Section 5 — Determining the Occurrence of a Release

EPCRA 42 USC §11003(c)(5) reads:

Methods for determining the occurrence of a release, and the area or population likely to be affected by such release.

One of the LEPC's duties is determining the likelihood of a release and estimating the consequences of the release. This is done by performing a hazard analysis. The following procedure described the methods and techniques used to perform the hazard analysis:

Review Tier II Reports and Identify EHS Facilities.
Request additional information from EHS Facilities.
Enter data and map data in CAMEO.
Perform screenings and scenarios for each facility.
Prepare and Review Hazard Analysis for each facility.

Review Tier II Reports and Identify EHS Facilities

The Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and the LEPC receive Tier II reports from regulated facilities. IEMA will perform Tier II data entry for the LEPC and provide the database of information to the LEPC. The LEPC will review reports generated from this data and will identify EHS Facilities.

Request additional information from EHS Facilities.

The LEPC may send a letter asking the EHS facilities for additional information. We shall request the following additional information:

The name, title, address, and contact information for each facility's emergency planning coordinator (see Section 3 for details).
A list of all EHS currently in inventory at the facility. For each EHS we request the following information:
- What is the physical state of the EHS (solid, liquid, or gas)?
- What is the maximum quantity (in pounds) in the largest reservoir (or connected reservoirs) at the facility?
- Is there any diking associated with this reservoir?
- What is the surface area in square feet of the diked area?

The LEPC determined that this data was the minimum additional data required in order to began Hazard Analysis for EHS facilities.

Enter data and map data in CAMEO

In May 2002, the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) released a new version of the CAMEO emergency planning software. CAMEO stands for "Computer–Aided Management of Emergency Operations" and is freely available to LEPCs and emergency responders nationwide. CAMEO is a database program optimized for chemical emergency planning. It works with other free programs from the US EPA: MARPLOT, ALOHA, and LANDVIEW. The four programs are commonly referred to as the CAMEO Suite.

Once the inventory information is entered into CAMEO and MARPLOT, we are able to map a Screening and Scenario and determine the number of people and the area impacted by major chemical releases.

Perform screenings and scenarios for each EHS facility.

DeKalb Co. LEPC will perform screenings and scenarios for each EHS facility.

Prepare and Review Hazard Analysis for each EHS facility.

DeKalb Co. LEPC will prepare and review hazard analysis for each EHS facility.

DeKalb County IL LEPC

Comprehensive Emergency Response Plan