Local Emergency Management Planning Committee

The Macomb County Local Emergency Planning Committee

Title III of the Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act (SARA) is a federally mandated program to ensure a coordinated planning and response effort between industry and the emergency response and planning entities within Macomb County and local jurisdictions. The Community Right-to-Know provisions of this Act helps to increase the public’s knowledge and access to information on chemicals at individual facilities, their uses, and releases into the environment. Macomb County and the local communities, working with these identified facilities, can use the information to improve chemical safety, protect public health and the environment, along with developing response protocols in the event of a hazardous material release into the air, land and/or water.

SARA Title III is a federal act that is implemented in Michigan under an Executive Order from the Governor. In accordance with the act, the Governor has established the Michigan Citizen-Community Emergency Response Coordinating Council (MC-CERCC). By law, the MC-CERCC must then designate emergency planning districts for the state. Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPC's) have been established within each county and several local municipalities.

SARA Title III requires that the following groups be represented on the LEPC:

The Macomb County Local Emergency Planning Committee was established to:

• Develop local emergency response plans to serve as a supplement to the County's Emergency Action Guidelines
• Provide for Community-Right-To-Know to ensure public access to local hazardous chemical information
• Manage the collection, storage and dissemination of data required to implement these tasks. 

There are currently more than 360 hazardous substance facilities that have been identified in Macomb County that have one or more of the 1,450+ regulated hazardous substances at their facility.  Of these, 114 facilities have been categorized as Extremely Hazardous Substance (EHS) facilities.  In Macomb County, the most common found chemical was Sulfuric Acid. 

There are four Sub-Committees that the Macomb LEPC has created to address the needs of the LEPC and its’ members. These are the Executive, Hazard/Vulnerability/Risk, Medical, and Education/Training Sub-Committees. These sub-committees prepare emergency plans, establish protocols, and prepare training programs for the many facilities and public groups within Macomb County.

The Macomb County LEPC has established a set of By-Laws and have elected Officers to govern and maintain the Macomb County LEPC.  Meetings are held on a quarterly schedule starting in February and are conducted in complience with the Open Meetings Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. These meetings are held in Independence Hall at Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights @ 08:30 AM on the first Tuesday of every third month starting in February. These meetings are open to the public and time is reserved to accept public comments at the beginning of each meeting.  The meeting schedule for FY08 is February 5th, May 6th, August 5th* and December 2nd.  The August 5th meeting will begin at 11:30 AM and will end at noon to allow for the annual LEPC Appreciation Picnic.  Attendance at this picnic is restricted to those who have notified the LEPC Secretary before July 15th, 2008 and have paid their ten dollars to cover the cost of the caterer.  Reservations can be made by calling Mr. Peter Locke @ 586-469-5270.

For more information regarding the Macomb County LEPC, or to request an application form please call 586-469-5270.