Within the last 15 years, the need for and use of hazardous substances (e.g., toxic chemicals, radioactive substances, etc.) in Kansas has grown at an exponential rate. The trend is expected to continue well into the twenty-first century. Consequently, the need for and use of hazardous substances has become and is expected to remain as an integral element of the economy of the state. Accidental or unplanned releases (spills) of hazardous substances may cause or significantly contribute to serious incapacitating illness, serious irreversible illness or death, or pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health, property or the environment through improper use, handling, storage, transportation or disposal.
Overview (KDEM-S1)
Origination
The Congress and the President enacted the "Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980" (CERCLA) as the first major effort to address responsibility for hazardous substance releases into the environment and to initiate cleanup of inactive hazardous waste disposal sites substance releases into the environment and to initiate cleanup of inactive hazardous waste disposal sites.
On December 3, 1984, a poisonous gas, 44 tons of methyl isocyanate, was released into the air at Bhopal, India. At least 2,500 people were killed. More than 4,000 experienced massive, permanent lung injury, while more than 300,000 were less severely injured. Subsequently, the Congress and the President enacted the "Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986" (SARA) The third major section of SARA (Title III) was identified as the "Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act" (EPCRA).
Primary Objectives
The primary objectives of SARA, Title III (EPCRA), are: (a) to improve local emergency response to accidental or unplanned release of hazardous substances (primarily through improved emergency notification and response planning); and (b) to provide citizens and local governments access to information about hazardous substances located in the community. Title III establishes requirements and procedures for addressing four major concerns, including: (1) emergency planning (Sections 301- 303); (2) emergency notification (Section 304); (3) community right-to-know reporting requirements (Sections 311 and 312); and (4) toxic chemical release reporting and emissions inventory (Section 313). Sections 325 and 326 authorize and prescribe civil, administrative and/or criminal penalties to enforce compliance.
Emergency Response Planning
The difference between an incident and a disaster is often determined by the adequacy of training and the soundness of the emergency' response plan. The approach to comprehensive emergency response planning, as specified by SARA, Title III, involves: classifying substances which are hazardous; specifying threshold quantities of substances which trigger the response planning process; identifying facilities (all buildings, equipment, structures and other stationary items which are located on a single site or on contiguous or adjacent sites) which produce, store or process hazardous substances; identifying vulnerable locations and populations; establishing a state and local response planning structure and process; making information available to local response planners; incorporating specific information and planning elements into each local plan; and making the plan available to the public.
