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Local Emergency Planning Committee

Background/History

The original Superfund act – CERCLA, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act – was enacted by Congress in 1980 to clean up the nation’s hazardous waste sites.  In response to continuing community concern regarding hazardous materials and chemical release tragedies such as the incident in Bohpal, India, a reauthorization and expansion of Superfund was signed into law on October 17, 1986.  It is known as the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA).  Title III of SARA created a new, nationwide program known as Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know (EPCRA).  The law was designed to improve local hazardous materials emergency response capabilities and provide the public with information concerning hazardous and toxic chemicals in their community.

 What Are SERCs and LEPCs?

The Governor of each state designated a State Emergency Response Commission (SERC).  The SERCs, in turn, designated about 3,500 local emergency planning districts nationwide and appointed Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) for each district.  The SERC supervises and coordinates the activities of the LEPC, establishes procedures for receiving and processing public requests for information collected under EPCRA (The Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986), and reviews local emergency response plans.  In Michigan, the LEPC’s are designated by county.

 The LEPC membership must include, at a minimum, local officials including police, fire, emergency management, public health, transportation, and environmental professionals, as well as representatives of facilities subject to the emergency planning requirements, community groups, and the media.  The LEPCs must develop an emergency response plan, review it at least annually, and provide information about chemicals in the community to citizens.

LEPC MISSION

The mission of the G.C.LEPC (Genesee County Local Emergency Planning Committee), is to enhance public safety in response to a major chemical emergency, to train and educate both first responders, and the community and to provide the community with information under the “Community Right-To- Know section of SARA Title III.  The G.C.LEPC, in conjunction with the community, both private and public, will be committed to strengthen the response capability by continually reviewing, revising and exercising the Genesee County HazMat/WMD Emergency Response Plan; by supporting professional training for those involved with the plan, and by developing additional plans for newly identified sites which handle extremely hazardous substances.  The G.C.LEPC will be committed to developing strategies for preventing and/or mitigating a major chemical emergency.

For more information on the Genesee County LEPC, contact Tamara J. Yorks at (810) 257-3064.