Frequently Asked Questions - Emergency Management

The federal Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) became law in 1986. Title III of these SARA provisions is also known as the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). SARA Title III requires states to:

• Promote outreach for developing local emergency preparedness programs to respond to chemical releases.
• Receive reports from the regulated community.
• Organize, analyze and disseminate the resulting information on hazardous chemicals to local governments and the public.

Specifically, this has required the establishment of state emergency response commissions and local emergency planning committees.

The nationwide regulated community of manufacturers and non-manufacturers of hazardous chemicals must report concerning their emergency chemical releases; their Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS); their facility hazardous chemical inventories (Tier I and Tier II reports); and their toxic chemical releases to the air, land or water (Toxics Release Inventory).

Because of this activity, businesses have reassessed their chemical inventories and their manufacturing processes. In addition, more businesses are working cooperatively with local governments to plan for and try to prevent an accidental chemical release.

Businesses are also pursuing waste minimization and pollution prevention programs and realizing monetary savings.