Portage County – The Portage County Local Emergency Planning Committee in conjunction with the Portage County EMA reminds Portage County companies/facilities that the SARA Title III (Emergency Planning Community Right to Know Act) chemical inventory reporting deadline is March 1, 2020. The annual reports (FY 2019) are due to the State Emergency Response Commission c/o Ohio EPA, the Portage County LEPC and your jurisdictional fire department by March 1.
A filing fee is associated with the annual chemical inventory reporting and is to be submitted to the SERC only. Approximately 80 percent of the total fees generated under this program are redistributed back to the local LEPC for administrative costs and training of our first responders. These reports are required by Ohio Revised Code 3750 and financial penalties can be imposed, up to $10,000 per day, if you are required to file and do not.
The owner or operator of a company/ facility must submit a report when all the following conditions are met:
Facility is subject to the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard; and
Facility uses, produces and/or stores a Hazardous Chemical and/or has an “Extremely Hazardous Substances” above the listed Threshold Planning Quantity; and
The quantity of one of the Hazardous Chemicals and/or an “Extremely Hazardous Substance is in excess of the “Threshold Quantity.” For Hazardous Chemicals, the TQ is 10,000 pounds or more for any given day (Examples include, but are not limited to, gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, propane, toluene, etc.); For Extremely Hazardous Substances the TPQ is chemical specific for 359 listed chemicals and varies from 1 to 500 pounds. Examples include, but are not limited to, chlorine, ammonia, hydrofluoric acid, nitric acid and sulfuric acid.
Complete information is available at http://epa.ohio.gov/Portals/27/serc/SERC_Manual.pdf. It is the responsibility of each business to know if they meet the above criteria for reporting. This information is vital in the emergency planning and response for Portage County and all of its residents.
For additional information contact: Patricia Corley, Portage County LEPC Information Coordinator at 330.297.3609 or pcorley@portageco.com.
