EPCRA
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) establishes requirements for Federal, State and local governments, Indian Tribes, and industry regarding emergency planning and “Community Right-to-Know” reporting on hazardous and toxic chemicals. The Community Right-to-Know provisions help increase the public’s knowledge and access to information on chemicals at individual facilities, their uses, and releases into the environment. States and communities, working with facilities, can use the information to improve chemical safety and protect public health and the environment.
What Does EPCRA Cover?
EPCRA has four major provisions:
- Emergency planning (Section 301-303),
- Emergency release notification (Section 304),
- Hazardous chemical storage reporting requirements (Sections 311-312),
- and Toxic chemical release inventory (Section 313).
Information gleaned from these four requirements will help States and communities develop a broad perspective of chemical hazards for the entire community as well as for individual facilities. Regulations implementing EPCRA are codified in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, parts 350 to 372. The chemicals covered by each of the sections are different, as are the quantities that trigger reporting. Table 1 on the next page summarizes the chemicals and thresholds.
Timeline for reporting:
302 extremely Hazardous Substance (EHS) notifications: due within 60 days after EHS acquisition;
304 Reportable Quantity Release: Each time a release above a reportable quantity occurs; to LEPC and SERC
311 Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) submission: due within 90 days after Chemical acquisition or change in process;
312 Tier 2 Report: due between January 1 and March 1 for previous calendar year
313 Toxic Release Inventory: Annually, by July 1, to EPA and State
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