Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act

Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleEmergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
Acronyms (colloquial)EPCRA
Enacted bythe 99th United States Congress
EffectiveOctober 17, 1986
Citations
Public law99-499
Statutes at Large100 Stat. 1728
Codification
Acts amendedCERCLA
Titles amended42
U.S.C. sections created11001-11050
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the House of Representatives as H.R.2005 by James R. Jones (D–OK) on April 4, 1985
  • Passed the House of Representatives on May 14, 1985 (413-0)
  • Passed the Senate on September 26, 1985 (86-13)
  • Reported by the joint conference committee on October 3, 1986; agreed to by the Senate on October 3, 1986 (88-8) and by the House of Representatives on October 8, 1986 (386-27)
  • Signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on October 17, 1986

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 is a United States federal law passed by the 99th United States Congress located at Title 42, Chapter 116 of the U.S. Code, concerned with emergency response preparedness.

On October 17, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA). This act amended the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund.

A free-standing law, the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) was commonly known as SARA Title III. Its purpose is to encourage and support emergency planning efforts at the state and local levels and to provide the public and local governments with information concerning potential chemical hazards present in their communities.