Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)
The LEPC meets quarterly on every 3rd Tuesday of the month in February, May, August, and November.
Time: 9:30 AM CST
Location: 282 E Macon St Decatur, IL
Works with local emergency responders, government agencies, businesses, and community representatives to prepare for hazardous materials emergencies.
The LEPC supports community right-to-know requirements and works with facilities that store, use, or handle certain hazardous materials through planning, training, and exercises to help ensure the community and emergency responders are prepared for a hazardous materials incident.
Responsibilities
Some of the other duties of the Macon County LEPC include:
- Establish procedures for receiving and processing information requests
- Designate a community emergency coordinator
- Establish procedures for coordination and communication between the community emergency coordinator and the facility emergency coordinator
- Establish notification procedures in the event of a release.
- Establish procedures for making facility information available to the public.
- Annually publish notice in the local newspaper about the LEPC.
- Establish procedures for filing and maintaining Material Safety Data Sheets, chemical inventory forms and other administrative data required by SARA Title III.
Chemical Planning
- Identification of the facilities, chemicals used, stored, or created, the transportation route(s) used for transport and any facility that may contribute or be subject to additional risk.
- Methods and procedures for responding to a release.
- Designate a community response coordinator for the LEPC and a facility emergency coordinator for each facility.
- Describe notification procedures for the response personnel and the public.
- Describe methods for determining the occurrence of a release and the affected populations.
- List all emergency equipment available from the facility and the community, as well as the number of trained response personnel.
- Develop evacuation plans with primary and alternate routes.
- Develop training programs.
- Describe methods and schedules for exercising the plan.
In October of 2002, the Macon County LEPC was recognized by the SERC for excellence in facility specific planning at the 2002 Chemical Emergency Planning Conference.
This recognition was given for being the first LEPC in the state to develop a comprehensive facility specific chemical emergency response plan that not only met, but exceeded state and federal planning requirements.