Emergency Planning Notification

Under Section 302 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (also know as SARA Title III),  any facility that has more than the Threshold Planning Quantity (TPQ) of an extremely hazardous substance must notify the Local Emergency Planning Committee (the fire department in most cases).

The list of Extremely Hazardous Sustances (EHS) and the corresponding TPQs can be found in Appendix A of 40 CFR355 .

Note that the TPQ always refer to the pure chemical form. So if you have a mixture that has 33% sulfuric acid in it and the TPQ for sulfuric acid is 1000 pounds, you will reach the TPQ when you have 3000 pounds of that mixture.

This poses an interesting question for large car dealerships and construction equipment lots. Let’s say each car or tuck on the lot has a battery with a 10 pounds mixture of 33% sulfuric acid in it. If the dealership has more than 300 cars on the lot, it will have exceeded the 1000 pounds TPQ limit for the 33% acid mixture. It must then notify the LEPC in accordance with Section 302 of SARA Title III. See EPA letter.

By the way, SARA is not the name of a girl. It stands for Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act. When Congress reauthorized the Superfund law in 1986, it put EPCRA into Title III of the reauthorization act. Hence the term: SARA Title III. It is the same thing as EPCRA.

Training your employees to handle hazardous waste

Federal regulations require you to train your employees in accordance with their specific job function. Make sure you clearly define these job responsibilities in the employees’ job description. New employees must receive training within 6 months and they cannot work with hazardous wastes unsupervised before receiving their initial training.  All employees handling hazardous wastes must also receive annual refresher. 

The regulations do not specify the training content or the duration of training. However, 40 CFR 265.16(a)(2) requires you to provide training on waste management procedures and emergency response. Anyone who works in or adjacent to areas where hazardous wastes are generatted, handled or stored must still be trained to be familiar with basic emergency procedures.

40 CFR 265.16(e) requires you to keep the training records for at least 3 years from the time an employee last worked at the facility.

The basic elements of an emergency response plan

Every business that stores hazardous wastes on site are required to have an emergency response plan. If you are a small quantity generator – one that generates less than 2200 lbs (approximately five 55-gallon containers) each calendar month – you do not need to have a WRITTEN plan. But you still have to have a plan.

An emergency response plan provides answers to the following questions: 

1. Who is in charge?
2. Who are you going to call?
3. Where can you find the emergecny response equipment?
4. Do you know how to use the equipment?

Here is a short video clip from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) on this topic. Very instructive and straight forward. Enjoy the video.

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