LETTER OF PROMULGATION

To the Citizens of Washoe County,

Hazardous materials, when properly controlled, are important in everyday life. Uncontrolled, they may cause injury, death, destruction, and lingering effects that may last for many years. To meet the risk, a concerted effort must be made to identify, locate, quantify, and have some knowledge of the hazardous materials in Washoe County. The routes and modes of transportation of these chemicals must also be known in order to assess the overall possible danger posed by these materials.

Emergency planning for hazardous materials releases cannot be solved successfully by any one organization or group, but must be accomplished through the cooperative efforts of local, State, and Federal authorities working in cooperation with the private sector.

Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-499) mandates that local jurisdictions develop a plan for the emergency response to accidental releases of hazardous materials.

The results of this local planning effort are set forth in this Washoe County Response Plan. The Plan will include the study of the problem itself, the resources available to handle the problem, and the emergency procedures that would be used in the case of a release.

This plan provides a starting point for Hazardous Materials Incident preparedness and response efforts. In order to achieve an optimal reasonable level of preparedness for potential Hazardous Materials Incidents, all emergency response agencies need to become familiar with its contents, train their personnel to meet these situations and develop an agency specific plan to reinforce and amplify the operational area plan. Like all emergency plans, this is a living document that will be revised and refined as we gain more knowledge about incidents and as new capabilities are developed to manage and mitigate the consequences. On-going efforts to build and enhance preparedness must include regular drills and exercises involving all agencies that will be involved in an actual response. These drills and exercises together with after-actions reports from actual Haz-Mat incidents will be evaluated to provide a basis for future updates of this plan.

Local Emergency Planning Committee

Plan Date:
November, 2012