IV. HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION

1. PURPOSE
   1. Emergency Management Plan
      
      On April 9, 1984 the City Council of Mont Belvieu by ordinance No. 120, and Chambers County by Commissioners Court order dated May 2, 1983, established similar programs of comprehensive emergency management which includes the mitigation preparedness, response, and recovery phases of emergency management.The Mayor is authorized to join with the County Judge and other Mayors in Chambers County and has the authority to cooperate in emergency management operations as well as all powers necessary to adopt an emergency management plan for the City of Mont Belvieu.The Mayor is responsible for conducting a program of comprehensive emergency management within the city and for carrying out the duties and responsibilities set forth in the ordinance. The Mayor may delegate authority for execution of these duties to a coordinator, but the ultimate responsibility remains with the Mayor.
      
      
   2. MAMB
      
      The Mutual Aid Mont Belvieu (MAMB) organization is the dynamic continuing end?result of the efforts of concerned organizations in the Mont Belvieu area to enhance the overall safety of the community and establish the vehicle by which industry, local government, and citizen rapport can be implemented. The MAMB organization is structured to provide assistance upon request to its members in the event of either an industrial or community emergency situation.In January, 1975, the organization was formed as the Mont Belvieu Safety and Mutual Aid Steering Committee and was charged with the responsibility of pursuing objectives and goals compatible with, and complimentary to those set forth by the Mont Belvieu City Council, Safety Committee, and Fire Department. With these charges the Steering Committee adopted the following objectives:
      
      1. To establish between industry and the community a communications link to effectively provide and improve understanding and mutual help in resolving common problems.
      2. To establish the means by which assistance to individual companies or the community could be provided, upon request, for the purpose of enhancing safe operations and adequate environmental safeguards.
      3. To establish a continuing emergency mutual aid system through which assistance should be provided to minimize damage resulting from industrial or community accidents.After several months of development work by the Steering Committee, the Mutual Aid Mont Belvieu organization emerged as a composite of representatives of industry, local community government, and Chambers County law and government agencies, all dedicates to upholding the original objectives of the Steering Committee. These guidelines under which MAMB functions are presented in the next section of this manual.
   3. CAER
      
      The Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) Program is a chemical industry initiative designed with two related purposes:
      
      1. To develop a community outreach program and to provide the public with information on chemicals manufactured or used at local facilities.
      2. To improve local emergency response and planning by combining facility emergency plans with other local planning to achieve an integrated community emergency response plan.The American public is concerned about chemical hazards, the possibility of a serious chemical emergency and the steps taken to prevent such an occurrence. The member companies of the American Chemical Council (ACC) recognize the need to provide the community with information on chemicals manufactured or used locally. The member companies also realize that, while most chemical plants have adequate emergency plans, there is room for improvement by more effectively integrating plant emergency response plans with those of the community. The CAER Program was developed in March, 1985 to deal directly and expeditiously with the public's concern.
   4. RMP
      
      In June 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed and mandated the Risk Management Plan (RMP) rule 40 CFR 68 requiring facilities that use, make, or store more than certain amounts of regulated chemicals/flammables to make information available about their risk management activities to local emergency responders, federal and state officials, and the public. All applicable facilities in Mont Belvieu will have to prepare documents that describe their risk management efforts by June 1999.
      
      The RMP rule is intended to prevent chemical releases, improve plant safety, and protect the public by collecting information to encourage community discussions in the following four areas:
      
      
      • The potential effects of chemical/flammable gas releases
      • A five-year history of each facility's accidental chemical/flammable gas releases
      • The facility's program for preventing accidents
      • The facility's program for responding in an emergency
      • Facility and programs will be updated based on regulatory requirements.
      In preparation for EPA's rule, Mutual Aid Mont Belvieu (MAMB) initiated an RMP project in August 1998. The industrial members of MAMB that are governed by the rule formed a technical sub-committee to gather the applicable information as listed above. A number of companies that are "exempt" from the rule are also participating in this effort. In addition, a sub-committee composed of industrial and community representatives was formed to develop ways to effectively communicate this information to the local citizens. The Mayor of Mont Belvieu appointed the committee representatives. Plans are being developed by both sub-committees and will be presented to the MAMB membership for approval. Presentation of the MAMB - RMP program was conducted in the first quarter of 1999.
2. PAST OFFICERS