The LEPC should include members with diverse experience in the execution of the plan. The group’s collective expertise should include experience in planning; knowledge of the community; experience with the local response forces; and knowledge of hazardous materials, their effects, and appropriate medical treatments.

The LEPC reviews and critiques any community plans that may already exist. It then determines the community’s potential hazardous materials risks, primarily through the use of reports submitted by local industries under Title III, but supplemented by analysis of hazardous materials transport and other potential local hazards not addressed by the legislation.

The LEPC takes a close look at the community to identify areas that are particularly vulnerable to incidents, and populations that would require special planning to protect or evacuate them in an emergency (such as nursing home residents).

Makeup of a typical Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC).

The LEPC works with local police and fire officials to determine the response capabilities of their departments, then gathers information to understand the incident response role played by surrounding communities and State and Federal government agencies. Capabilities of these secondary sources are then assessed. The Committee then determines the response capabilities of local industry and transporters, specifically those that have the potential to be involved in a hazardous materials incident.

On the basis of this information, the LEPC develops a resource list, detailing where equipment and personnel may be obtained to help with a hazardous materials emergency, and whom to call for assistance. It also designates the specific responsibilities of all resources—police, fire, and other city departments, as well as volunteers and key private sector Local Emergency Planning organizations—in the event of a hazardous materials incident.

Draft hazardous materials emergency plan is prepared by the LEPC, reviewed and approved by all parties assigned responsibilities under the plan, and revised to incorporate comments. Finally, the LEPC distributes and explains the plan to key emergency response and government personnel, and periodically updates it to reflect changes within the community or within its local government.

Once the plan is in place, the community must conduct exercises (simulations of emergency situations) to determine whether responders are prepared to handle their assigned roles, and whether the planned procedures are effective. Exercises provide a means of validating the emergency plan and evaluating training programs used to prepare responders. Ranging in complexity from “tabletop” discussions to the actual deployment of significant resources and personnel (as if in response to an incident), exercises are the best way to find out if the community is ready for a specific type of emergency. Potential problems with plans and procedures are often revealed in the exercise. These problems can then be corrected, leaving the jurisdiction better able to handle an actual emergency.