EPA PLANS STUDY OF CHEMICAL EMERGENCY PANELS' COMPLIANCE WITH EPCRA

Weeks after Hurricane Katrina revealed deep flaws in local and federal disaster management, EPA is preparing to initiate a study to determine whether highly criticized state and local chemical emergency planning groups are meeting federal disaster response requirements. But agency sources and many critics say the study's narrow focus on federal standards is unlikely to improve disaster response efforts because the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), which created the voluntary program, provides EPA with little authority to ensure...