Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act

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The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, called EPCRA, is also known as SARA Title III, but is commonly referred to as the Community Right-To-Know law. EPCRA was passed in 1986 by the U.S. Congress after a chemical disaster in Bhopal, India, which caused widespread death and illness. The Bhopal accident raised concerns about a lack of planning and preparation for a similar accident in America. EPCRA is designed to inform communities about chemicals and chemical hazards present and transported in a community, involve the community in developing emergency planning and response measures, help identify facilities that might be subject to the law, and assure implementation of the EPCRA law. The EPCRA law provides an infrastructure at state and local levels to plan for chemical emergencies. Facilities that have spilled hazardous substances, or that store, use or release certain chemicals are subject to various reporting requirements. All of this information is available so that the public may become informed about potentially dangerous chemicals in their community. EPCRA gives the public the explicit right to know about chemical hazards in communities. Anyone has a right to see and get copies of the Tier Two Reports (chemical storage reports), facility emergency plans, written follow-up reports, regional emergency plans, and Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS which list chemical properties) with information that a facility has provided to a LEPC and the SERC. Generally, the LEPC or SERC will already have the MSDS if there are sufficient quantities of a chemical on-site to trigger EPCRA reporting requirements. The public will want to ask in writing for MSDSs, facility emergency plans, written follow-up reports, regional emergency plans, or Tier Two Reports from the LEPC or SERC. The time to get informed and involved is before there is a serious chemical incident. Some communities are simply not prepared and public scrutiny and involvement is in everybody's best interests. For more information Please go to: https://www.epa.gov/emergency-response