Coordinate the haz-mat paperwork, IAFC urges
Dispatches
Hazardous materials information will pour into fire departments, local emergency planning commissions, and state planning commissions by October 17 because of new federal right-toknow requirements. And the International Association of Fire Chiefs says it will take a national clearinghouse to keep public officials’ heads above the paperwork flood.
Under Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, fire departments and the local and state agencies will have to collect from industries in their areas the material safety data sheets for individual substances or lists of hazardous chemicals grouped by hazard class. The IAFC points out that fire departments are likely to face increased liability under the new law, and many departments, especially volunteer ones, don’t have the means to cope with the paperwork onslaught.
The chiefs’ group is a member of an ad hoc advisory panel, chaired by Chief Warren Isman of the Fairfax County (Va.) Fire and Rescue Department, that submitted comments on the law to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Other members include local government representatives, emergency response organizations, chemical user groups, and chemical manufacturers.
The advisory panel is recommending that a national clearinghouse be set up, possibly operating through state governments, to process the material submitted locally. It would compile the wealth of haz-mat information into a usable form. Participants could be charged subscription fees based on the number of industrial facilities in their jurisdiction.
The ad hoc advisory group wants to see the reporting schedule slowed, the threshold amounts for required reporting raised, and the hazard categories simplified to two covering health hazards and three covering physical hazards. The recommendation also calls fora concordance that would relate the final Superfund categories to other established classification schemes, such as the one used by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
