Erika White
September 11, 2014

1984: Methyl isocyanate release at Union Carbide in Bhopal,
India - 2,000 immediate fatalities

1985: Methylene chloride and aldicarb oxime release at Union
Carbide facility in Institute, West Virginia – 100 people
hospitalized

1980: CERCLA aka Superfund

1986: SARA
o
SARA Title III – (EPCRA)
o
“Establishes requirements for federal, state and local governments,
Tribal lands and industry regarding emergency planning and
‘community right to know’ reporting on hazardous and toxic
chemicals.”
EPCRA
Emergency
Planning and
Notification
Reporting
General Provisions
Governmental Authorities
[Section 301, 303]
MSDS Submission
[Section 311]
Trade Secrets
[Section 322]
Emergency Planning
Notification
[Section 302]
Emergency and
Hazardous Chemical
Inventory
[Section 312]
Public Availability
[Section 324]
Facility Emergency
Coordinator Identification
[Section 303]
Emergency Release
Notification
[Section 304]
Toxic Chemical Release
Inventory
[Section 313]
Enforcement
[Section 325]
Citizen Suits
[Section 326]

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Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)
State Emergency Response Commission (SERC)
Emergency Response Plans
◦ Emergency response procedures
◦ Community and facility coordinator
◦ Emergency notification procedures
◦ Local emergency equipment
◦ Evacuation plans
Emergency Planning Requirements
◦ Extremely Hazardous Substance (EHS)
◦ Threshold Planning Quantity (TPQ)

Release of hazardous substances over a reportable quantity (RQ)
in 24 hours

Telephone notification within 15 minutes to NRC, SERC and
LEPC

Written follow-up notice within
30 days to SERC and LEPC
Regulated chemicals and RQs:
CERCLA HS: 40 CFR 302.4
EPCRA EHS: 40 CFR 355
Appendix A & B
CERCLA § 103
CERCLA HS
(~724)
EPCRA EHS
(~360)
EPCRA § 304
OSHA HC ~500,000
OFF-SITE
ON-SITE
FACILITY
Property Boundary
ON-SITE
Release contained with property boundaries
EHS
YES
NO
EHS only
No formal
notification required
EHS / CERCLA
Formal notification
required only to NRC
CERCLA only
Formal notification
required only to NRC
OFF-SITE
Release crosses property boundaries
EHS
YES
EHS only
EHS / CERCLA
NO
CERCLA only
Immediate notification
and follow-up report to
SERC and LEPC
Immediate notification to
SERC, LEPC and NRC;
Follow-up report to
SERC and LEPC
Immediate notification to
SERC, LEPC and NRC;
Follow-up report to
SERC and LEPC
Section 311- Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) or list of
chemicals and hazards for chemicals above threshold


Thresholds
◦ EHS – 500 lbs, TPQ (whichever is lower)
◦ Non EHS – 10,000 lbs
Submitted to
◦ SERC
◦ LEPC
◦ Local fire department
Section 312 – Hazardous chemical inventory form, Tier II report
 Tier II report includes
◦ Chemical name
◦ Maximum amount of chemical present at any one time
◦ Manner of storage
◦ Location of chemical
 Due March 1, annually
Section 313 – Annual reporting of toxic chemical releases and
waste management activities, Form R / Form A


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Thresholds
◦ Manufactured – 25,000 lbs
◦ Processed – 25,000 lbs
◦ Otherwise used – 10,000 lbs
Submitted to
◦ EPA
◦ State
Due July 1, annually

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Certification training
(40 hours) for
HAZWOPER, which
is the acronym for
Hazardous Waste
Operations and
Emergency Response
And yearly 8 hour
refresher training
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CPR
First Aid
Inspector Training
Other training as
needed
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Do not try to take
them from us (we are
not allowed to hand
them over to anyone)
Do not ask to copy
them
You can look closely (as
long as we hold them)
You can ask any
question about them

Introduction

Entrance Interview

Facility Inspection

Records Review

Exit Interview

Follow-up Correspondence

Introduction
Credentials, purpose

Entrance Interview
Questions about your business – How long
have you been in business? How long at this
location? Are there any other locations? How
many employees? We also need annual
corporate sales.
We will also ask for a brief description of
your facility’s processes and operations, and what
products are manufactured at the facility.
Facility Inspection
Physical walk through.
We will want to see all your chemical storage sites and
know all the capacities of your storage tanks .
We will want to see your Extremely
Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHS)
(EHS) and Hazardous Substances (HS) and where
they are stored.
Where is your MSDS book?
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Proof of notification for all environmental releases of a
listed hazardous substance
Emergency Response Plans
Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
Tier II inventory reporting forms
Inventory report (i.e. purchase
records, receipts)
Toxics Release Inventory Form Rs
◦ Threshold Calculations
◦ Emissions Calculations
◦ Waste Management Records

Exit Interview
◦ This is when we make sure we have the paper
work we need or you know how to get it to us.
We will explain the enforcement processdependant on case development, no action or
Notice of Violation. Q & A.

Hand outs

Follow-up Correspondence
◦ Inspection Report.
◦ Inspection Report and Non-compliance Letter
◦ Enforcement
Civil Administrative Actions
◦ Informal
 Generally any communication from EPA or a state agency
that notifies the regulated entity of a problem.
◦ Formal
 May begin with notice of violation or with the issuance of
an administrative order (either with or without penalties)
to bring about a return to compliance.

Accidental chemical releases above RQ not reported
within 15 minutes

MSDS chemicals not included in the ‘List of Lists’ stored on
site above threshold

Sulfuric acid in lead acid batteries not reported on Tier II

Definitions of manufacture, process or otherwise used in
TRI reporting

Failing to certify TRI reports

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Fly ash and Portland Cement stored at facilities in
quantities over 10,000 pounds need Tier II reports
”PET” polyethylene terephthalate - resins should be
included in Tier II reports if quantities over 10,000
pounds

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Incentives
◦ Significant penalty reductions
◦ No recommendation for criminal prosecution
◦ No routine requests for audit reports would be made
Conditions for penalty mitigation
◦ Systematic discovery
◦ Voluntary discovery
◦ Prompt disclosure
◦ Independent discovery and disclosure
◦ Correction and remediation
◦ Prevent recurrence
◦ Repeat violations
◦ Certain types of violations
◦ Cooperation
QUESTIONS?