©EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Solid Waste
and Emergency Response
(5104)
EPA550-F-01-005
August 2001
www.epa.gov/ceppo
GEPPlt) LEPCs and Deliberate Releases:
Addressing Terrorist Activities in the Local Emergency Plan
In recent years, the threat of terrorist incidents involving chemical and biological
materials has increased. Local emergency planning committees (LEPCs) should
consider the possibility of terrorist events as they review existing plans and
consider how to incorporate counter-terrorism (CT) measures into their plans. CT
planning and preparedness is often an extension of existing activities, rather than
a totally new effort. This factsheet discusses how LEPCs can incorporate CT
issues when they review and update their local plans. This factsheet builds on the
National Response Team's Hazardous Materials Emergency Planning Guide (NRT-
1) and supersedes "Thinking abut Deliberate Releases: Steps Your Community
Can Take."
BUILD ON CURRENT
ACTIVITIES
Local emergency planning committees
(LEPCs), established under the
Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), prepare
and maintain comprehensive emergency
plans. These plans address the
extremely hazardous substances listed
under EPCRA as well as thousands of
hazardous chemicals for which OSHA
requires Material Safety Data Sheets.
Many LEPCs are already addressing
CT, even if they do not use the word
"terrorism." If you have developed a
plan for possible accidental releases of
chemicals in your community, you can
use the same general planning
principles for deliberate releases caused
by terrorists. You may need to spend
some time considering biological
agents. This factsheet includes some
suggestions for how you can modify
your current activities to include
deliberate chemical and biological
releases.
MAINTAIN BROAD-BASED
MEMBERSHIP
LEPC membership includes a wide
variety of stakeholders, such as elected
State and local officials; police; fire, civil
defense, public health, environmental,
hospital, and transportation officials;
representatives of facilities where chemicals
are stored or used; community groups;
public works departments; and the media.
Identify any specific roles each of these
groups might have in the event of a terrorist
attack. In addition, you might add a few
new members who would bring specific
expertise during a release involving
biological agents (e.g., the coroner,
morticians, chemistry and biology labs,
university experts).
UPDATE AND REVISE YOUR
PLANS
LEPCs should review their emergency
response plans annually. Before you begin
specific consideration of CT issues, ensure
that your emergency plan is up-to-date.
Simply adding CT materials to an outdated
plan will not create an effective emergency
plan. For example, review your plan for
outdated contact information, unique
hazards presented by facilities that may
have been constructed after the emergency
response plan was first written, or new
public works facilities. Also review the
annual inventory reports filed under
EPCRA Section 312 to determine if new
chemicals or hazards are present in your
community.
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In addition, check Risk Management Plans submitted
by facilities in your community to ensure that you
address the specific hazards identified by each facility.
After you have generally updated your plan, consider
adding information and procedures related to potential
terrorist incidents involving weapons of mass
destruction (WMD). Table 1 (page 6) defines each
type of WMD and explains the consequences and
response difficulties associated with each type.
One overall difference in dealing with a WMD incident
is that law enforcement officials will be involved in the
response as investigators. Officials from local, State,
and Federal agencies will be on the scene of an incident
to collect evidence and interview survivors. Their
priorities may create emergency response coordination
challenges that your LEPC should address in its plan.
This portion of the factsheet suggests changes you can
make to specific sections of your emergency plan.
Emergency Contact Information
In the event of a terrorist incident, rapid and secure
communications will be crucial to ensure a prompt and
coordinated response. Your plans should include
current contact information for fire, emergency
medical services (EMS), law enforcement, medical,
and other local departments and supporting
organizations. Contact information for State officials,
including those at public health agencies, the State
Emergency Response Commission (SERC), State
Police, and emergency management agencies also
should be included.
The emergency assistance telephone roster in your
emergency response plan should include regular phone
numbers, cell phone numbers, pager numbers, and
other emergency contact information for those
individuals (Federal, State, local, and private sector)
who have specific CT functions. The National
Response Center (NRC) continues to be the sole
Federal point of contact for reporting oil and chemical
spills, and now provides the service of the Chemical
and Biological Hotline. The NRC telephone number
(800-424-8802) should be part of your emergency plan.
NRC Duty Officers take reports of actual or potential
domestic terrorism and link emergency calls with the
Department of Defense (DOD) for technical advice on
dealing with weapons of mass destruction and with the
FBI to initiate the Federal
response actions. The NRC also provides reports and
notifications to other Federal agencies as necessary.
All local plans should also include contact information
for the local FBI Field Office.
Response Functions
Incident Command/Unified Command. Your
emergency plan should address direction and control of
responders in the event of terrorist attack. Local
responders respond to an incident scene and should
notify local, State, and Federal authorities if terrorism
appears to be involved. Local response authorities
(such as a senior fire or law enforcement official)
should establish control of the incident scene. The
Incident Command System (ICS) that is initially
established will likely transition into a Unified
Command (UC). The UC structure used at the scene
will expand as mutual-aid partners, and State and
Federal responders arrive to assist with response
operations.
The FBI is the overall Lead Federal Agency (LFA) for
a domestic terrorist incident involving WMD and will
lead the crisis management activities (including law
enforcement activities) of the response.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
is the lead agency for coordination of Federal support
to State and local responders during consequence
management activities of the response. Although the
FBI is always involved in response to a credible
terrorist threat or attack, FEMA support is provided
only after a Presidential declaration, typically after
State and local agencies request their assistance.
Consequence management includes measures to protect
public health and safety after an explosion or release;
restore essential government services; and provide
emergency relief to governments, business, and
individuals. When crisis management activities have
been completed, the U.S. Attorney General may
transfer the overall Lead Federal Agency role to
FEMA. EPA, the Department of Health and Human
Services (DHHS), and DOD also have specific CT-
related functions. EPA's role in counter-terrorism
activities is described in a factsheet by that name,
available at www.epa.gov/ceppo/ct-publ.htm#factsheet.
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Public Information. Rapid and secure communications
help to ensure a prompt and coordinated response to
terrorist activities. Therefore, strengthening
communications among emergency responders, law
enforcement officials, clinicians, emergency rooms,
hospitals, and mass care providers is extremely
important. Your emergency plan should include the
use of accurate and timely public notification measures
and warning systems in the event of a terrorist attack.
Work in advance with local news media representatives
to ensure their cooperation at the time of an incident.
Ongoing communication of accurate and up-to-date
information will help calm fears and limit the effects of
the attack. The FBI will establish a Joint Information
Center (JIC) to coordinate the collection and
dissemination of public information.
EPA's Role in the Federal Response Plan
The multi-agency disaster response program that
helps states during and after a disaster is the
Federal Response Plan (FRP), which groups
Federal assistance into 12 functional areas called
Emergency Support Functions (ESFs). EPA is
the primary agency for ESF 10, Hazardous
Materials, which provides for a coordinated
response to large-scale releases of hazardous
materials by incorporating the response
mechanisms of the National Contingency Plan
(NCP). EPA assists in determining what sort of
hazardous substance may be, or has been,
released in a terrorist incident, and follows up
with response to the incident, assisting with
environmental monitoring, decontamination, and
long-term site cleanup.
Activities of human services organizations, such as the
Red Cross, should be included in the emergency plan.
Among other activities, these organizations may use
public information systems to provide human services
information to the community, perform crisis
counseling, provide insurance information and
assistance, and provide translation services.
Public and First Responder Health and Safety. Your
emergency plan should address public health and
medical issues as they relate to terrorist events. The
plan should include procedures to identify and treat
victims, store and distribute antidotes, and handle
fatalities. Mass care issues that may be different during
a terrorist WMD event include decontamination,
multihazard/multiagent triage, mortuary services, and
notifying and working with families of any fatalities.
The emergency plan should also consider the personal
safety of emergency responders in the event of a
terrorist attack. A terrorist chemical, biological, or
radiological release may not be immediately known or
apparent. Caregivers, emergency response and law
enforcement personnel, and other first responders are in
danger of becoming casualties before anyone realizes
that a crime has occurred. Incidents could escalate
quickly from one scene to multiple locations and
jurisdictions.
The emergency plan should be flexible enough to
accommodate evacuation or in-place sheltering.
Evacuation may be required outside the perimeter of
the scene to guard against further casualties from
contamination by a released agent or from the
possibility of additional WMD. In-place sheltering
may be required if the area must be quarantined or if
people are safer in a particular location.
Hazards Analysis
The hazards analysis section of an emergency plan
should identify potential hazards, determine the
vulnerability of an area as a result of hazards, and
assess the risk of a hazardous materials release or spill.
In the identification step, you should consider
explosive, chemical, biological, and nuclear WMD as
potential hazards.
As you conduct your hazards analysis, identify
potential targets and review their vulnerability to
attack. Consider the population, accessibility, impact
on daily life, economic impact, and symbolic value of
areas at risk. Terrorists and criminals who want to
attack a particular group based on a conflict with their
personal beliefs might target Federal, State, or local
government offices and facilities, health clinics, or
religious structures. Those who want to cause
maximum casualties might target public gathering
places (such as sports and entertainment complexes or
tourist attractions), modes of transportation (such as
buses and trains - including subways), routes of
transportation(including bridges), or transportation
facilities (such as airport terminals). In order to
damage infrastructure and interrupt day-to-day
functions, a terrorist might target utilities or water and
wastewater treatment plants. LEPCs should also
consider emergency procedures in the event of
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multiple, or simultaneous, terrorist attacks. Terrorists
might target first responders (e.g., fire houses, police
department offices, response vehicles, and individuals)
to hinder them from responding to another terrorist
incident. A terrorist may seek to transform a target into
a weapon by focusing on facilities that handle
explosive, toxic, or volatile chemicals.
Because most public buildings and public areas must be
accessible to everyone, they are highly vulnerable to
attack. Other facilities, such as water treatment plants
and industrial facilities, especially those with chemical
or explosives storage, should have site security
measures in place. You may want to discuss site
security measures with these facilities to ensure that
they are adequately protected. You may want to ask
the facility the following questions:
• Is the facility or critical equipment and chemicals
protected by fences or buildings?
• Are there systems to detect intruders (e.g., patrols,
video surveillance)?
• Are there alarm systems?
• Is access to the critical areas controlled?
Do not, however, include details of the security systems
in your emergency plan, because it is available to the
general public.
Public works facilities and workers will assume a
support role, if so requested by State and local
agencies. This support role might include damage
assessment, debris clearance, search and rescue, traffic
control, restoration of lifeline systems, building
inspection, provision of potable water and sanitation
services, and flood control.
For more information on site security, read CEPPO's
Chemical Safety Alerts Chemical Accident Prevention:
Site Security (EPA K-550-FOO-002) and Anhydrous
Ammonia Theft (EPA-F-00-005), available at
www.epa.gov/ceppo/p-small.htnrfalerts.
Mitigation Procedures and Ongoing Assessment
Mitigation procedures and ongoing assessment involve
consequence management activities to assess and
protect the public from further exposure to hazards
presented by terrorist activities. Public health officials,
hazmat teams, coroners and/or medical examiners, and
criminal investigators should work together to mitigate
residual hazards as well as identify potentially large
numbers of fatalities. Federal assistance should be
available to support this task. Ongoing assessment
activities may include environmental sampling of air,
water, and soil, and insect and animal screening for
chemical, biological, or radiological agents.
The criminal investigation of a terrorist attack will be a
joint effort that includes many agencies. In the event of
a biological attack, an epidemiological investigation
may also be performed to assess the distribution of
cases and sources of outbreak. The emergency plan
could include a checklist of basic questions to ask when
conducting interviews with victims in hospitals, sick
officers, and other individuals in affected population
groups. (It may be necessary to train people in how to
ask such questions appropriately in stressful
circumstances.)
Equipment
Your emergency response plan should include standard
operating procedures on when to use specialized WMD
response equipment. Local responders should be
trained to use, maintain, and calibrate this specialized
equipment. The Department of Justice's Office for
State and Local Domestic Preparedness Support
(OSLDPS) provides equipment grants and technical
assistance to eligible communities. Visit their website
at http://www.ojp.usdoj .gov/terrorism/funding.htm for
more information and grant application kits.
Training
The 1996Nunn-Lugar-Domenici (NLD) legislation
authorized funding to form a Domestic Preparedness
(DP) training initiative. This initiative was recently
transferred from DOD to the Department of Justice
(DOJ), and includes a range of specialized courses,
from basic awareness to discipline-specific advanced
level training and exercises.
Training is available for identified cities and is directed
at a broad spectrum of emergency responders from a
variety of response disciplines, including fire,
hazardous materials, law enforcement, emergency
medical services, public health, emergency
management, and public works. Additional advanced
level courses involving the use of real-time
experiences, live agents, and explosives are taught at
cutting edge training facilities.
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The NLD DP Program also includes three exercises: a
chemical weapons tabletop, a biological weapons
tabletop, and a chemical weapons full-scale exercise.
Both types of exercises allow participants to test their
knowledge and training, as well as increase the overall
preparedness of responders across the jurisdiction.
FEMA independently offers the following:
• Course materials on WMD and preparedness and
response for terrorist incidents that can be
downloaded from www.fema.gov/emi/termng.htm.
• A terrorism consequence management course at
their Mount Weather Emergency Assistance Center.
Contact the training officer in your State Training
Office of Emergency Services for information on
course schedules and application procedures. A list
of offices and contact information is located at
www. fema.gov/emi/sttrgo .htm.
• Information on the Incident Command System (ICS)
training conducted by each State Training Office of
Emergency Services. Visit www.fema.gov/emi/
nrcrs.htm for more details.
• In conjunction with the National Fire Academy, an
independent study course in emergency response to
terrorism, located at www.fema.gov/emi/crslist.htm.
RESOURCES
LEPCs seeking assistance in terrorism-related
emergency planning should begin with their SERCs.
The SERC can direct LEPCs to appropriate assistance
at the national and State level, and may be able to
facilitate LEPCs in a given region working together to
address possible terrorist activities.
There are currently many Federal agencies involved in
some aspect of counter-terrorism. Many of these
agencies support websites. Because of the continual
changes in the world of CT, however, many websites
become outdated or are even discontinued without
warning. Therefore, we recommend that LEPCs
consult EPA's Chemical Emergency Preparedness and
Prevention Office (CEPPO) website at
www.epa.gov/ceppo/cntr-ter.html. This address is
updated every two months and includes the latest links
to the following types of information: Federal
departments and agencies, health and medical,
technical information and resources, and international
sources.
For More Information:
Contact the EPCRA Hotline at:
(800) 424-9346 or (703) 412-9810
TDD (800) 553-7672
Monday - Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM, EST
Visit the CEPPO Home Page at:
www. epa.gov/ceppo/
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Table 1
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Definitions, Consequences, and Response Difficulties
Type of
WMD
Explosives
Chemical
Biological
Nuclear
Definition (according to Title 18,
USC 2332a)
Any explosive, incendiary, or
poison gas bomb, grenade, rocket
... missile ... mine or device similar
to the above
Poison gas, blister gas
Any weapon involving a disease
organism
Any weapon that is designed to
release radiation or radioactivity at
a level dangerous to human life
Consequences
Deaths, injuries, damaged
structures
Deaths, injuries, possible
contamination, possible long-
term effects
Deaths, injuries,
contamination, long-term, far-
reaching geographic effects
Deaths, injuries,
contamination, possible long-
term, far-reaching effects
Response Difficulties
Similar to that of other explosions
and large fires
Similar to accidents planned for in
current LEPC emergency response
plan, but could be more extensive
in effect (e.g., VX release in a
crowded convention center or
school)
Agents may be unknown; Locations
may vary and multiply as people
travel
Similar to that of other explosions
and large fires plus radiation; could
have long-term far-reaching effects
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