state, local, and private sector personnel. Some may be available through a federal or
state agency, while others are publicly available on commercial systems or through private
organizations. Except for their own, neither DOT nor FEMA endorses the following toll-
free telephone numbers or on-line databases.
Federal and State Toll Free Technical Assistance Sources
Private Sector Toll Free Technical Assistance
Federal and State Agency Online Databases
Commercial and Private Online Databases
FEDERAL AND STATE TOLL FREE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE SOURCES
US Coast Guard - National Response Center: 1-800-424-8802
in Washington, DC - (202)426-2675
(202)267-2675
EPA REGIONAL HOTLINES
EPA has now established a Hotline in each of it's regional offices to handle Title III
reporting. Please make note of the number for the office in your area.
Nation-wide - (800) 535-0202
In Alaska and DC - (202) 479-2449
In the Regional Offices:
Region I - Boston, MA - (617) 565-3273
Region II - Edison, NJ - (201) 321-6765
Region III - Philadelphia, PA - (215) 597-1260
Region IV - Atlanta, GA - (404) 347-3222
Region V - Chicago, IL - (312) 886-6418
Region VI - Dallas, TX - (214) 655-7244
Region VII - Kansas City, KS - (913) 236-2806
Region VIII - Denver, CO - (303) 293-1730
Region IX - San Francisco, CA - (415) 974-7054
Region X - Seattle, WA - (206) 442-1270
Remember to report all hazardous materials releases to your Local Emergency Planning
Committee representative and to your State Emergency Response Commission immediately!
TOXIC RELEASE INVENTORY REPORTING CENTER
EPA has established a reading room in the Toxic Inventory Reporting Center (TRC) located
at 470 L'Enfant Plaza East, SW, Suite 7103, Washington, DC 20024. The reading room
provides a place for concerned citizens to review release data as supplied to the
Environmental Protection Agency (through section 313 reporting). To date, the center has
received more than 50,000 of the 300,000 release reports anticipated.
The TRC's is intended to serve as a central receipt point, aid in the sorting recording and
storage of release data reported under Title III. Additionally the TRC is to provide an
easy method to facilitate public inquiries. Anyone can access the chemical information by
logging onto a data base and calling the information up by using CAS number, state, city
and/or facility name.
Staff from Computer Based Systems, Inc. (EPA contractor) are on-hand to assist with
system inquiries between 8:00 am and 4:00 PM, Monday through Friday. To schedule an
appointment, please call (202)488-1501.
CHEMICAL EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PROGRAM (CEPP) - 1-(800) 535-0202
(202) 479-2449
Contact: Chemical Emergency Preparedness Program (CEPP)
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Preparedness
US Environmental Protection Agency (WH-548A)
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT INFORMATION CENTER (EMIC) - 1-800-638-1821
(301) 447-6771 ext 6032
Contact: EMIC Librarian, Learning Resource Center
National Emergency Training Center
16825 South Seton Avenue
Emmitsburg, Maryland 21727
FEMA established EMIC (Emergency Management Information Center) to assist faculty,
staff, students and off-campus users of the National Emergency Training Center Learning
Resource Center with their research and information needs. EMIC is a special collection of
natural and technological case study documents that can be requested for loan to state
level fire and emergency management officials by applying in writing, on official
letterhead, to the EMIC librarian. Other requests will be referred back to appropriate
states for handling.
SUPERFUND AND RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND RECOVERY ACT - 1-800-424-9346
(202) 382-3000
Contact: For Superfund -- Office of Emergency and Remedial Response
US Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
For CERCLA -- Office of Waste Programs Enforcement
US Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
EPA established the toll free technical assistance hotline in 1980 to answer questions and
provide documents to those needing information on the Superfund and Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act.
TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT (TSCA) - (202) 554-1404
Contact: Toxic Substances Control Act Assistance Office
Office of Toxic Substances
US Environmental Protection Agency
PRIVATE SECTOR TOLL FREE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE SUPPORT
CHEMTREC: 1-(800) 424-9300. Alaska, Hawaii and DC (202) 483-7616
Contact: Chemical Manufacturers Association
2501 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037.
The Chemical Manufacturers Association set up the Chemical Transportation Emergency
Center (CHEMTREC) to provide immediate assistance to those at the scene of accident, 24
hours a day, seven days a week. CHEMTREC maintains an online database on the chemical,
physical, and toxicological properties and health effects of the thousands of products of
the member companies. CHEMTREC operates in two stages: first, staff provide chemical
information for use in onsite decision making involving handling the early stages of the
problem and, second, notifies the manufacturer of the product of the accident for more
detailed information and appropriate follow-up.
CHEMNET is activated by a call to CHEMTREC. If a member shipper cannot respond
promptly to an incident and a chemical expert is required at a site, then the shipper can
authorize a CHEMNET-contracted emergency response company to go in its place.
CHLOREP: Emergency contact through CHEMTREC above.
Contact: Chlorine Institute
342 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10017.
The Chlorine Institute in 1972 established its Chlorine Emergency Plan (CHLOREP), a
mutual-aid response network of chlorine manufacturers and packagers, to provide
assistance at chlorine emergencies in the United States and Canada through telephone
instructions to on-scene personnel or the dispatching of trained teams to sites. Response is
activated by a call to CHEMTREC which in turn calls the designated CHLOREP contact, who
notifies the appropriate team leader based upon CHLOREP's geographical sector team
assignments.
CAER: Community Awareness and Emergency Response information line. This is a 2 minute
recorded message informing callers of upcoming events related to coordinated emergency
response planning. The CAER information number is (202) 463-1599 and is updated twice a
month.
To submit an event to be publicized, send the materials to:
Todd Miller
CMA Communications Dept.
2501 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
The Center for Fire Research in the National Bureau of Standards has established a public
access computer bulletin board.
Contact: Doug Walton
System Operator
U(301) 975-6872
Information on the bulletin board includes:
A listing of the most recent reports from the Center for Fire Research;
Information on upcoming activities at the Center for Fire Research such as
conferences, seminars and workshops; and
Information on FIREDOC, the Center's fire research bibliographic system.
FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCY ONLINE DATABASES
The Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) bulletin board is intended
to store communications and technology transfer among the Regions and with
Headquarters staff involved in solid or hazardous waste regulation, permitting, or
enforcement and with ORD scientists and engineers in Headquarters and laboratories who
are supporting OSWER. The OWSER is operated under contract to the Office of Program
Management Technology (OPMT). The OSWER BBS offers messages, bulletins, files and
computer programs, databases, and conferences. Bulletins include OSWER technical
training opportunities and ORD technology transfer seminars nationwide, new ORD
technical publications, the top 25 compounds found at Superfund Sites, and the current
status of the SITE technology demonstrations. Conferences include: Executive (for EPA
managers only), Ground-Water Workstation, Ground-Water Monitoring and Remediation,
Risk Management/Assessment, and Expert Systems/Geographic Information Systems. The
BBS is primarily intended for EPA Regional, Headquarters, and ORD personnel, however,
OSWER welcomes state and local government agencies and authorized EPA contractors.
The BBS telephone number is (301) 589-8366, the voice line is (301) 589-8368.
The Hazardous Materials Information Systems (HMIS) offers two menu-driven programs
to assist state, local and Federal agencies. The US Department of Transportation (DOT),
Research and Special Programs Administration's (RSPA) project offers quick access to
both exemptions information and informal interpretations. The exemptions menu provides
access to the following: exemption numbers, exemption holders, expiration dates,
container type and DOT specification, hazardous material, shipping name and class, and
regulations affected. The interpretations menu provides access to informal interpretations
issued by the Standards Division, Office of Hazardous Materials Transportation. Each
search provides: requester, subject, commodity, container and regulations affected. This
service is provided FREE to state, local, and federal agencies. Private sector organizations
cannot get an account on the HMIS but can call to receive printouts on information they
need (there is a fee for the printout). In order to gain access to the HMIS you must
FIRST ESTABLISH AN ACCOUNT by contacting:
Lessie Graves
Office of Hazardous Materials Transportation
Information Services Unit
FTS/COMM: (202) 366-4555
Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Computerized Information
System (OCIS) is designed to aid OSHA, State OSHA Program, and OSHA Area Office
staff in responding to employers' and employees' occupational safety and health problems
by maintaining quick access to various computerized information files. OCIS files are
maintained on a Digital Vax 11/750 computer at the Salt Lake City Laboratory; BASIS is
the database management software; system is accessed from OSHA and State Program
offices only; files are menu driven; and new capabilities are under development.
Questions and comments can be directed to:
OCIS Help Desk
(801) 524-5366 or 524-5896
FTS 588-5366 or 588-5896
The National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET) is a
computerized system of toxicologically oriented data banks, offering a sophisticated
search and retrieval package which permits efficient access to information on known
chemicals and identifies unknown chemicals based on their characteristics. TOXNET files
include: Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB), Toxicology Data Bank (TDB), and
Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information ,System (CCRIS).
Registered NLM users can access TOXNET by direct dial or through TELENET or
TYMNET telecommunications networks. The nations average search charges (per hour) are
$75.00 for prime time.
For detailed information on TOXNET contact:
National Library of Medicine
Specialized Information Services
Biomedical Files Implementation Branch
8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20894
(301) 496-6531 or 496-1131
COMMERCIAL AND PRIVATE ONLINE DATABASES
FIREDOC: Nations available From NBS
The Center for Fire Research in the National Bureau of Standards has made its
computerized bibliographic system, FIREDOC, available for searching on-line. The system
can be accessed by telephone using a computer as a terminal. About 7,000 items from the
Center's collection are currently entered in the FIREDOC system. For further information
including instructions on access and use of FIREDOC, contact:
Nora Jason
Technical Information Specialist
Center for Fire Research
(301) 975-6862
CFRBBS is a public access computer bulletin board sponsored by: the Center for Fire
Research, National Bureau of Standards, US Department of Commerce, in Gaithersburg,
MD 20899. It features computer programs developed by the Center of Fire Research.
Contents of the board include: fire simulation programs, information on FIREDOC (the
Center for Fire Research bibliographic search system; FIREDOC users guide; and
FIREDOC compatible communications package), information on upcoming activities at the
Center for Fire Research, and a listing of the most recent year's reports from the center.
There is no connect fee for using the board; however the user pays for the phone call. For