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  • Criteria for oil production facilities to be qualified facilities

    Qualified facilities are eligible for streamlined regulatory requirements in 40 CFR §112.6, which include self-certification of SPCC Plans. What criteria do oil production facilities have to meet in order to be considered qualified facilities? Oil production facilities, like all other facilities, must meet the criteria in §112.3(g)(1) or (2) to…

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  • What is a reactive and non-reactive solid EHS?

    Reactive solid means any extremely hazardous substance denoted with “a” in the “Notes” column in Appendix A or B of 40 CFR 355. Reactive solids are more likely than other solids to be dispersed into the air due to the energy or heat created from their reactivity with water or…

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  • How did states form their SERCs?

    How are States expected to form their State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) as required under Title III? States are required to establish a State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) under Title III. The SERC may consist of existing emergency response organizations or may be an entirely new mechanism to address this…

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  • Pesticide applicator quantity applied to threshold or transportation exemption

    A farmer contracts with an applicator to spray pesticides on his fields. The applicator drives a tank truck onto the farmers' field and sprays the pesticide from the truck onto the fields. For purposes of Section 302 emergency planning requirements, are the EHSs in the truck considered present at the…

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  • State refusing to comply with the emergency planning provisions

    What will happen if a State refuses to comply with the emergency planning provisions? A governor who does not designate a State emergency response commission becomes the commission by default. While the governor could choose not to fulfill any of the Title III provisions, the public could still request information…

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  • Section 302 notification requirements and mixtures with unknown components

    Are facilities exempt from Section 302 notification requirements if they produce, use, or store mixtures whose extremely hazardous substance component information is not available on the MSDS provided by the manufacturer? If the facility which produces, uses, or stores mixtures knows or reasonably should know the components of the mixture…

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  • What is defined as a structure (home or place of business)?

    While generally defined as a building, a structure under the structural cleaning program will include only those habitable spaces where indoor occupancy is frequent and regularly occurring on a daily or near-daily basis. Examples of residential structures include primary residences and living spaces, and examples of commercial structures include offices…

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  • Why is cleaning of homes and places of businesses happening?

    Norfolk Southern, with EPA oversight, is providing indoor cleaning to eligible occupants in response to concerns about the impact of the derailment and cleanup work on homes and places of businesses. The cleaning is to address potential dust that may have been generated as part of the train derailment and…

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  • What work still needs to be done at the derailment site?

    Although contaminated soil has been excavated and removed from the derailment site, some additional work remains. Soil sampling continues to check all areas where cleanup operations took place. Stream assessments continue, and culvert clean out has started. Groundwater and drinking water sampling also continues. Expect these investigations and possible additional…

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  • TPQ calculations for hazardous substances in molten form

    Facilities are subject to emergency planning and notification requirements under EPCRA (also known as SARA Title III) when an extremely hazardous substance (EHS) is present at a facility in an amount equal to or in excess of its TPQ. For some EHSs that are solids, two TPQs are given (e.g…

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  • Reporting responsibility under EPCRA §302 for a facility with several unrelated companies?

    A public warehouse is used by several unrelated companies to store extremely hazardous substances (EHSs). For purposes of emergency planning notification, who is responsible, under EPCRA Section 302, for notifying the State Emergency Response Commission if a threshold planning quantity (TPQ) of an EHS is present at the warehouse? The…

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  • Can states designate liquified petroleum gas facilities under Section 302

    Does the statute allow the state to designate facilities which produce, use, or store certain quantities of liquified petroleum gas as emergency planning facilities? EPA considers the designation of additional facilities to be accomplished through naming individual sites or companies, or by designation of certain classes of facilities as newly…

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  • Does this mean my home or place of business is contaminated?

    No. However, indoor cleaning is being offered to address potential dust emissions that may have been generated as part of the train derailment and cleanup work. This service is being offered as an additional service to interested members of the community.

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  • Transportation exemption and EPCRA emergency planning

    To what extent is an LEPC/TEPC required to plan if there are only a few (or no) facilities having extremely hazardous substances present in excess of threshold planning quantities, but there is significant interstate transportation of these and other hazardous substances? While Section 327 of Title III generally exempts the…

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  • Would pesticide sprayed on ground count towards §302 threshold?

    Section 302 requires owners and operators of facilities that have extremely hazardous substances (EHSs) present above the threshold planning quantity (TPQ) to participate in emergency planning ( 40 CFR §355.20 ). If a facility has a pesticide sprayed on its grounds without first being stored at the facility, must the…

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