If you live in a town with industries in or near it, then you have a right to know what chemicals they import for use, manufacture for in-house use, or manufacture for sale. The federal government gave you this right in the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. It is also known as Sara Title III because Sara stands for the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 and Title III is the right-to-know section, although Title III was passed as a separate act.
Sara Title III was designed to encourage and support emergency planning efforts at the state and local levels and to provide the public and local governments with information about potential chemical chemical hazards in their communities. So the act requires facilities that use, store or handle hazardous chemicals to participate in the following:
- Emergency planning
- Emergency notification
- Community Right-to-Know reporting on chemicals
- Toxic chemical release reporting and emissions inventory
Emergency Planning
States were required to establish a state commission, emergency planning districts and local emergency planning committees to develop and facilitate emergency response plans with the participation of facilities that produce, use or store extremely hazardous substances. The purpose of such plans is to prepare state and local authorities to respond properly to chemical releases so there are no surprises.
Emergency Notification of Releases
Industries and others who produce, use or store hazardous chemicals must tell the government when a hazardous chemical is accidentally released that could possibly injure the public or
the environment. This reporting, however, is only required if a release occurs or travels outside the plant boundaries.
Community Right-to-Know Reporting
Title III contains community right-to-know provisions that require public access to information on the type, amount, location, use, disposal and release of hazardous chemicals.
There are two types of reporting requirements in support of community right-to-know: chemical-specific data reporting and annual inventory reporting. The chemical-specific data reporting section requires that facilities, which must prepare or have available material safety data sheets (MSDSs) under Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, submit copies of its Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) or a list of MSDS chemicals to the following on a quarterly basis:
- the local emergency planning committee
- the state's emergency response commission
- the local fire department
The annual inventory reporting section requires submission of emergency and hazardous chemical inventory forms (also known as Tier II forms) to the same three groups that require the chemical-specific data. This provides additional information on the chemicals present in the Division.
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