Connecticut State Emergency Response Commission

Revitalize Your Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) conceptualizes LEPCs and requires them to evaluate hazardous chemicals in storage, use or transportation in the community and to develop plans to respond to emergency involving these hazardous materials.  Many LEPCs may need to startup or revitalize their committee goals, bylaws or objectives to comply with the EPCRA laws and regulations.  
 
The LEPC membership can be organized to handle these various tasks by utilizing individual efforts, subcommittees, or contracted assistance.   The LEPC's focus is on community preparedness through activities designed to promote cooperation between facilities, first responders, and community members.  The greatest tool available to an LEPC is its substantial information gathering power.  Beyond collecting Tier II and related data, many LEPCs focus their activities on information requests that bring facilities into closer cooperation with the first responder community. 
 
The LEPCs are crucial to local planning and community right-to-know programs.  The members come from the local area and are familiar with factors that affect public safety, the environment, and the economy of the community. Each member represents their organization on the LEPC and is responsible for communicating information and activities from the LEPC to their organization and for providing accurate feedback from their organization to the LEPC.  The SERC encourages members of Connecticut communities to become involved in all levels of emergency preparedness planning for events including natural and manmade catastrophes. 
 
For those committees who wish to improve upon their established practices and/or communities seeking to re-establish a local emergency planning committee the following guidance formatted as a PDF is offered:
Content Last Updated April 2020