On October 17, 1986, the U.S. Congress passed the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act, also known as SARA Title II or the Emergency Planning and Community Right To Know Act (EPCRA), following a chemical disaster where an accidental release of Methyl Isocyanate injured and killed more than 2,000 people in Bhopal, India.

EPCRA was passed to ensure the public would have the right to know about hazardous and toxic chemicals in their communities. EPCRA also mandated planning for chemical emergencies and established a chain of command to assure that four major provisions were met:

• Emergency Planning (Section 301-303)

• Emergency Release Notification (Section 304)

• Hazardous Chemical Storage Reporting (Section 311-312)

• Toxic Chemical Release Inventory (Section 313)

Governors of each state were required to appoint a State Emergency Response Commission (SERC), responsible for implementing EPCRA provisions within each state. SERC's then designated local emergency planning districts and appointed a Local Emergency Planning Commission (LEPC) for each district.

The LEPC membership must include, at a minimum, local officials including police, fire, civil defense, public health, transportation, and environmental professionals, as well as representatives of facilities subject to the emergency planning requirements, community groups, and the media. The LEPCs must develop an emergency response plan, review it at least annually, and provide information about chemicals in the community to citizens.

MCARS & LEPC

MCARS is organized under the Marshall County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) to serve as assigned by the Marshall County EMA.