Guidelines Tell How to Prepare Comprehensive Emergency Response Plans

A new ten-page white paper on how to develop a single plan to meet multiple federal emergency response requirements is being offered by Environmental Resources Management (ERM), an environmental, health and safety consulting firm with worldwide interests.

The report, which should be of particular interest to public works and water/wastewater managers, is entitled Integrated Contingency Plans - Streamlining Emergency Response, Training and Reporting Procedures. It is intended to provide facility staff members with emergency response and prevention plans that are applicable before, during and after any foreseeable incident may occur.

In addressing the emergency planning issue, ERM has found that most facilities struggle with three primary areas in planning for emergency situations, according to John Deal, managing principal of ERM's Southeastern Operations. These three areas are:

• Training of facility personnel across numerous regulatory requirements
• Record-keeping on preventative measures
• Responding and reporting to required agencies when an incident occurs.

"Facility personnel often lack an understanding as to which environmental, health and safety plan applies to a specific incident," observes Deal who wrote the white paper. He explains that development of an Integrated Contingency Plan (ICP) will eliminate questions, such as: "Now which plan do I follow?" and "Who do I call?"

The literature covers the ICP guidance published in the Federal Register that had been issued by the National Response Team (NRT), a cooperative effort of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard and other federal agencies.

In his discussion of ICPs, Deal notes: "The most expeditious approach to developing an ICP is to build on existing emergency plans using the NRT's guidance as a general template while including site-specific requirements for your facility."

Several useful exhibits in the white paper cover these areas:

• The emergency response regulations addressed in the ICP guidance
• Sample components of an ICP
• A sample ICP matrix
• A table of contents for a draft ICP document.

To obtain a copy of the white paper, entitled Integrated Contingency Plans - Streamlining Emergency Response, Training and Reporting Procedures, contact the Marketing Communications Department at ERM, 855 Springdale Drive, Exton, PA 19341, or call 800-544-3117 or fax 610-524-3866. For more information on developing an ICP, you may contact John Deal directly in Charleston, SC, at (843) 747-1227.