemicals, as well as their quantities
and locations, to expect at the scene.
The fire department can request
additional, more specific information
about chemical inventories at a plant,
and it can also request an on-site
inspection. The plant must provide
specific information regarding the
location of hazardous chemicals.
In an effort to help fire departments
respond to chemical accidents, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) worked with
the Seattle, WA, Fire Department to
develop the Computer-Aided
Management of Emergency Operations
(CAMEO ®II) System. EPA has helped
NOAA expand this program to meet the
information management needs of Title
III. CAMEO II contains response
information and recommendations for
2,629 commonly transported chemicals;
an air dispersion model to assist in
evaluating release scenarios and
evacuation options; and several easily
adaptable databases and computational
programs that address the emergency
planning provisions of the Emergency
Planning and Community Right-to-
Know Act.
22
-------
Public Institutions
Public institutions such as hospitals,
schools, and state and local
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. Schools and
public buildings should plan for
emergencies and may be called on to
serve as emergency shelters for
evacuees. Here are some of the other
ways public institutions can participate
in emergency planning and hazardous
chemical risk reduction:
• Representatives of these institutions
should be members of the Local
Emergency Planning Committee, 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 (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. They should also be familiar
with plans for responding to fires and
other emergencies involving hazardous
chemicals.
• State and local environmental and
public health agencies, in addition to
participating on SERCs and LEPCs,
should take advantage of the new
reporting requirements to build an
information base about hazardous
chemicals in their states and
communities. This information can then
be used to identify "hot spots," or
potential problem areas that warrant
further investigation to determine if
they represent unacceptable risks to the
public health or the environment. The
agencies also can use this information to
work with industry on voluntary
programs to reduce the amounts and
risks of hazardous chemicals present
or released in the community.
Public institutions may be required to
submit reports under the following
notification requirements of the Act:
• Emergency Planning: If a public
institution has more than a specified
amount of an extremely hazardous
substance, it must report to the SERC
and LEPC.
• Emergency Release Notification: If
the institution releases more than a
reportable quantity of an extremely
hazardous substance, it must
immediately report the release to the
SERC and LEPC.
• Toxic Chemical Release Reporting: If
a public institution operates a
manufacturing facility, it could be
covered by the toxic chemical release
reporting requirements.
23
-------
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. Here are some of the
ways these professionals can participate
in the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know program:
• They can volunteer to be a health
professional representative on the Local
Emergency Planning Committee, or
they can offer to assist the LEPC in its
work.
• They can participate in programs to
train medical personnel to deal with
emergencies involving chemical hazards
(health professionals should contact
their state training officer through their
LEPC or SERC for more information on
training programs).
• They can screen the information
submitted under Title III to determine if
any acute or chronic health effects may
be associated with hazardous substances
in their communities.
In a more general sense, health
professionals may be approached to
provide and interpret information on
chemicals available under this 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.
24
-------
Industry and Small Businesses
Hazardous substances are not only
found at large chemical plants.
They are also used routinely in many
small operations—garages, dry cleaners,
etc. These chemicals are not
necessarily hazardous in normal practice
but may be of concern if stored or used
improperly, or during an emergency
such as a fire. Most industrial facilities
that use chemicals in the United States
are probably subject to one or more
provisions of the Emergency Planning
and Community Right-to-Know Act.
Many small businesses are also required
to file reports under the law, although
several of the provisions either
specifically exempt certain small
businesses or have reporting thresholds
that make them apply only to larger
facilities.
A company's initial responsibility
under the Act is to determine whether it
has reporting and emergency planning
obligations, and if so, to meet those
obligations. EPA has prepared a number
of guidance documents, a videotape,
and other materials to help explain the
Act's requirements and to assist
companies in filing required reports and
participating in their communities'
planning process. Industry trade
associations, such as the Chemical
Manufacturers Association (CMA), also
have been active in alerting their
member companies to their obligations
under Title III.
Besides meeting the strict
requirements of the law, some chemical
manufacturers and other industries have
also taken steps to establish a dialogue
with citizens and to involve the public
as partners in planning for chemical
emergencies and managing chemical
risks in their communities. CMA's
Community Awareness and Emergency
Response (CAER) program is an
example of these efforts. EPA
encourages all companies affected by
Title III to consider similar programs.
The annual toxic chemical release
reporting requirement applies only to
manufacturing facilities (those in
Standard Industrial Classification codes
20-39) with ten or more full-time
employees (see page 9). Therefore,
many small businesses 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. (See page 13 for Federal
Register citations.)
Beyond these requirements, some
companies—both large and small—have
taken steps to improve community
safety by reducing their stocks of
hazardous substances in heavily
populated areas. Others are attempting
to substantially lower the levels of
chemicals they release into the
environment. In some cases, these
"source reduction" or "pollution
prevention" programs have as their goal
the virtual elimination of hazardous
25
-------
Farmers
chemical wastes through substitutions,
changes in industrial processes, reuse
and recycling, and the use of new
technologies to reduce the quantity and
toxicity of hazardous substances before
they enter the environment.
To the extent that industrial facilities
and other businesses pursue these
efforts, they will be helping to achieve
one of the major objectives of the
Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act: a reduction in the
amount of hazardous and toxic
chemicals stored in the nation's
communities and released into the
nation's air, water, and soil.
The presence of pesticides and
fertilizers on a farm can present a
potential chemical hazard to the
community just as a factory
can—especially if the farm is located
near a populated area or near
transportation routes. Farmers,
therefore, may be subject to one or
more of the reporting requirements of
the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act:
• Emergency Planning: Farmers should
first determine if they are using any of
the 366 "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 alert the SERC
and LEPC that it is covered by the
emergency planning requirements. The
farm must also identify a contact in case
the LEPC needs additional information.
This information will be used to develop
an emergency response plan for the
community. Because the circumstances
under which farmers have extremely
hazardous substances may be different
from other businesses, it is important
that an agriculture representative be
included on the LEPC.
• Emergency Release Notification:
Generally, farmers must notify their
SERCs and LEPCs if there is a release of
an "extremely hazardous substance," or
a substance listed under the Superfund
hazardous waste clean-up law, in excess
of its "reportable quantity." There are
two exceptions that may exclude
farmers from this reporting requirement:
26
-------
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. Even with these exemptions,
however, a farm may still have other
hazardous chemicals present which
would be subject to reporting. If you
have a release and are unsure whether
or not you need to report it because you
don't know whether or not you have a
hazardous chemical, you should report
it anyway.
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 be reported.
• Hazardous Chemical Reporting:
These reporting requirements are tied to
the worker right-to-know rules of the
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), so farmers may
be covered if they already must comply
with the OSHA regulations. Farms with
fewer that 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.
• Toxic Chemical Release Reporting:
These requirements cover only
manufacturing facilities (those in
Standard Industrial Classification codes
20-39) with ten or more employees.
Thus only farms that are involved in
manufacturing operations as a primary
activity (such as food, tobacco, or textile
manufacturing) would be covered under
this section, but only if their use of
listed chemicals exceeds the threshold
levels for reporting.
27
-------
State Emergency Response
Commissions (SERCs)
The Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act
requires each state to set up a State
Emergency Response Commission, or
SERC. The 50 states and the U.S.
territories and possessions have
established these commissions, which
are listed on page 33. Indian tribes
have the option to function as an
independent SERC or as part of
the state in which the tribe is located
(see box).
In some states, the SERCs have been
formed from existing organizations,
such as state environmental, emergency
management, transportation, or public
health agencies. In others, they are new
organizations with representatives from
public agencies and departments, along
with various private groups and
associations.
A broad perspective is crucial to the
oversight role of the SERCs. Information
available under the Act will involve air,
water, solid waste, toxics, and other
state and federal environmental
programs and regulations.
Among the SERC's duties are to:
• Designate local emergency planning
districts within the state.
• Appoint a local emergency planning
committee (LEPC) to serve each of the
districts.
• Coordinate and supervise the
activities of the local committees,
through regular communication and
contact.
• Coordinate proposals for and
distribution of training grant funds.
• Review local emergency response
plans annually, making
recommendations for any needed
changes.
• Notify EPA of all facilities in the
state that are either covered under
emergency planning requirements, or
have been designated as subject to these
requirements by the SERC or the
governor.
The SERCs also receive reports and
notifications required by the legislation:
material safety data sheets (MSDSs) or
lists of MSDS chemicals, emergency and
hazardous chemical inventory forms,
and notices of emergency releases (this
data also goes to LEPCs).
The law requires that toxic release
inventory information be provided to
EPA and to the state, but does not
designate any specific state agency. The
SERC may be designated to receive
these reports, or they may be submitted
to the state environmental, health or
28
-------
emergency management agency (in
almost every state this agency is a
member of the SERC). The designated
agency must make the reports available
to the public, and it can use them itself
in developing and enforcing state
environmental and public health
programs. (See page 34 for a list of
the state contacts designated to receive
the toxic release information.)
The SERC should provide the forum
for coordinating all Title III information,
and assisting in understanding and
communicating the associated chemical
risks.
Indian Tribes
Because of the sovereignty of many
Indian tribes, EPA is developing
regulations under which federally
recognized tribes may act as states,
with the same responsibilities as states
under the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act.
Under a draft policy statement
developed by EPA, however, tribes
may choose to negotiate agreements
with the states in which they are
located so that the state assumes some
or all of the responsibilities imposed by
the law.
People living and working under
tribal jurisdiction must follow the same
procedures as other persons under the
law. In complying, they will need to
know whether the tribe will be
functioning as the SERC. If so, all
reports and information requests must
be forwarded to the tribal SERC. If,
however, the tribe has chosen to enter
into an agreement with a state, the
agreement will designate who will
receive reports and answer questions.
The discussion of the SERC's role,
authorities, and responsibilities on page
28 applies to Indian tribes if the tribe is
functioning as a SERC. Questions
about this policy may be referred to
EPA regional offices (see page 35
for a list of those offices).
The SERC is also responsible for:
• Establishing procedures for receiving
and processing public requests for
information collected under the Act.
• Asking for further information from
facilities, at the request of the state or
another party or at its own discretion,
about a particular chemical or facility.
• Requesting information from EPA on
the health effects of chemicals that EPA
has agreed to designate "trade secret,"
and ensuring that this information is
available to the public.
• Taking civil action against facility
owners or operators who fail to comply
with reporting requirements.
The SERC should ensure that its state
programs are integrated with the
federal law in order to strengthen
enforcement.
The SERC can provide strong
leadership, coordination, technical
assistance, and training, work closely
with LEPCs to help identify their
specific needs and carry out their
programs, and use its knowledge and
expertise to help all affected groups,
organizations and individuals meet their
responsibilities under the Act.
29
-------
The Federal Role
States and local communities have the
primary governmental responsibility
for making emergency planning and
community right-to-know work. The
federal government, however, also has
important contributions to make.
The federal government's major
responsibilities in implementing this
new law include providing guidance,
technical assistance, and training to
states, communities, and industry, in
addition to enforcing the law to ensure
compliance. EPA is also responsible for
creating a national data base of toxic
chemical releases, making it accessible
to citizens, and ensuring that LEPCs
have the information they need to take
appropriate steps to reduce the risks
from accidents and toxic chemical
releases in their communities. The
federal government also has a variety of
responsibilities to regulate certain toxic
and hazardous substances under other
federal environmental and occupational
health and safety laws.
Guidance and
Technical Assistance
To help state and local 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
on hazards analysis which tells
emergency planners how to determine
the potential hazards of a chemical and
its processes before there is an accident,
so they can determine the priorities of
chemical risks in their community and
plan for them.
*See footnote on page 2
LEPCs can work with their SERCS
and ask their Regional Response Teams
to review local emergency plans.
EPA has also published documents to
help industry comply with the reporting
provisions of Title III, and to help state
and local officials manage and analyze
the information submitted.
The industry guidance documents are
designed to minimize reporting burdens
while helping facilities submit accurate
information in a format that can be
effectively used by the SERCs, LEPCs,
local fire departments, and EPA. These
documents include both general and
industry-specific guidance on estimating
releases for the toxic chemical release
reporting forms, and information on
completing the emergency and
hazardous chemical inventory forms.
To help SERCs and LEPCs analyze
this information, EPA has developed
chemical profiles for extremely
hazardous substances which include
some health effects and emergency
response information. EPA is also
distributing fact sheets prepared by the
State of New Jersey showing the health
and environmental effects to workers of
the chemicals on the Toxic Release
Inventory (TRI), as well as information
on federal and state laws and
regulations covering the chemicals.
EPA and FEMA staff are also helping
SERCs administer the law by
sponsoring workshops, speaking at
meetings of SERCs and LEPCs, and
providing guidance for developing and
testing local emergency plans and
managing, understanding, and
communicating the information
submitted under Title III.
30
-------
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.
Under Section 305 of the Act, FEMA is
authorized to provide $5 million a year
for fiscal years 1987-1990 in training
grants for state and local officials. These
grants will be provided through the
SERC in each state. The purpose of the
grants is to allow states and local
communities to gain or improve on the
skills necessary for carrying out
emergency planning and preparedness
programs.
The training grants are earmarked for
federal training programs and for
developing state-delivered courses for
local officials. States must match 20
percent of the funds requested in order
to be eligible for the training grants. The
training must focus on emergency
planning, preparedness, mitigation,
response, and recovery capabilities
related to emergencies involving
hazardous chemicals.
Toxic Chemicals
Release Inventory
EPA will compile the computerized
Toxic Chemical Release Inventory, and
will update the data base semiannually
as new information is gathered. The
national data base will be available to
the public through computer
telecommunications and "other means,"
such as computer-generated microfiche,
by the spring of 1989. (See page 32 for
details on obtaining TRI and other
information provided under Title III.)
Special Studies
Required by Title III
• EPA has reviewed existing emergency
systems for monitoring, detecting, and
preventing releases of extremely
hazardous substances, and alerting the
public to them. The Agency's report of
this review was submitted to Congress
in June 1988. It makes recommendations
to improve technical capabilities in these
areas.
• The National Academy of Sciences
will conduct a study of "mass balance"
analysis and information, to be
completed by 1991. A mass balance
compares the amount of a chemical
entering a production process with the
amount leaving the process, either in
products or as waste. The study's
purpose is to assess whether mass
balance data is useful in estimating
releases and waste treatment efficiencies
that must be reported on the Toxic
Chemical Release Inventory form.
• The General Accounting Office, also
by 1991, must report to Congress on the
collection and use of data in the Toxic
Chemical Release Inventory.
Enforcement
EPA has a major role to play in the
enforcement of Title III. The Agency is
providing assistance to states and local
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 SERCs and LEPCs
do, actions should be initiated at the
state and local 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.
31
-------
For Further Information
If you are interested in getting
involved in your community, or
would like more information on how
the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act is being
carried out, please contact your local
emergency planning committee.
On page 33 is a list of state emergency
response commissions. Your SERC can
help you locate your local committee.
Your local committee and state
commission are the focal points for
information submitted under Title III. In
addition to answering questions you
may have after reading this brochure,
they can provide you with information
submitted under the law (see box
below).
Toxic Release Inventory data can be
obtained by contacting EPA in writing:
U.S. EPA
P.O. Box 70266
Washington, DC 20024-0266
Attention: TRI Public Inquiry
Please be specific when identifying
the Toxic Release Inventory material
you would like to obtain. At a
minimum, you should provide the
company name, city, and state.
If you have any technical or
regulatory questions that your LEPC or
SERC is unable to answer, please
contact your nearest EPA Regional
Office (see page 35 or call the
toll-free Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Information
Hotline, between 8:30 am and 7:30 pm
Eastern time at 800-535-0202 (in
Washington, DC, 202-479-2449).
An introductory videotape on Title III,
titled "Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know: What It
Means to You," is also available.
Contact your EPA regional office or
write to the Title III Information
Hotline for information on how to
obtain more copies of this brochure,
and how to purchase or borrow the
videotape. The Hotline address is:
Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know
Information
OS-120
U.S. EPA
Washington, DC 20460
Information Available Under Title
Information:
Available From
Local Emergency Plans Local Emergency Planning Committees
Material Safety Data
Sheets or Lists of
Hazardous Chemicals
Emergency and
Hazardous Chemical
Inventory Forms
Toxic Chemical Release
Inventory Information
Local Emergency Planning Committees
State Emergency Response Commissions
Local Emergency Planning Committees
State Emergency Response Commissions
Local Emergency Planning Committees
State Emergency Response Commissions
Designated State Agencies
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
32
-------
State Emergency Response Commission Telephone Numbers
Alabama
Alaska
American Samoa
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Guam
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Northern Mariana
Island
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
(205) 834-1375
(205) 271-7700
(907) 465-2600
(684) 633-2331
(602) 231-6326
(501) 562-7444
(916) 427-4287
(303) 331-4880
(203) 566-4856
(302) 736-3169
(207) 727-6161
(904) 488-1472
(404) 656-4713
(671) 477-7230
(808) 548-5832
(208) 342-5888
(217) 782-4694
(317) 243-5176
(515) 281-3231
(913) 296-1690
(502) 564-8660
(504) 925-6113
1-800-452-8735
(670) 322-9529
(301) 486-4422
(617) 292-5993
(517) 373-8481
(612) 643-3000
(601) 960-9973
(314) 751-7929
(406) 444-6911
(402) 471-2186
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virgin Islands
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
(702) 885-4240
(603) 271-2231
(609) 292-6714
(505) 827-9222
(518) 457-9996
(919) 733-3867
(701) 224-2111
(614) 644-2260
(405) 521-2481
(503) 378-2885
(717) 783-8150
(809) 722-2173
(809) 722-1175
(401) 277-3039
(803) 734-0425
(605) 773-3151
(615) 252-3300
(512) 465-2138
(801) 584-8370
(802) 828-2286
(809) 774-3321
(804) 225-2513
(206) 753-5625
(304) 348-5380
(608) 266-3232
(307) 777-7566
33
-------
State Designated TRI Contacts
Alabama
Alaska
American Samoa
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Guam
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Northern Mariana
Islands
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
(205) 271-7931
(907) 465-2600
(684) 633-2304
(602) 231-6326
(501) 682-4534
(916) 324-8124
(303) 331-4830
(203) 566-4856
(302) 736-4791
(202) 727-6161
(904) 488-1472
(404) 656-6905
(671) 646-8863
(808) 548-6505
(208) 334-5888
(217) 782-3637
(317) 243-5167
(515) 281-8852
(913) 296-1690
(502) 564-2150
(504) 342-8617
(207) 289-4080
(670) 234-6984
(301) 631-3800
(617) 292-5993
(517) 373-8481
(612) 463-3000
(601) 960-9973
(314) 751-7929
(406)444-6911
(402) 471-2186
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
(Within State)
Tennessee
(Out of State)
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Virgin Islands
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
(702) 885-4240
(603) 271-2231
(609) 292-6714
(505) 827-9222
(518) 457-4107
(919) 733-3867
(701) 224-2374
(614) 644-2266
(405) 521-2481
(503) 378-2885
(717) 783-2071
(809) 722-0077
(401) 277-2808
(803) 734-5200
(605) 773-3153
800-1-262-3300
800-1-258-3300
(512) 463-8527
(801) 538-6121
(802) 863-7281
(804) 225-2513
(809) 774-3320
(206) 438-7252
(304) 348-5380
(608) 266-9255
(307) 777-7566
34
-------
Telephone Numbers for EPA and FEMA
Regional Offices
Region EPA
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Boston (617) 565-4502
New York (212) 264-2515
Philadelphia (215) 597-9904
Atlanta (404) 347-3931
Chicago (312) 886-6871
(Outside Illinois) 1-800-621-8431
Dallas (EPA) (214) 655-2270
Denton TX (FEMA)
Kansas City KS (EPA) (913) 236-2806
Kansas City MO (FEMA)
Denver (303) 293-1723
San Francisco (415) 974-0577
Seattle (EPA) (206) 442-1200
FEMA
(617) 223-9565
(212) 238-8225
(215) 931-5528
(404) 853-4454
(312) 408-5524
(817) 898-9137
(816) 283-7011
(303) 235-4923
(415) 923-7187
Bothell, WA (FEMA)
(206) 487-4606
4- Alabama
10- Alaska
9- Arizona
6- Arkansas
9- California
8- Colorado
1- Connecticut
3- Delaware
4- Florida
4- Georgia
9- Hawaii
10-Idaho
5- Illinois
5- Indiana
7- Iowa
7- Kansas
4- Kentucky
6- Louisiana
1- Maine
3- Maryland
1- Massachusetts
5- Michigan
5-Minnesota
4- Mississippi
7- Missouri
8- Montana
7-Nebraska
9- Nevada
1- New Hampshire
2- New Jersey
6- New Mexico
2- New York
4- North Carolina
8- North Dakota
9- Northern
Mariana
Islands
5- Ohio
6- Oklahoma
10-Oregon
3- Pennsylvania
1- Rhode Island
4- South Carolina
8- South Dakota
4- Tennessee
6- Texas
8- Utah
1- Vermont
3- Virginia
10- Washington
3- West Virginia
5- Wisconsin
8- Wyoming
9- American Samoa
3- District of Columbia
9- Guam
2- Puerto Rico
2- Virgin Islands
35
-------
Glossary
CERCLA (Comprehensive Emergency
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
of 1980): The federal statute that
authorized "Superfund." Superfund,
which is administered by EPA, provides
funding for cleanups and emergency
response actions for hazardous substances
at the worst hazardous waste sites in the
United States. CERCLA is also significant
because it set the first criteria for
notification of emergencies involving
hazardous substances.
EHS (Extremely Hazardous Substance):
Any one of 366 hazardous chemicals on a
list compiled by EPA to provide a focus
for state and local emergency planning
activities.
EPA: U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency.
FEMA: U.S. Federal Emergency
Management Agency.
LEPC: Local Emergency Planning
Committee.
NRC (National Response Center): The
central U.S. clearinghouse for information
involving emergency spills and other
releases of oil and hazardous substances.
NRT (National Response Team): The
national team composed of representatives
from 14 federal agencies, with emergency
planning and response capabilities,
including EPA and FEMA.
MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet): A
worksheet required by the U.S.
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) containing
information about hazardous chemicals in
the workplace; MSDSs are used to fulfill
part of the hazardous chemical inventory
reporting requirements under the
Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act.
OSHA: Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, part of the U.S.
Department of Labor.
RQ (Reportable Quantity): An amount of
a Superfund hazardous substance or
"extremely hazardous substance" that, if
released, must be reported under the
emergency release reporting requirements
of the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act or under
those of CERCLA.
SARA: Superfund Amendments and
Reauthorization Act of 1986.
SERC: State Emergency Response
Commission.
TPQ (Threshold Planning Quantity): The
amount of an extremely hazardous
substance present at a facility above which
the facility's owner/operator must give
emergency planning notification to the
SERC and LEPC.
Title III: The third part of SARA, also
known as the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986.
TRI (Toxic Release Inventory): A national
inventory of annual toxic chemical releases
from manufacturing facilities.
36
-------
-------
§§i m
°n
3-co
-------
|