Washington Community Right to Know: What you need to know

Worker and Community Right-to-Know Act, RCW 49.70.010 et seq., and regulations at Washington Administrative Code 296-800-170 to 296-800-17055

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Washington Department of the Military Emergency Management Council State Emergency Response Commission (SERC)

Washington Department of Ecology (WDOE) Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction Program Community Right-to-Know Unit

Local emergency planning committees (LEPC)

Local police and fire departments

See ADDRESSES & CONTACTS for addresses and telephone numbers.

See national section for basic information and federal regulations.

• Rules. Washington follows the federal rules under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) Section 311 reporting. Under Section 311, a facility must submit a chemical list based on the material safety data sheets (MSDS) for the hazardous chemicals present on-site in excess of the threshold level to the SERC, LEPC, and local fire department. The SERC requires reporting actual amounts of substances stored on-site. New forms and software are now available from WDOE.

Washington follows the federal EPCRA Section 312 hazardous substance inventory reporting requirements. The threshold levels for reporting chemicals stored on-site are the threshold planning quantity (TPQ) or 500 pounds at any one time, whichever is less for extremely hazardous substances, and 10,000 pounds at any one time for hazardous substances. A copy of the Tier II form with an original signature should be submitted to SERC, the LEPCs, and the local fire department by March 1 of each year.

Washington follows the federal Section 313 toxic release ...