History

The Brazos County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), incorporated in 2002, is a combined effort between local industry and emergency responders as part of the Community Right to Know Act of 1986. This group supports emergency planning for all hazards and provides local government and the public with information about possible hazards and proper emergency response.

In October of 1986, Congress passed Public Law 99-499, the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) Title III, also known as the "Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-know Act" (EPCRA). This federal law required the Governor of a state to appoint a State Emergency Response Commission (SERC), which divided each state into Local Emergency Planning Districts, each governed by a Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) and determined by city or county boundaries. Our local LEPC was determined by a county boundary.

Although early activities of LEPC were focused on chemical emergencies, subsequent emergencies across a variety of scenarios the past few years have caused LEPC to focus on all hazards, both physical and man-made, to make our community more resilient in any scenario.