DOE emergency planning & emergency management using emergency response planning guidelines (ERPGS) and temporary...

Facilities within the Department of Energy community perform emergency management to conform with Federal regulations, internal guidance and good management practice. Emergency management in this context includes hazard analysis, consequence assessment, and development of emergency plans including protective actions for workers, uninvolved workers, and the general public. ERPGs are used as the action level for decision making with regards to accidental chemical releases; AEGLs are also being developed for that purpose. DOE actively participates in the development of ERPGs and AEGLs, however, there is a time gap inherent in the development of community exposure limits (which can be months or years) and the need for community exposure limits (which must be implemented now). In recognition of this problem, the DOE Subcommittee on Consequence Assessment and Protective Actions (SCAPA) has developed a hierarchy of alternate exposure limits (Temporary Emergency Exposure Limits, TEELs) to use as temporary guidance for emergency planning for those chemicals for which an ERPG or an AEGL does not exist. This presentation will discuss DOE's involvement in development of ERPGs and AEGLs, including their application, and will discuss the development and use of TEELs (including advantages and disadvantages).