Emergency Response/Contingency Plan

DOE-EM-STD-5503-94

11.0. EMERGENCY RESPONSE/CONTINGENCY PLAN

11.1. BACKGROUND

The site-specific Emergency Response/Contingency Plan, also referred to as Emergency

Response Plan (ERP), should be designed as a separate section of the HASP and should be

compatible and integrated with the disaster, fire, and emergency response plans of local, state,

and Federal agencies. Where applicable, the plan should be coordinated with other DOE

elements at the installation. The purpose of the ERP is to protect workers in emergency

situations resulting from the release of all types of hazardous substances, including Extremely

Hazardous Substances, CERCLA hazardous substances, RCRA hazardous wastes, and any

substance listed by the U.S. Department of Transportation as a hazardous material. The

requirements for an ERP at hazardous waste sites are codified in 29 CFR 1910.120. The ERP

should be developed and implemented prior to beginning site operations. Hazardous waste site

operations should not begin until the ERP is in place.

Sites with RCRA permitted treatment, storage, and disposal facilities for hazardous waste,

having the required contingency plan meeting the requirements of their permit, would not need to

duplicate the same planning elements. Those items of the ERP that are properly addressed in the

permit contingency plan may be substituted into the ERP required by 29 CFR 1910.120.

The objective of this chapter is to describe the minimum required elements of the ERP, which are

as follows:

Pre-emergency planning;

Personnel roles, lines of authority, and communication;

Emergency recognition and prevention;

Safe distances and places of refuge;

Site security and control;

Evacuation routes and procedures;

Decontamination procedures;

Emergency medical treatment/first aid;

Emergency alerting and response procedures;

Critique of response and follow-up;

PPE and emergency equipment; and

Procedures for reporting incidents to local, state, and Federal governmental agencies.

Elements identified above may require data that has already been created and documented in

other chapters of the HASP (i.e., site characterizations, hazard assessments, maps, transportation

routes, etc.). Copies of this documentation should be incorporated into the ERP.

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