What is the Honolulu Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)

The Honolulu Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) is a volunteer organization charged with brining together local government, communities, academia, and industries as a resource for enhanced hazardous materials (HAZMAT) preparedness, planning and emergency response within the City and County of Honolulu.

The Honolulu LEPC serves as a focal point for information and discussion about planning for emergencies involving hazardous substances as required under Public Law 99-499, the Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986 (SARA Title III), also known as the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).  The intention of EPCRA is to increase the public's knowledge of and access to information about the presence of hazardous chemicals in their local communities, including chemical releases to land, air and water.

Meetings of the Honolulu LEPC are open to the public and posted in accordance to the Open Meeting Law.  Meetings are held quarterly, typically in the City and County of Honolulu, Emergency Operation Center (EOC), at the Frank F. Fasi Municipal Building, 650 South King Street, Honolulu, HI 96813, Basement.  A copy of the agenda for each meeting is available at the City Clerk's Office and Department of Emergency Management at lease six (6) days in advance of the meeting.  The public has an opportunity to address the LEPC under the Call to the Public and to review the City and County of Honolulu Emergency Operations Plan, Hazardous Materials Response Plan (Annex T – Appendix 5).  We encouraged the public to attend Honolulu LEPC meetings.        

Role of the Honolulu Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)

The role of the Honolulu LEPC is to form partnerships with: local government, communities, academia and industries as a resource for enhancing hazardous materials (HAZMAT) preparedness. Local government is responsible for the integration of HAZMAT planning and response within their jurisdiction. This includes ensuring the local hazard analysis adequately addresses HAZMAT incidents; incorporating planning for HAZMAT incidents into the local emergency management plan and annexes; assessing capabilities and developing HAZMAT response capability using local resources, contractors; training responders; and exercising the plan.

Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) emergency planning provisions are designed to promote the discovery and mitigation of risks associated with chemical use. To reduce risks, prevention, preparedness, and quick response to chemical emergencies are best. If properly executed, these three measures can make the difference between disaster and slight inconvenience.

Prevention involves identifying the causes of, and reducing the potential for, chemical accidents to occur. Proper safety measures, sound management practices, and preventive maintenance all reduce the potential for chemical accidents. No chemical safety management program can be guaranteed 100 percent effective.

Preparedness involves anticipating accidents that may occur despite prevention measures, and developing contingency, or emergency response, plans. Emergency response plans help facilities and local and state governments respond to accidents quickly and efficiently. These plans outline the procedures a facility and the community should follow in responding to a release. When accidents occur, it is imperative that the various players in the response process know their roles and use their resources wisely.

The emergency planning process has a greater impact than the plan itself, encouraging awareness, communication, and coordination of efforts.

Honolulu LEPC Hazardous Materials Reference List:

The following websites provide information, tools and resources for first responders, emergency planners and citizens to better plan and prepare for hazardous materials emergencies.

City and County of Honolulu

City and County of Honolulu, Fire Department (HFD)

http://www1.honolulu.gov/hfd/

City and County of Honolulu, Emergency Services (ESD)

http://www1.honolulu.gov/esd/

City and County of Honolulu, Police Department (HPD)

http://www.honolulupd.org/

City and County of Honolulu, Department of Emergency Management (DEM)

http://www1.honolulu.gov/dem/

City and County of Honolulu, Department of Environmental Services (DES)

http://www.opala.org/

State of Hawaii

State of Hawaii Department of Health (HDOH)

http://hawaii.gov/health/environmental/hazard/index.html

http://hawaii.gov/health/environmental/hazard/statutes.html

Hawaii State Civil Defense (SCD)

http://scd.hawaii.gov/

State of Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA)

http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/pi/pest

United States Government

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

http://www.epa.gov/

http://www.epa.gov/emergencies/index.htm

http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/index.htm

http://www.epa.gov/osweroe1/content/cameo/index.htm

EPA - Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Program

http://www.epa.gov/tri/

EPA - for State and Local Governments

http://www.epa.gov/epahome/statelocal.htm

U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB)

http://www.csb.gov/

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

http://www.dhs.gov/index.shtm

DHS - Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

http://www.fema.gov/

http://www.ready.gov/

DHS – FEMA - Emergency Management Institute (EMI)

http://training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.asp

DHS - Critical Infrastructure: Chemical Security 

http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1169501486179.shtm

U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), National Response Center (NRC)

http://www.nrc.uscg.mil/nrchp.html

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)

http://www.dot.gov/index.html

DOT - Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)

http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat

http://phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat/library/erg

U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC)

http://www.commerce.gov/

DOC – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

http://www.noaa.gov/

http://weather.gov/

NOAA - Computer Aided Management of Emergency Operations (CAMEO) Chemicals

http://cameochemicals.noaa.gov/

NOAA - Areal Locations of Hazardous Atmospheres (ALOHA)

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/aloha

NOAA - Mapping Application for Response, Planning, and Local Operational Tasks (MARPLOT)

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/marplot

U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS)

http://www.hhs.gov/

Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders (WISER), U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institute of Health (NIH)

http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/

NIH - Chemical Hazards Emergency Medical Management (CHEMM), U.S. National Library of Medicine, NIH

http://www.chemm.nlm.nih.gov/

NIH - Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET), U.S. National Library of Medicine, NIH

http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

http://www.cdc.gov/

CDC - National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)  

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/

U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)

http://www.dol.gov/

DOL – Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

http://www.osha.gov/index.html

DOL – OSHA – Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER)

http://www.osha.gov/html/faq-hazwoper.html

Non-Governmental Organizations

National Association of SARA Title III Program Officials (NASTTPO)

http://nasttpo.com/

Pipeline Association for Public Awareness

http://www.pipelineawareness.org/

The Chlorine Institute, Inc.

http://www.chlorineinstitute.org/

American Chemistry Council, Inc.

CHEMTREC

http://www.chemtrec.com/

American Association of Poison Control Centers

http://www.aapcc.org/dnn/Home.aspx

Environmental Resource Center

http://www.ercweb.com/home/

Clean Islands Council

http://www.cleanislands.com/

Campbell Local Emergency Action Network (CLEAN)

http://www.cleanhawaii.org/

American Red Cross (ARC)

http://www.redcross.org/

ARC - Hawaii State Chapter

http://www.hawaiiredcross.org/