EPCRA: What you need to know

Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (SARA Title III): 42 USC 11001 to 11050, and regulations at 40 CFR 350, 40 CFR 355, 40 CFR 370, and 40 CFR 372

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office (CEPPO)

EPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT)

See ADDRESSES & CONTACTS for addresses and telephone numbers.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA, or Superfund) was amended in October 1986 to add the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA). Title III of SARA is also known as the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). The two distinct goals of the Act are to encourage and support emergency planning for responding to chemical accidents and to provide local governments and the public with information about the possible chemical hazards in their communities.

SARA Title III contains four major components: Community Right-to-Know reporting, Emergency Planning and Notification, Emergency Release Notification, and Toxic Chemical Release Inventory (TRI) reporting. SARA Title III also provides for trade secret claims. Each of these components is summarized below and described in detail in other sections of this service. TABLE I in this section lists EPCRA's components, the corresponding section number, and the section of the service where the component is covered.

EPCRA COMPONENTS

Community Right-to-Know

These sections set forth two chemical reporting requirements. Under SARA Title III, facilities that are ...