Does EPCRA mean something different in the state of NJ?
The state and federal political climate is just crazy these days! We now have one of our original 13 colonies claiming they have a constitutional right to manage their state EPCRA program as they see fit and not how Federal EPA believes it should be managed and how their own 2015 Manual said it was to be managed. The state of NJ, in some strange interpretation, have come to believe that the Emergency Planning and Community RIght-to-Know Act (EPCRA) does not require the state to release the chemical information to the "communities". You just can not make this stuff up and good tax money is being wasted in courts to argue the "intent" of EPA's EPCRA rule. In their lawsuit, the plaintiff's claim the State of NJ's State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) and the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) in Linden, NJ has failed to publicly disclose facility emergency response plans (ERPs) as required under EPCRA. The state has responded and argues that EPCRA only requires states to set up a system for industrial facilities to release information to LEPCs - but not for the state officials on a SERC to require the local planners to disclose the data to the public. Now, remember, the name of this Act is the Emergency Planning and Community RIght-to-Know Act (EPCRA). To show how this is just politics as usual here is the State of NJ's own EPCRA compliance manual - pay close attention to pages 8-11. Here is the arguments put forth... |
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