Sec. 6. (a) The commission shall do the following:

(1) Encourage and support the development of emergency planning efforts to provide:

(A) state government entities;

(B) local governments; and

(C) the public;

with information concerning potential chemical hazards in Indiana.

(2) Assist the state in complying with the requirements of SARA.

(3) Design and supervise the operation of emergency planning districts in Indiana.

(4) Gather and distribute information needed for effective emergency response planning.

(5) Appoint the members of the local emergency planning committee of each emergency planning district.

(b) A local emergency planning committee shall do the following:

(1) Satisfy the requirements of SARA.

(2) Prepare and submit a roster of committee members to the commission at least one (1) time each year.

(3) Meet at least two (2) times, on separate days, every six (6) months.

(4) Each year, prepare and submit a report to the commission that describes the expenditures of the local emergency planning committee in the preceding year that were paid for with the money distributed under IC 13-25-2-10.6.

(c) A local emergency planning committee member may appoint a designee to act on the committee member's behalf under this chapter. An appointment under this subsection must:

(1) be in writing;

(2) specify the duration of the appointment; and

(3) be submitted to the committee at least two (2) calendar days before the first meeting that the designee attends on behalf of the member.

(d) For purposes of Article 2, Section 9 of the Constitution of the State of Indiana, membership on a local emergency planning committee is not a lucrative office.

(e) The members of a local emergency planning committee shall elect officers of the local emergency planning committee from among its members.

(f) The commission may appoint the number of members of a local emergency planning committee that the commission considers appropriate. The members of a local emergency planning committee must include representatives of each of the following:

(1) State and local officials.

(2) Law enforcement, emergency management, firefighting, emergency medical services, health, local environmental, hospital, and transportation personnel.

(3) Broadcast and print media.

(4) Community groups.

(5) Owners and operators of facilities subject to IC 13-25-2-10.

(g) The commission may revise its appointment of members of a local emergency planning committee under subsection (a)(5). Interested persons, including a county executive, may petition the commission to modify the membership of a local emergency planning committee.

(h) A local emergency planning committee is a county board of the county identified in one (1) of the following:

(1) If the emergency planning district of the local emergency planning committee is wholly within the boundaries of one (1) county, the local emergency planning committee is a county board of the county in which the emergency planning district is located.

(2) If the emergency planning district of the local emergency planning committee includes more than one (1) county, the local emergency planning committee is a county board of only one (1) of the counties, and the county of which the local emergency planning committee is a county board must be determined by agreement of the counties included in the emergency planning district.

(i) The commission may not establish an emergency planning district that includes more than one (1) county unless all the counties to be included in the emergency planning district have agreed which of the counties will be the county of which the local emergency planning committee will be a county board under subsection (h)(2).

[Pre-1996 Recodification Citation: 13-7-36-7.]

As added by P.L.1-1996, SEC.15. Amended by P.L.92-2001, SEC.2; P.L.26-2010, SEC.17; P.L.85-2015, SEC.10; P.L.68-2016, SEC.2.