What is an LEPC?

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), otherwise known as “Superfund”, was enacted in 1980 to fund the cleanup deserted hazardous waste sites.  By mid-decade, Superfund was ready for an overhaul.  Lawmakers saw that the CERCLA reauthorization was the perfect platform for creating a tough, new set of laws designed to protect Americans from industrial accidents.  (In 1984, an accident at Union Carbide's Bhopal, India facility  killed or injured several thousand people in the city.  It was this disaster that spurred congressional action.)

1986, when the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) was passed, Congress included new language, now known as the Emergency Preparedness and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) designed to make sure that nothing like the Bhopal tragedy would ever occur here.

EPCRA addresses four major areas of concern:

Emergency Planning

Emergency Release Notifications

Hazardous Chemical Storage Reporting and;

Toxic release inventory

In order to address these areas of concern, the law requires each state governor to seat a State Emergency Response Commission or “SERC” to oversee the creation of Local Emergency Planning Committees (“LEPCs” for short).  The last link on this page accesses the US EPA EPCRA Website.

Where Does the Boone County LEPC Fit  In?

Your Boone County LEPC is authorized by the Missouri Emergency Response Commission to implement Community Right to Know for this jurisdiction. 

Public meetings are held quarterly.  Additional sessions are often scheduled for training, planning and public education.  These meetings are open to the public and attendance is encouraged.

Membership is broad based and includes representatives from business, government, educational institutions, private industry and concerned citizens.  Information concerning membership is outlined in the bylaws that can be accessed on this website by going to the home page and clicking on the “By-Laws” link.

The BC LEPC puts on several training exercises each year.  Tabletop exercises are designed to bring agencies in the public sector together with local businesses, educational institutions and governments.  During these tabletops, problems that would be encountered in a live event can be explored in detail.  Participants can brainstorm solutions before an incident occurs.  Command strategies, communications, emergency plans and other hot topics are discussed.

Full scale training events are scheduled throughout the year to train responders and to see how tabletop solutions work in the real world.

Special grant-funded training (including OSHA 40 HR HAZWOPER and annual refreshers) is also scheduled through the LEPC as it becomes available.  Many of these programs are available at no cost to participants.

To see a schedule for all events,  go to our home page and click on the “Events” link. 

For more information on LEPCs, you can go to: http://www.epa.gov/oem/docs/chem/epcra.pdf .

For information on the Missouri Emergency Response Commission, click "OK".

Tell me About Emergency Planning and the Boone County LEPC.

Under EPCRA, the governor of each state must seat and maintain a “State Emergency Response Commission” (SERC for short) to coordinate emergency planning statewide.  The SERCs, in turn, authorize Local Emergency Planning Committees or “LEPCs”, most generally at the county level.  The LEPCs collect information on hazardous materials in the community that can be made available to the public for review.  In addition, the LEPC uses information collected to formulate emergency response plans.  This response planning process is designed to include local fire, police, medical, emergency management agencies, business interests and concerned citizens.

The Boone County LEPC maintains Annex H of the City of Columbia Emergency Operations Plan or “EOP”.  The EOP is used throughout the county.  Annex H is the portion of the plan that is concerned with hazardous materials incidents and emergency response.  You can access the EOP by pressing "OK"

Tell me About Emergency Release Notifications

If any facility has a release of a hazardous substance in excess of the minimum reportable quantity for that material, both the LEPC and the SERC must be notified.  There are 700 hazardous materials subject to this requirement. Some 356 of them are considered “extremely hazardous”.  The City of Columbia Emergency Operations Plan, Annex H, describes the required notification process for this jurisdiction.

You can access The City of Columbia’s EOP by pressing "OK".

The Missouri Emergency Response Commission website contains additional information.  You can find them by pressing "OK".

The US EPA provides additional guidance that can be accessed by pressing  "OK".

Tell me About Hazardous Chemical Storage Reporting

Material Safety Data Sheets are documents that contain information about health effects, flammability, reactivity, exposure information, chemical and physical properties for any one of approximately 500,000 materials.  OSHA has long required employers to keep these on hand as references for employees.  EPCRA requires that copies of these documents be submitted to the SERC, LEPC and local fire department under certain conditions.  In addition, once a year, facilities meeting certain legal criteria must submit information on hazardous chemicals to the SERC, LEPC and local fire department.  That information must include the chemical name, how much is stored, where it is stored and how it is stored.  The LEPC, in turn uses this information to plan for emergency incidents.  This information is available to the public.  Contact the BC LEPC for more information on how to access information covered under Community Right to Know.

What is the  Toxic Release Inventory?

EPCRA requires that companies that release certain chemicals into the environment at significant levels file reports for inclusion into the national Toxic Release Inventory.  This major feature of SARA legislation is concerned with promoting source reduction, recycling or treatment to mitigate hazards.  The TRI inventory helps planners track releases and reductions on an annual basis.  This information is submitted to the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory System directly.  The LEPC may utilize this information for planning purposes, but does not maintain the database.  Press "OK" to learn more