The Sitka Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) is a voluntary organization whose members are appointed by the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) upon recommendation by the City and Borough of Sitka Assembly. As part of its original mandate, the Sitka LEPC is required to receive the annual Tier Two (Chemical Inventory) Reports from local industries. The LEPC uses this information to perform hazard assessments for Borough communities.
In recent years, with the additional threats to safety and security posed by terrorism, the role of LEPCs have become increasingly important, particularly in terms of ensuring community awareness and practical emergency response education. Due to the prevalence of natural and weather-related disasters in Alaska, the Sitka LEPC's emergency planning efforts include an "all hazards" focus.
Legislative History
The Sitka LEPC was originally established in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, also known as the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) Title III, to empower citizens and emergency responders with the Right to Know what chemicals existed in the communities where they lived and worked. SARA Title III mandated planning for chemical emergencies and established a chain of command to assure that the requirements were met.
The Governor of each state was required to appoint a State Emergency Response Commission (SERC). The SERC then divided up the state into Local Emergency Planning Districts (LEPD) and for each LEPD there was to be a Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) appointed.
In its desire to fully participate in the implementation of federal and state laws, including SARA Title III, the City and Borough of Sitka Assembly enacted Resolutions 89-406 and 89-441 which established and set forth rules of operation for a committee, and then enacted Resolution 92-516 which repealed Resolution 89-406 and 89-441 in an attempt to clarify the municipality's relationship with the committee. In March 1999, the Assembly passed Resolution 99-727 repealing Resolution 92-516 and established the current guidelines for Sitka's LEPC.
The Local Emergency Planning District (LEPD)
Resolution 99-727 established the boundaries for the authority of the Local Emergency Planning District (LEPD) which shall be the boundaries of the City and Borough of Sitka as those boundaries encompass the authority and the jurisdiction of the City and Borough of Sitka.
Responsibilities of the LEPC
According to Resolution 99-727, the Sitka LEPC shall have the responsibilities as established in AS 26.23.010 (1-4), 26.23.060, and 26.23.075, as well as:
- The identification of facilities and transportation routes for extremely hazardous substances;
- Emergency response procedures on-site and off-site;
- Emergency notification procedures;
- Methods for determining the occurrence of a release and probable affected area(s) of population;
- Description of community and industrial emergency equipment and facilities and the identities of the persons responsible for them;
- Evacuation plans;
- Descriptions of schedules of training programs for emergency response personnel; and
- Methods and schedules from emergency response plan.