Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)

The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) was signed into federal law in 1986. Title III of SARA is EPCRA or the Community Right-to-Know regulation. The State of Washington adopted the federal Title III law and regulations in 1987. A State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) was established to oversee implementation of requirements imposed by SARA Title III, including the formation of the Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPC) and the development of a statewide master plan for hazardous materials incident response.

A Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) representing local governments, emergency response officials, environmental and citizen groups, industry and other interested parties is established in each planning district. The LEPC is responsible for developing a local emergency plan for their district and for the collection of information submitted by industry which is made available to the public.