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Local Emergency Planning Committee of Niagara County

WHAT IS THE LEPC?

The Niagara County Local Emergency Planning Committee is made up of twenty member groups which represent the community, government, and Industry. This is an outreach effort pursuant to CFR 1910.120 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The Niagara County LEPC maintains a watchful eye over the activities of companies that store, use or transport hazardous chemicals in the community. Many individuals are required to run these companies and many of these people are your neighbors. As of this date, we have approximately 140 companies who are required to report their chemical inventories to the LEPC. These companies represent a large economic impact to the area. You can readily see that the quality of the community would not be the same without the these companies make to the area through their employment and technical assistance. The Risk Management Project is the first large scale environmental project undertaken in the United States since the passing of the Clean Air Amendment of 1990. The Niagara County LEPC is recognized as setting the standards and protocols for these type of presentations in the county. The members work to promote the health, safety, and economic well being of local community residents and plant employees.
 

A NEW RISK MANAGEMENT REGULATION

In June 1996. the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed a new regulation requiring facilities that use, make, or store more than certain amounts of regulated chemicals to make
information available about their risk management activities to local emergency responders, federal and state officials, and the public. It’s called the Risk Management Program (RMP) rule and
approximately 140 facilities in the Niagara County area will have to prepare documents that describe their risk management efforts by June, 1999.

The RMP rule is intended to prevent chemical releases, improve plant safety, and protect the public by collecting information to encourage community discussions in four areas:
 

• The potential effects of chemical releases
• A five-year history of the facility’s accidental chemical releases
• The facility’s program for preventing accidents
• The facility’s program for responding in an emergency

This new regulation is now a primary focus of the Niagara County LEPC because all of its members will be sharing information on risk management activities during the coming months. In preparation for EPA’s RMP rule, Niagara County LEPC in concert with an alliance of local industries in the City of Niagara Falls, initiated an project in the fall of 1997 to address RMP and other related issues. The effort is aimed at bringing local citizens, government, and industry representatives together to collect risk management information from our facilities and to decide how best to discuss this information with the public.

The project team of about 30 representatives is composed of government, industry, and community participants who serve on technical and communications committees. The technical committee is charged with assisting the companies in gathering hazard, prevention, and emergency response information. The communication committee is developing ways to effectively communicate this information to employees and local citizens.

HOW DOES INDUSTRY MANAGE RISK?

Niagara County LEPC in concert with an alliance of local industries all have something in common. It's called Risk Management. It is one way companies ensure that their operations are safe for both employees and the community. Simply put, we manage risk. Risk management covers all aspects of a plant from design and construction through start up and operation, to maintenance and training. It is an ongoing process requiring continuous monitoring and testing of equipment, management systems and people to ensure the safety of employees and community members and to protect the environment. Risk Management includes the following layers of safety activities and/or layers of protection:

• Eliminate or reduce hazards
• Prevent occurrences of incidents
• Minimize or contain impact of incidents
• Prepare the public and employees for possible incidents
• Respond promptly and professionally to emergencies
• Serve as a resource to other emergency agencies.

Neighbors living near plants may be familiar with the following examples of safety activities:

• Specially designed vehicles and rail cars for transportation and storage of bulk chemicals
• Lighting at night to provide for employee safety during operation and maintenance
• Messages over loud speakers describing plant activities
• Bells or sirens signaling an incident or a drill.
• Emergency response agencies operating at a plant for the purpose of familiarization or for training exercises.

A number of federal, state and local agencies require risk management activities. In particular, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires companies to maintain safety programs that review processes, equipment, training, and plant procedures on a regular basis.
 

LISTENING TO THE COMMUNITY

The communications committee has focused its efforts on understanding the concerns of Niagara County residents about local companies. Some of the issues raised in public meetings include:
 

• Trucks transporting products through residential streets
• Noise abatement
• Notification methods of the community during an incident
• Effects of weather (e.g., high winds, tornadoes, snow storms, etc.) on plant operations
• Potential incidents involving trucks, rail cars, or pipelines
• Nuisance odor complaints

Issues about risk management that the companies want to discuss include:

• Emergency response training and preparation
• Plant inspection, testing, and maintenance
• Plant design safety
• Plant operations safety
• Accident prevention
• Risk reduction
• Community dialogue
• Community Alert Network
   

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?

You will be hearing more about risk management in the coming months. You may be receiving
materials in the mail or through other means of communication. You could be attending meetings where plant personnel, members of the LEPC, and interested citizens will talk to you about the project and solicit your input.

This effort will help Niagara County residents better understand their industrial neighbors, and it will help the local companies better understand community concerns. By working together, accident prevention and emergency planning will also be improved.