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In 1984, a release of toxic chemicals in Bhopal, India resulted in the deaths of 2000 people and injury to thousands of others. Eight months later, a less toxic derivative of the same chemical was released from a plant in West Virginia. These two incidents caused the United States government to enact legislation to ensure that equipment and response plans are in place, and that information is available to the public on the hazardous materials in their communities.
Hazardous substances that travel through our area may be H2S gas, petrol, propane, petroleum, crude oil, insecticides, pesticides, chlorine, oxygen, natural gas, diesel, hydrocarbons, hydrochloric acid, and nitrogen. Other hazards may include natural incidents brought on by flood, wind, hail, or fire.
The LEPC works in preparation against such disasters through mitigation, planning, response and recovery. |
EPCRA | Reports | Request Information
EPCRA
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) is the backbone to emergency planning and “Community Right-to-Know”.
These requirements extend aid to communities to prepare for and respond to chemical accidents by necessitating facilities to report chemical storage and release information; and communities to develop emergency response plans. They also direct Federal, State and local governments, Indian Tribes, and industry requirements for hazardous and toxic chemical reports in order to improve chemical safety and protect public health as well as the environment.
The Community Right-to-Know provisions work as an aid to increase the public’s knowledge and access information on chemicals at individual facilities, their uses, and their releases into the environment while helping facilities meet their responsibilities.
*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.
Required Reports
Facilities covered by this legislation must annually submit an emergency and hazardous chemical inventory form to the LEPC, the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC), and the local fire department. Facilities provide either a Tier I or Tier II report which includes the following information:
- An estimate (in ranges) of the maximum amount of chemicals for each category present at the facility at any time during the preceding calendar year;
- An estimate (in ranges) of the average daily amount of chemicals in each category; and,
- The general location of hazardous chemicals in each category.
In accordance with Section 324 of EPCRA, all information obtained from an owner or operator pursuant to EPCRA and any requested Tier II reports or the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) otherwise in possession of the LEPC are available to any person submitting a request under this section, subject to any withholding provisions of EPCRA. If the owner should request the location of a specified chemical not to be identified, that information will be withheld.
Requesting Information
A request for Tier Two Report, a list of chemicals used or stored at the facility, must include the general need for the information, the persons name and contact information in a hard copy format (an email, fax or letter). Once a request is received, it will be made available to the requesting person during normal business hours for review and copying information with 45 days of the date of the request.
Local Emergency Planning Committee
c/o Richland County Disaster and Emergency Services
Butch Renders, Director
121 East Main Street
Sidney, MT 59270
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