Huntington County Local Emergency Planning Committee

Address: 20 Victory Noll Dr. Street Huntington, IN 46750
Email: robert.jeffers@huntington.in.us

Term is January 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025
Chairperson: Robert Jeffers, Emergency Management - LEPC Board Appointee 
Vice Chairperson: Bob Hayes - LEPC Board Appointee
Secretary: Thomas Fuller - LEPC Board Appointee 
Document Location (Tier II): 332 East State Street, Huntington, Indiana 4675

Telephone/Fax Numbers:   
24-hour Emergency: 911
Administrative Number: (260) 358-4870           
Fax: (260) 358-487
 
The Indiana Emergency Response Commission consists of 13 members appointed by the Governor who represent local and state government, industry and the public. The commission is chaired by the Executive Director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security and vice-chaired by the Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

The creation of the IERC was mandated by the Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act (SARA) Title III, the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) of 1986. It is charged with maintaining Title III records in Indiana as well as with supervising and coordinating the activities of Indiana's 91 local emergency planning committees (LEPC).

The LEPCs are composed of elected state and local officials; representatives from law enforcement, emergency management, firefighting, emergency medical services, health, local environmental management, hospital management, transportation, broadcast and print media; community groups; and owners and operators of facilities storing and using Title III chemicals.

Each LEPC is charged with developing an emergency response plan to deal with accidental chemical releases from Title III facilities in its county and with making available to the general public chemical information submitted by those facilities. The LEPCs are funded through EPCRA under Indiana Code (IC) 6-10.

The IERC operates under authority of IC 13-25-1 and IC 13-25-2. The commission meets bi-monthly and acts upon the recommendations of its six committees: policy, legislative, training, fiscal, communications and technical, each of which is chaired by a commission member.
 

SARA Title III

(Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act)

The federal Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act became law in 1986. Title III of these SARA provisions is also known as the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). SARA Title III requires states to:

  • Promote outreach for developing local emergency preparedness programs to respond to chemical releases.
  • Receive reports from the regulated community.
  • Organize, analyze and disseminate the resulting information on hazardous chemicals to local governments and the public.

Specifically, this has required the establishment of state emergency response commissions and local emergency planning committees. The nationwide regulated community of manufacturers and non-manufacturers of hazardous chemicals must report concerning their emergency chemical releases; their Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS); their facility hazardous chemical inventories (Tier I and Tier II reports); and their toxic chemical releases to the air, land or water (Toxics Release Inventory).

Because of this activity, businesses have reassessed their chemical inventories and their manufacturing processes. In addition, more businesses are working cooperatively with local governments to plan for and try to prevent an accidental chemical release.

Businesses are also pursuing waste minimization and pollution prevention programs and realizing monetary savings.