Reporting to an on-site fire department

Sections 311 and 312 apply to owners or operators of any facility that is required to prepare or have available a material safety data sheet (MSDS) for an OSHA-defined hazardous chemical present at the facility at any one time in amounts equal to or greater than established thresholds.  If a facility meets the criteria, its owners or operators must file MSDSs and Tier I and II inventory forms with their State Emergency Response Commission, their Local Emergency Planning Committee, and their local fire department.  May a facility which maintains an on-site fire department provide the information to that entity in lieu of making it available to the public fire department?

Whichever fire department may have responsibility for the facility, regardless of its affiliation, should receive the reports.  The purpose of the requirement to provide local fire departments with MSDS and inventory information is to better enable them to respond to emergency situations.  If the on-site fire department is primarily responsible for responding to such an incident, it is appropriate that covered facilities forward the required information to that department.  Facility owners or operators should also forward copies of MSDSs and Tier forms to any other fire department that might be expected to respond to a chemical emergency at the facility.