Emergency Preparedness
Regional Hazardous Materials Emergency Plan
Members of the Franklin County LEPC in a Hazardous Material awareness class.
Project Overview
The Franklin County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), Regional Hazardous Materials Emergency Plan (HMEP) was developed by the LEPC Planning Sub-Committee with support from the Franklin Regional Council of Governments Planning Department and Regional Preparedness Program. The HMEP serves several purposes. First, statutory requirements require all LEPCs to develop, exercise and annually review a hazardous materials emergency plan. Second, no regionally focused planning tool existed to describe and analyze hazardous threats in Franklin County. Third, a regional plan was needed to standardize hazardous materials release reporting, notification and response.
The Franklin County Regional HMEP is a planning and guidance document that provides resources and recommendations for the development of individual community plans (ICP). When completed, the Regional HMEP will be provided to municipalities and facilities for their approval. It is the responsibility of each community to detail local response activities.
Major Concepts and Components of the Regional HMEP include:
- An Action Guide for Field Use and Plan Reference
- A Hazard Analysis that includes fixed facilities and roads/rail for Pre-Event Planning
- Standardized concept of operations for emergency response using the three (3) Response Level Criteria
- Institutionalization of the Incident Command System
- Guidance on how and when to request assistance from the District HAZMAT Team.
- Institutionalization of protocols for needed local, state and federal notification
- The newly developed Resource Directory for emergency response
- A clearinghouse of contact information for all Franklin County towns, agencies and persons that may be involved in a hazardous materials emergency.
Current Activities
Currently, the HMEP is being reviewed by towns and once accepted will be sent to the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) for evaluation. With approval from the SERC, the Franklin County LEPC will likely gain Full Status recognition.
Future Plans
In the future, the HMEP will continually be reviewed and revised to reflect new information, resources and protocols for regional hazardous materials response. Over the course of 2006, a series of Tabletop Exercises will be conducted with local and regional responders and officials throughout Franklin County, the results of which will be used to refine and improve the plan.