The purposes of the LEPC - Region I are:

• To improve the ability of the local governments, volunteer organizations, institutions, and general public within its jurisdiction to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies involving hazardous materials.
   
• To support the governments of the five member counties and the businesses in each area in following rules and regulations relating to hazardous material emergency preparedness.
   
• To improve coordination among the five counties, surrounding towns, and State and Federal organizations in planning for, training for, and responding to emergencies involving hazardous materials.
   
• To provide the general public in the five counties with information concerning the use of and incidents related to hazardous materials and plans for responding to hazardous material emergencies.

Local Emergency Planning Committee(s)*

LEPC Region I covers the counties of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange. California is divided into six Emergency Planning Committee Regions (*.pdf).

California Office of Emergency Services (OES)*

LEPC Region I is part of the California Office of Emergency Services (OES).  OES was formed to coordinate and supervise implementation of federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) within California including federal programs to prevent, mitigate, and enhance response to hazardous material emergencies and ensure public availablity of appropriate chemical information as prescribed by law.

Review the list of OES Regional Contacts.

Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know (EPCRA)*

The federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) contains specific directives for state governments for the implementation of EPCRA at the state level. The EPCRA program as it applies to California was promulgated in the state Health and Safety Code, Title 19, and in Executive Orders. The federal EPCRA program is implemented and administered in California by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES), a State Emergency Response Commission (SERC), six local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs), and 128 local Administering Agencies established under California’s pre-existing Hazardous Materials Release Response Plan program. OES provides staff support to the SERC.

The SERC oversees implementation of EPCRA in California through the following responsibilities: 

• Establish emergency planning districts.
  
• Appoint local emergency planning committees (LEPC) for planning districts and supervise and coordinate their activities.
  
• Establish procedures for receiving and processing requests from the public for hazardous materials information.
  
• Receive notification from facilities handling hazardous materials when they are subject to EPCRA requirements.
  
• Notify the U.S. EPA Administrator of facilities subject to EPCRA requirements.
  
• Review emergency response plans and make recommendations necessary to ensure coordination with emergency response plans of other emergency planning jurisdictions.

Local Administering Agencies*

To facilitate EPCRA decision-making at the most practical level, ie. for most effective public protection, the SERC has delegated some EPCRA requirements based on the long-standing structure of California’s hazardous material program. Thus, emergency and hazardous chemical inventory forms, and MSDSs are submitted to the local Administering Agencies instead of the SERC. It is the Administering Agencies, therefore, that respond to public inquiries regarding business inventories. Immediate notice and follow-up reports (Section 304 reports) regarding hazardous material releases are submitted to both the Administering Agencies and OES.

Administering Agencies prepare local area emergency plans. These provide input for the six LEPCs in preparing the regional emergency plans. Administering Agencies are represented on the SERC and on the LEPCs.

*Information above is from the California Office of Emergency Services (OES)