You may be wondering how emergency preparedness affects you as a facility operator or owner. The information available here is meant to provide a brief overview with additional quick links to helpful information. The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) determines a list of extremely hazardous substances (EHS) and computed reportable quantities for these substances (CFR 355 Appendix A). In addition facilities may also be responsible to make information available to the government, local organizations and the public.
Which facilites | What to do | Who to notify | Exceptions for Facilties
Which facilities are subject to the EPCRA Emergency Planning Requirements? (EPCRA Section 304)
A facility must comply with the emergency planning requirements if it meets either of the following two conditions:
(a) Any extremely hazardous substance (EHS) that is present at the facility in an amount equal to or greater than its threshold planning quantity (TPQ), or
(b) The facility has been designated for emergency planning purposes, after public notice and opportunity for comment, by one of the following three entities:
- The State Emergency Response Commission (SERC).
- The Governor of the State in which your facility is located.
- The Chief Executive Officer of the Tribe for the Indian Tribe under whose jurisdiction your facility is located.
Source: PART 355—EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NOTIFICATION § 355.10
More details are available in CFR Title 40 Section 370.10
(*Picture provided by Jill Miller, LEPC Coordinator)
What are facilities required to do?
Montana State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) is responsible for the establishment of a hazardous materials emergency preparedness, response, and community right-to-know program as required by EPCRA. Facilities that meet the stated requirements are obligated in the following ways:
- Cooperate in emergency plan preparation and designate a facility emergency coordinator to participate in the planning process.
- Notify their SERC and LEPC within 60 days of becoming subject to the emergency planning requirements (such as from a shipment or production of an EHS).
- Required reports (such as Tier II Reports) to the local fire department, LEPC and SERC.
More details are available in CFR 40 Section 355.20.
Who and when do I submit information?
You must provide notice that your facility is subject to the emergency planning requirements of this subpart to the SERC and the LEPC. A quick reference table is available in CFR 40 Section 355.20 (Subpart B—Emergency Planning) within 60 days after your facility first becomes subject to the requirements of this subpart, 30 days after changes have occurred and prompt response to the LEPC requests (or a time specied by the LEPC).
*NOTE: The following information is provided by http://www.epa.gov/TRI.
Through a cooperative agreement with U.S. EPA, Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) has developed the Chemicalright2know.org collaborative forum. The main mission of the collaborative forum is to provide access for communities, industry and all interested stakeholders on toxic release inventory (TRI) and other environmental data to examine their results, share success stories and best practices, and collaborate on solving community chemical-related problems. The views and opinions expressed on this web site do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions held by the EPA or ECOS.
By law, if your facility is in a covered industry, you must file your Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reports by July 1 of each year. This TRI compliance assistance Web page contains access to the resources necessary for industrial facilities to report their releases and transfers of certain toxic chemicals to meet EPCRA Section 313 requirements.
Exceptions for Facilities
Annual reporting to state and local authorities is required for all covered facilities that have those chemicals in amounts above threshold. Hazardous chemicals used in routine agricultural operations and fertilizers held for resale by retailers are excluded and those facilities that do not meet the requirements in CFR Title 40 Section 370.10.
Any facility with any