Protecting the Community, One Guideline at a Time

Development of emergency response planning guidelines (ERPGs)

“…Instead of developing additional EEIs, Dutch scientists joined the ERPG Committee and have aided in the development of these documents. At the request of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, NRC convened a Subcommittee on Guidelines for Development of Community Emergency Exposure Levels (CEELs) in 1993 [19]; however, no CEEL documents were ever produced [1,2,3,15]. In an effort to move forward, representatives from the EPA approached the ERP Committee in 1995 and expressed their interest in developing similar numbers for emergency response planning.…”

“…As a result, the Emergency Response Planning Committee (ERP Committee) was formed in 1987 with the specific charge to develop suitable documents for emergency response planning. In 1988, the ERP Committee began producing Emergency Response Planning Guidelines (ERPGs) [1][2][3]15,16].…”

“…Uniform procedures and definitions provided more consistent guidelines. In addition, sharing guidelines for different chemicals would avoid redundant efforts and increase the number of available guidelines [1][2][3][4]15].…”

“…In Bhopal, India, the release of 40 tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) on December 3, 1984 resulted in the death of more than 2500 people [1][2][3]. Many other residents suffered irreversible health effects.…”

“…A multiplicity of guidance numbers would be confusing. A better approach was for stakeholder chemical companies to work together in developing a single set of emergency response exposure values for chemicals of interest that would be useful to emergency response planners and managers [1][2][3]6].…”