Local Emergency Planning Committee Rules

Rules for the Northborough Local Emergency Planning Committee:

• To maintain Chairmanship of the LEPC as a Co-Chairmanship, by the positions of Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director.
• To hold at least two full membership Northborough LEPC meetings per year and mail meeting notices at least one week prior to the meeting to the entire membership as defined in EPCRA, Subtitle A, Section 301 c. LEPC meetings shall include discussion of the Emergency Plan and the method of distribution of the Emergency Plan as well as discussion of committee activities, receipt of public comments and response to public comments. Meetings shall be scheduled per request of one of the Co-Chairman.
• To keep minutes of Northborough LEPC meetings, hold a copy of the minutes of each LEPC meeting on file for public view and distribute copies of the previous meeting minutes to the membership and the public at the subsequent meeting for acceptance of meeting minutes by the membership.
• To notify the public about future Northborough LEPC meetings through notices placed by the town of Northborough according to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts open meeting law detailing the date, time and place of the meeting. Meeting notices will be placed in Town Hall, 63 Main St. at least 48 hours prior to the meeting and may be broadcast over the Town of Northborough cable channel.  Meetings may also be posted on the Town of Northborough’s LEPC page.
• To notify the public about the availability of the Emergency Response Plan, Material Safety Data Sheets, Tier II inventory forms and follow-up notices. Public notification will be through a legal ad placed in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette at least once per year. The place and times for public review shall be placed in the legal ad and an option for appointments for alternate times shall be given. The information coordinator shall be named in the legal ad along with the telephone number of the LEPC.
• To maintain the Information Coordinator for the Northborough LEPC as the position of the Hazardous Materials Assistant in the Northborough Fire Department. The Information Coordinator will receive and process requests from the public for information under EPCRA Section 324 and including Tier II information under Section 312. That information shall include: each emergency response plan, material safety data sheets or EPCRA approved alternate, tier II inventory forms, toxic chemical release forms, and follow-up emergency notices.
• The Northborough LEPC and its records shall be housed at the Northborough Fire Department, 11 Pierce Street, Northborough, MA 01532. The contact telephone number is (508) 393-1537.
• Public viewing of LEPC records shall be weekdays from 1 PM to 4 PM at the Headquarters of the Northborough Fire Department or by appointment at other times.
• The public may request Tier II inventory information and Material Safety Data Sheets obtainable under EPCRA through the LEPC. If the LEPC does not have the fixed facility information on file, the LEPC Coordinator will request in writing the information from the fixed facility and will respond to the public request within 45 days.
• To maintain and at least yearly review and/or update the Hazardous Materials plan as required by EPCRA, Section 303.
• To exercise the Hazardous Materials Plan at least once yearly. Exercise of the Hazardous Materials Plan shall be accomplished either by a pre-planned or, if a Hazardous Materials Incident has occurred, an after action meeting with the members involved to review the incident and the Hazardous Materials Plan and change the Plan as necessary. Pre-planned exercises shall be conducted by the guidelines established by the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) and the Massachusetts State Emergency Response Commission.
• To establish sub-committees per the direction of the Co-Chairmen as needed