The Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA): A Summary
Linda-Jo Schierow
Specialist in Environmental Policy
February 2, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
RL32683
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA): A Summary
Summary
This report summarizes the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)
and the major regulatory programs that mandate reporting by industrial facilities of releases of
hazardous chemicals to the environment, as well as local planning to respond in the event of
significant, accidental releases. The text is excerpted, with minor modifications, from the
corresponding chapter of CRS Report RL30798, Environmental Laws: Summaries of Major
Statutes Administered by the EPA, coordinated by Bonnie C. Gitlin, which summarizes 12 major
environmental statutes.
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (42 U.S.C. 11001-11050) was
enacted in 1986 as Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (P.L. 99-499).
In Subtitle A, EPCRA established a national framework for EPA to mobilize local government
officials, businesses, and other citizens to plan ahead for chemical accidents in their communities.
EPCRA required each state to create a State Emergency Response Commission (SERC), to
designate emergency planning districts, and to establish local emergency planning committees
(LEPCs) for each district. EPA is required to list extremely hazardous substances, and to establish
threshold planning quantities for each substance. The law directs each facility to notify the LEPC
for its district if it stores or uses any “extremely hazardous substance” in excess of its threshold
planning quantity. LEPCs are to work with such facilities to develop response procedures,
evacuation plans, and training programs for people who will be the first to respond in the event of
an accident. EPCRA requires that facilities immediately report a sudden release of any hazardous
substance that exceeds the reportable quantity to appropriate state, local, and federal officials.
Subtitle B directs covered facilities annually to submit information about the chemicals that they
have present to the LEPC, SERC, and local fire department. In addition, manufacturers and other
facilities designated by EPA must estimate and report to EPA annually on releases from their
facilities of certain toxic chemicals to the land, air, or water. EPA must compile that data into a
computerized database, known as the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Generally, all information
about chemicals that is required to be reported to LEPCs, SERCs, or EPA is made available to the
general public, but EPCRA authorizes reporting facilities to withhold the identity of a chemical if
it is a trade secret. Citizens are given the authority to bring civil action against a facility, EPA, a
governor, or an SERC for failure to implement EPCRA requirements.
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The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA): A Summary
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1
Overview .................................................................................................................................... 1
Subtitle A: Emergency Planning and Notification ........................................................................ 1
Subtitle B: Reporting Requirements ............................................................................................ 2
Subtitle C: General Provisions..................................................................................................... 4
Trade Secrets ........................................................................................................................ 4
Information for Health Professionals ..................................................................................... 4
Right to Know ...................................................................................................................... 4
Enforcement ......................................................................................................................... 5
Chemical Transport ............................................................................................................... 5
Other Provisions ................................................................................................................... 5
Selected References .................................................................................................................... 5
Tables
Table 1. Major U.S. Code Sections: Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know
Act........................................................................................................................................... 6
Contacts
Author Contact Information ........................................................................................................ 6
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The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA): A Summary
Introduction
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) establishes requirements
and a framework to ensure that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), state and local
governments, and the private sector will work together to control and, if necessary, respond to
releases of hazardous chemicals to the environment. This report describes key provisions of
EPCRA. In addition, it provides several references for more detailed information about the act,
and a table that cross-references sections of the U.S. Code with corresponding sections of the act.
The report highlights key provisions rather than providing a comprehensive inventory of the act’s
numerous sections, and addresses authorities and limitations imposed by the statute, rather than
the status of implementation or other policy issues.
Overview
The sudden, accidental release in December 1984 of methyl isocyanate in an industrial incident at
the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, and the attendant loss of thousands of lives and
widespread injuries motivated many in Congress to support legislation to reduce the risk of
chemical accidents in the United States. The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-
Know Act (42 U.S.C. 11001-11050) was enacted in 1986 as Title III of the Superfund
Amendments and Reauthorization Act (P.L. 99-499). EPCRA established state commissions and
local committees to develop and implement procedures for coping with releases of hazardous
chemicals, and mandated annual reporting to government officials on environmental releases of
such chemicals by the facilities that manufacture or use them in significant amounts. EPA
facilitates planning, enforces compliance when necessary, and provides public access to
information about environmental releases of toxic chemicals.
Subtitle A: Emergency Planning and Notification
EPCRA established a national framework for EPA to mobilize local government officials,
businesses, and other citizens to plan ahead for possible chemical accidents in their communities.
Subtitle A requires local planning to respond to sudden releases of chemicals that might occur in
the event of a spill, explosion, or fire. It is intended to ensure that responsible officials will know
what hazardous chemicals are used or stored by local businesses and will be notified quickly in
the event of an accident.
Under Section 301, each state is required to create a State Emergency Response Commission
(SERC), to designate emergency planning districts, and to establish local emergency planning
committees (LEPCs) for each district. Section 302 requires EPA to list extremely hazardous
substances and to establish threshold planning quantities for each substance. Originally, Congress
defined chemicals as “extremely hazardous substances” if they appeared on a list EPA published
in November 1985 as Appendix A in “Chemical Emergency Preparedness Program Interim
Guidance.” However, EPA has authority to revise the list, and the threshold quantities of
chemicals. Based on listing criteria, the intent appears to be to include only chemicals in
quantities that could harm people exposed to them for only a short period of time. The law directs
each facility to notify the LEPC for its district if it stores or uses any “extremely hazardous
substance” in excess of its threshold planning quantity.
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The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA): A Summary
Section 303 directs LEPCs to work with facilities handling specified “extremely hazardous
substances” to develop response procedures, evacuation plans, and training programs for people
who will be the first to respond in the event of an accident. Upon request, facility owners and
operators are required to provide an LEPC with any additional information that it finds necessary
to develop or implement an emergency plan.
Section 304 requires that facilities immediately report a release of any “extremely hazardous
substance” or any “hazardous substance” (a much broader category of chemicals defined under
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
Section 102(a)) that exceeds the reportable quantity to appropriate state, local, and federal
officials.1 Releases of a reportable quantity of a “hazardous substance” also must be reported to
the National Response Center under CERCLA Section 103(a). (For more on CERCLA, see CRS
Report RL30798, Environmental Laws: Summaries of Major Statutes Administered by the EPA,
coordinated by Bonnie C. Gitlin, which includes a summary of CERCLA.)
Subtitle B: Reporting Requirements
Subtitle B establishes various reporting requirements for facilities. The information collected may
be used to develop and implement emergency plans, as well as to provide the public with general
information about chemicals to which they may be exposed.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1970 (OSHAct) requires most employers to provide
employees with access to a material safety data sheet (MSDS) for any “hazardous chemical.”
This “right-to-know” law for workers aims to ensure that people potentially exposed to such
chemicals have access to information about the potential health effects of exposure and how to
avoid them. EPCRA, Section 311, requires facilities covered by OSHAct to submit an MSDS for
each “hazardous chemical” or a list of such chemicals to the LEPC, the SERC, and the local fire
department. EPA has authority to establish categories of health and physical hazards and to
require facilities to list hazardous chemicals grouped by such categories in their reports. An
MSDS need only be submitted once, unless there is a significant change in the information it
contains. An MSDS must be provided in response to a request by an LEPC or a member of the
public. “Hazardous chemicals” are defined by the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 29, at
Section 1910.1200(c).2
EPCRA, Section 312, requires the same employers to submit annually an emergency and
hazardous chemical inventory form to the LEPC, SERC, and local fire department. These forms
must provide estimates of the maximum amount of the chemicals present at the facility at any
time during the preceding year; estimates of the average daily amount of chemicals present; and
the general location of the chemicals in the facility.3 Information must be provided to the public in
1 Under CERCLA Section 102(a), a “hazardous substance” includes any “elements, compounds, mixtures, solutions,
and substances which, when released into the environment may present a substantial danger to the public health or
welfare or the environment.” Included in this definition are substances listed under the authority of any of the major
environmental statutes (see CERCLA Section 101(14)).
2 EPCRA does not cover foods, food additives, or other substances regulated by the Food and Drug Administration;
solids in a manufactured item to the extent exposure to people or the environment does not occur; substances used for
personal or household purposes; substances used in research or hospitals; or substances used in routine agricultural
operations.
3 EPCRA allows facilities to report aggregate amounts of chemicals with similar health and environmental effects. This
(continued...)
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The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA): A Summary
response to a written request. EPA is authorized to establish threshold quantities for chemicals
below which facilities are not required to report.
Section 313 mandates development of the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), a computerized EPA
database of “toxic chemical” releases to the environment by manufacturing facilities.4 It requires
manufacturing facilities that manufacture, use, or process “toxic chemicals” to report annually to
EPA on the amounts of each chemical released to each environmental medium (air, land, or water)
or transferred off-site. EPA makes TRI data available in “raw” and summarized forms to the
general public. The public may obtain specific information (e.g., about a particular manufacturing
facility) by submitting a request in writing to EPA. EPA distributes written and electronic,
nationwide and state-by-state summaries of annual data. Raw data and summaries also are
available over the Internet.5
EPCRA, Section 313, generally requires a report to EPA and the state from each manufacturer
with 10 or more employees and who either uses 10,000 pounds or manufactures or processes
25,000 pounds of any “toxic chemical” during the reporting year. However, EPA may adjust (and
has adjusted in the past) these thresholds for classes of chemicals or categories of facilities.
EPCRA enumerates the following data reporting requirements for each covered chemical present
at each covered facility:6
• whether it is manufactured, processed, or otherwise used, and the general
category of use;
• the maximum amount present at each location during the previous year;
• treatment or disposal methods used; and
• the amount released to the environment or transferred off-site for treatment or
disposal.
EPCRA requires reporting by manufacturers, which the law defines as facilities in Standard
Industrial Classification codes 20 through 39.7 The law authorized EPA to expand reporting
requirements to additional industries. EPA promulgated a rule May 1, 1997, requiring reports on
toxic releases from seven additional industrial categories, including some metal mining, coal
(...continued)
is called “Tier I” information. However, chemical-specific information (“Tier II”) must be provided on request (under
certain conditions) to an SERC, LEPC, fire department, or the public.
4 “Toxic chemicals” are substances that may sicken people who are exposed to them in relatively small amounts by
eating, drinking, or breathing, or through skin absorption. The term “hazardous substance” is broader, including toxic
chemicals, but also substances that are explosive, flammable, corrosive, or otherwise harmful.
5 See, for example, EPA’s Envirofacts, TOXNET operated by the National Library of Medicine, or Right-to-Know Net,
provided by OMB Watch: respectively, http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/toxic_releases.html, visited November 17,
2008; http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?TRI, visited November 17, 2008; and http://www.rtknet.org/,
visited November 17, 2008.
6 Congress added data submission requirements for manufacturers and processors of toxic substances when it enacted
the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990.
7 Standard Industrial Codes were changed to North American Industry Classification System codes on March 21, 2003
(66 Federal Register 13872-13887).
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The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA): A Summary
mining, commercial electric utilities, petroleum bulk terminals, chemical wholesalers, and solvent
recovery facilities (62 Federal Register 23834).8
The original statute specified 313 “toxic chemicals” or categories of chemicals for which
reporting was required, but EPCRA gave EPA authority to add or delete chemicals from the list
either on its own initiative, or in response to citizen petitions. EPA has removed more than 15 and
added roughly 350 chemicals (or categories) to the original list. The listing criteria specified in
Section 313(d)(2) authorize EPA to add a chemical when it is “known to cause or can reasonably
be anticipated to cause” the following:
• “significant adverse acute human health effects at concentration levels that are
reasonably likely to exist beyond facility site boundaries as a result of
continuous, or frequently recurring, releases”;
• in humans—cancer, birth defects, or serious or irreversible chronic health effects;
or
• “because of—i) its toxicity, ii) its toxicity and persistence in the environment, or
iii) its toxicity and tendency to bioaccumulate in the environment, a significant
adverse effect on the environment of sufficient seriousness, in the judgment of
the Administrator, to warrant reporting under this Section.”
Subtitle C: General Provisions
Subtitle C contains various general provisions, definitions, and authorizations.
Trade Secrets
Section 322 authorizes reporting facilities to withhold the identity of a chemical if it is a trade
secret, and they follow procedures established by EPA.
Information for Health Professionals
Special provisions are made in Section 323 for informing health professionals of a chemical
identity that has been withheld to protect confidential business information, if the information is
needed to diagnose or treat a person exposed to the chemical.
Right to Know
Section 324 directs EPA, governors, SERCs, and LEPCs to make emergency response plans,
MSDSs, lists of chemicals, inventory forms, toxic chemical release forms, and follow-up
emergency notices available to the general public.
8 Current regulations promulgated under EPCRA may be found at Title 40 in the Code of Federal Regulations, Part
372.
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The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA): A Summary
Enforcement
Section 325 establishes civil, administrative, and criminal penalties for noncompliance with
mandatory provisions of the act. Citizens are given the authority to bring civil action against a
facility, EPA, a governor, or an SERC by Section 326.
Chemical Transport
Chemicals being transported or stored incident to transport are not subject to EPCRA
requirements, according to Section 327.
Other Provisions
Section 328 authorizes EPA to issue regulations. Definitions are provided in Section 329. Section
330 authorizes to be appropriated “such sums as may be necessary” to carry out this title.
Selected References
Gray, Peter L. EPCRA: Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. Basic Practice
Series. Chicago, IL, ABA Publishing, 2002. 156 p.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. 2008 TRI
National Analysis. Washington, DC, 2009. Available at http://www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/tri08/
national_analysis/index.htm, visited February 2, 2010.
Wolf, Sidney M. 1996. “Fear and Loathing about the Public Right To Know: The Surprising
Success of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.” Journal of Land
Use & Environmental Law, v. 11, n. 2, pp. 217-325.
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The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA): A Summary
Table 1. Major U.S. Code Sections: Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act
(42 U.S.C. 11001-11050)
EPCRA, P.L. 99-
42 U.S.C.
Section Title
499, Title III
Subchapter I -
Emergency Planning and Notification
Subtitle A
11001
Establishment of state commissions, planning districts, and local committees
Sec. 301
11002
Substances
and
facilities covered and notification
Sec. 302
11003
Comprehensive emergency response plans
Sec. 303
11004
Emergency notification
Sec. 304
11005
Emergency training and review of emergency systems
Sec. 305
Subchapter II -
Reporting Requirements
Subtitle B
11021
Material safety data sheets
Sec. 311
11022
Emergency and hazardous chemical Inventory forms
Sec. 312
11023
Toxic chemical release forms
Sec. 313
Subchapter III - General Provisions
Subtitle C
11041
Relationship to other law
Sec. 321
11042
Trade
secrets
Sec.
322
11043
Provision of information to health professions, doctors and nurses
Sec. 323
11044
Public
availability of plans, data sheets, forms, and follow up notices
Sec. 324
11045
Enforcement
Sec.
325
11046
Civil actions
Sec. 326
11047
Exemption
Sec.
327
11048
Regulations
Sec.
328
11049
Definitions
Sec.
329
11050
Authorizations
Sec.
330
Author Contact Information
Linda-Jo Schierow
Specialist in Environmental Policy
lschierow@crs.loc.gov, 7-7279
Congressional Research Service
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