Section 620.70  Functions of a Local Emergency Planning Committee

a)         The local emergency planning committee shall, at a minimum, carry out the following functions in accordance with Section 301(c) of the Act:  

1)         Elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson and a secretary to keep records of its proceedings.

2)         Appoint a coordinator for information who shall be responsible for maintaining the committee's files of information received under the Act and procedures adopted under it and for receiving and fulfilling requests from the public for that information.

3)         Notify the SERC in writing within 5 working days whenever there is a change in appointed officials.  The notification shall include the name and address of the newly appointed official.

4)         Establish operating procedures to include provisions for the following activities:  

A)        Public notification of committee activities.

B)        Public meetings to discuss emergency plans.

C)        Acknowledgment of public comments.

D)        Response to public comments.

E)        Distribution of the local emergency plan.

F)         Receiving and processing requests from the public for information under Section 312 and Section 324 of the Act.

5)         Prepare a local emergency plan.

6)         Appoint a community emergency coordinator who shall be responsible for coordinating the development and implementation of the chemical emergency preparedness plan of the planning district and for receiving verbal and follow-up written notices of releases of hazardous substances provided under Section 620.100 of this Part.

7)         Refer to the SERC for approval and transaction, pursuant to the Illinois Purchasing Act [30 ILCS 505], anything to be purchased, leased, leased with option or agreement to purchase, or constructed.

8)         Establish and carry out a program with the regulated facilities within the planning district to ensure compliance with the information required by Sections 620.90, 620.100, 620.210, 620.230, and 620.240 of this Part.

9)         Not later than the first day of July of each year, submit to the SERC a summary report relative to the activities undertaken by the committee during the previous calendar year.  The report shall reflect such activities undertaken pursuant to the program established in subsection (a)(8) of this Section, based upon the submission of emergency and hazardous chemical inventory forms required to be submitted on or before the immediately preceding first day of March under Section 312 of the Act.

b)         A local emergency planning committee may:

1)         Receive and accept from any public or private source, for the purpose of this Part, gifts, service of personnel, and real or personal property or their use.  A municipal corporation, county or township may, for the purposes of this Part, make contributions of services of personnel and real or personal property or their use to or on behalf of the planning district in which it is located. If, as a result of the redesignation of a planning district, desegregation of a joint district, or establishment of a joint interstate district by the SERC, a municipal corporation, county, or township is withdrawn from a district that remains in existence, the LEPC of that remaining district shall ascertain the credits, and real and personal property of the planning district and shall make an equitable apportionment and distribution in kind of that property between the political subdivision and the district from which it was withdrawn.

2)         Appoint and through the SERC fix the compensation of employees necessary or appropriate to perform the function of an LEPC under this Part within the planning district.  Employees of a planning district shall be considered contractual employees with the State of Illinois for the purposes of the provisions of the Code applicable to contractual employees.

3)         Request, in writing, that the SERC, pursuant to Section 302(b)(2) of the federal Act, designate an additional facility within the planning district as being subject to the emergency planning and notification requirements of Section 620.90 of this Part.

4)         Enter into an agreement with the board of health of a city or general health district, a political subdivision that is located wholly or partly within the planning district, or a county wide emergency management agency having jurisdiction within all or a portion of the planning district, whereby the board of health, political subdivision, agency, or authority will provide guidance or expertise with regards to emergency planning and response.  The agreement, if any, shall provide the scope of services to be provided by such an entity and the method and amounts of any payments to be made by the committee to the board of health, political subdivision, agency, or authority for performance of the agreement.  An agreement authorized under this subsection (b)(4) does not diminish the authority of the committee to exercise any power or perform any function being exercised or performed on its behalf by a board of health, political subdivision, agency, or authority under the agreement.

5)         Adopt procedures establishing requirements for reporting or providing the names and amounts of extremely hazardous substances or hazardous chemicals produced, used or stored at facilities within its emergency planning district; for the reporting or providing of information regarding locations where those substances or chemicals are stored at those facilities; or for the reporting of releases of extremely hazardous substances, hazardous substances, or oil that are consistent with the reporting and hazard communication requirements under the federal Act and this Part. The procedures shall reflect the administrative and operational functions of the emergency planning district and include the confidentiality provisions afforded by federal law.  The procedures may include, without limitation, reporting requirements regarding the names, amounts or storage locations of chemicals described in federal and State statutes.  A committee shall not create or require the use of forms other than those approved by the SERC.

6)         Enter into contracts through the SERC for the development or provision of the training programs, seminars, or other forms of educational programs that are required to be included in the plan of each planning district.

7)         Do all things necessary, incidental, or appropriate to perform the duties and exercise the power of an LEPC under this Part and under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 and regulations adopted under it.

c)         Members of a local community planning committee are entitled to the immunity afforded public officers and employees (see 745 ILCS 10/2).

(Source:  Amended at 22 Ill. Reg. 1294, effective January 1, 1998)