AGO 1989-056.

• Case Date: May 01, 1989
• Court: Kansas

Kansas Attorney General Opinions 1989. AGO 1989-056. May 1, 1989ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 89-56Col. Mahlon G. WeedOffice of the Adjutant General Division of Emergency Preparedness P.O. Box C-300 Topeka, Kansas 66601-0300 Re: Public Health--Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know--State Emergency Response Commission; Local Planning Districts Synopsis: Kansas Turnpike Authority property located within a planning district is part of the planning district. The responsibility for managing emergency incidents on such property is to be determined by the emergency plan formulated by the local emergency planning committee. The county, as a county, has no inherent authority over the Kansas Turnpike Authority. Cited herein: K.S.A.1988 Supp. 65-5701 et seq., 65-5703; K.S.A. 68-2004, 68-2019; 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 11001, 11003. * * * Dear Col. Weed: As director of the division of emergency preparedness, you have requested our opinion regarding the relationship between the Kansas Turnpike Authority (KTA) and Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPC). Specifically, you ask whether KTA property within a local planning district falls within the planning responsibilities of the LEPC's, and also what obligations for managing emergency incidents occurring on KTA property are vested with the county. The federal emergency planning and community right-to-know act, 42 U.S.C.A. § 1101 et seq., requires each state to appoint a state emergency response commission (SERC). Each SERC is to designate emergency planning districts to prepare and implement emergency plans. 42 U.S.C.A. § 11001(a)(b). For each planning district, a LEPC is appointed. The LEPC is to prepare an emergency response plan. The emergency plan must include: identification of facilities which are required to report the presence of hazardous substances; identification of routes likely to be used for transporting extremely hazardous substances; identification of facilities creating risk or subjected to risk by their proximity to other facilities; response procedures in the event of chemical releases; designation of emergency coordinators who are authorized to make determinations necessary to implement the plan; release notification plans; methods for determining the occurrence and likely effect of a release; facility descriptions; evacuation plans; training programs; and...