State Emergency Management

National Weather Service, Springfield

SMESO

     "Providing Peace of Mind Through 

           Hazardous Chemical Awareness"

Next Meeting Date: TBA

Minutes of Previous Meetings:

No Hazardous Materials classes scheduled at this time. Check out the Training Page for more opportunities.

Roles of the LEPC

More LEPC Info at the Missouri Emergency Response Commission

What is the LEPC?

    The Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) was a result of a federal law being passed when a toxic chemical accident in Bhopal, India that killed over 2,000 people in 1984. Eight months later another toxic chemical escaped from a plant in West Virginia.

    In 1986, the federal government passed the “Community Right to Know Act”. The law gave states and local government the power to compile lists of hazardous chemicals that are being stored in their communities, to provide this information to the public and emergency personnel when requested, develop emergency plans for dealing with an accident, emergency notification, and toxic chemical release reporting.

    The governor appoints individuals to serve on the Missouri Emergency Response Commission (MERC). In turn each county or region must establish an LEPC to carry out the federal and sate mandate on the local level.

    Representatives on the LEPC include elected officials, law enforcement, emergency management, firefighters, health & medical, and owners and operators of chemical facilities.