Congress, in 1986, passed the Emergency Planning Community Right-To-Know Act (EPCRA) as Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act; referred to as SARA Title III. The Act’s intent is to provide assistance to local communities to protect public health and safety, and the environment from chemical hazards. A key component of the Act was to provide information to the public regarding the chemical hazards which exist in the local community.
Congress required each state to appoint a State Emergency Response Commission (SERC). Each State was then to establish Emergency Planning Districts and identify a Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) for each district. By incorporating multi-disciplines such as fire, health, emergency management, local officials, community groups, media, and facility representatives as members of the LEPC a comprehensive approach to community emergency planning would be achieved.
The Counties of Cabell and Wayne have long recognized the importance of collaboration and coordination in emergency planning, response and recovery as a means of providing the most economical services and protection to the communities. Therefore they created the Cabell/Wayne Local Emergency Planning Committee in 1987 to meet the EPCRA requirements. The Committee area of responsibility encompasses the two county region and is designated for these purposes as the Cabell/Wayne Local Emergency Planning District (C/WLEPD).
The purpose of the Cabell / Wayne Local Emergency Planning Committee is to:
Comply with all legal requirements of the Federal Emergency Planning and Community right-To-Know Act (EPCRA) of 1986.
Address the emergency preparedness requirements of Cabell County, Wayne County, and the City of Huntington for all emergencies that may impact the Cabell/Wayne Emergency Planning District (C/WLEPD) in a manner that compliments the efforts of the three subject jurisdictions with formal emergency management programs.
Provide the emergency management, emergency communications, emergency response, and emergency support organizations in the C/WLEPD with an emergency management training resource and emergency management reference resource, as well as a readily available emergency response plan.
Provide the public with emergency preparedness information.
History
The Cabell/Wayne Local Emergency Planning Committee (C/WLEPC) was appointed in August 1987 by the WV State Emergency Response Commission (WVSERC) upon nomination by the County Commissioners of Cabell and Wayne Counties. The C/WLEPC became acquainted with the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) also known as SARA-Title III. It addressed the problems of providing information to potential Covered Facilities, and identifying as many Covered Facilities as possible. It organized itself and adopted basic operating policies in keeping with the EPCRA. A consultant was retained for up to 20 hours/month to provide professional staff support.