Chemical Safety and Climate Change Preparedness Resources for Businesses

Without proper planning, companies that use or store hazardous chemicals can unknowingly pose public health and environmental safety risks to communities when critical infrastructure is damaged due to the severe weather events associated with:

• Heat waves
• Flooding and storm surge
• Intense storms
• High winds
• Heavy precipitation
• Blizzards
• Power outages

Infrastructure damage and power failure can result in:

• Forced downtime
• Loss of productivity
• Harm to workers
• Harm to first responders
• Harm to the surrounding community

Participate in Your Local or Regional Emergency Planning Committee (L/REPC)

Emergency Planning Committees are responsible for protecting their communities from incidents involving hazardous materials. This involves developing emergency response plans and educating the community about chemical facilities and the actions that could be taken if there is a chemical accident.

Facilities that use and store large quantities of chemical are expected to support and participate in L/REPC and to develop emergency response plans.

View the U.S. Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know (EPCRA) Requirements

Massachusetts State Emergency Response Commission (SERC)

MA Emergency Management Agency (MEMA)

Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations (CAMEO) software applications to plan for and respond to chemical emergencies

Develop a Facility Emergency Plan Summary

Use OTA's Facility Emergency Plan Summary Template to create your own emergency plan summary. Then, share it with your local fire department, health department, and emergency management officials, and maintain a copy in a safe location on-site. Make sure to review it annually with relevant staff, and make updates as needed.

Map of Massachusetts Toxics Users and Climate Vulnerability Factors

You can use OTA’s Map of Massachusetts Toxics Users and Climate Vulnerability Factors to see if your facility is at risk of floods or hurricanes, or if it is near sensitive areas or populations, to assist you with contingency planning.

Map Instructions:

1. Type in an address into the search bar on the top right of the map.
2. Click on the "Layers" drop down menu to change the displayed information.

Other State Agencies and Tools

• MA Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs (EEA) Office of Climate Science
• MA EEA Office of Environmental Justice (EJ) and Equity – Main Page
  • EEA EJ Map Viewer
  • Environmental Justice (EJ) Populations in MA
• Resilient MA - Main page
  • Map and Data Center
  • MA Climate Change Assessment
• Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) EJ Tool
• MassDEP Cumulative Impact Analysis Tool

• 2025 Tabletop Exercises
• Environmental Justice Tools and Orientation to EJ in MA SBEAP, 2024
• OTA Chemical Safety & Climate Change Resilience TNEC, 2024
• EJ Mapping Tools 2024 TURA Program Retreat
• Introduction to EJ Principles and Mapping Tools NENASF, 2023
• EJ Mapping Tools for IC2 members, 2023

• EPA Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA)
  • Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program
    • TRI Data and Tools
      • TRI Explorer (facility search)
  • *Tier II Program - MA State Emergency Response Commission (SERC)
    • *Tier II reporting is both federal (EPA) and state (MEMA/SERC)
• EPA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
• EPA Clean Air Act Risk Management Plan (RMP)
  • Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention (SCCAP)
• EPA Clean Water Act Hazardous Substances Facility Response Plan (FRP)
• U.S. Chemical Safety Board

Climate and Green Energy

• Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) grant opportunities including specific grants for underrepresented businesses

Worker Safety

• The New England Consortium-Civil Service Employee Association (TNEC-CSEA) is a worker health and safety training program based at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.  Climate change impacts are increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events and TNEC-CSEA has developed courses and curriculum that address post-storm recovery, clean up and resiliency. Programs can be offered on-site and at our training center for public agencies and private companies.
• The Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards (DLS) OSHA Consultation Program helps employers recognize and control potential safety and health hazards at their worksites, improve their safety and health program, and assist in training employees. It is a confidential service in which your firm's name, and any other information you provide and any unsafe or unhealthy working conditions found, will not be reported routinely to the OSHA inspection staff. Multilingual services in Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and Chinese are available.
• The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) offers Workplace Safety Training Grants to fund workplace safety training. The goal of this highly successful program is to promote safe and healthy conditions in the workplace through training, education, and other preventative programs.

TURI Services

• The Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) Cleaning Laboratory tests the performance of both industrial and janitorial cleaning products to encourage companies, institutions, and product formulators to choose and develop safer substitutes.
• TURI offers pollution prevention grants to Massachusetts businesses to help businesses reduce their use of toxic chemicals. Find information on TURI industry grants and TURI small business grants.
• TURI provides education and training for toxics use reduction, resource conservation, and environmental management systems. Take advantage of the many education and training sessions that will help your company reduce toxics and conserve resources.

• Center for Progressive Reform – Preventing Double Disasters
• U.S. Government Accountability Office – Chemical Accident Prevention
• Who’s in Danger – Race, Policy, and Chemical Disasters (See appendix B, Shelter In Place Worksheet)