What is CSEPP?

The Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) is a joint venture between the United States Army and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist state and local governments to improve emergency planning and preparedness in communities near the eight chemical weapons storage sites in the United States.  Even though an accident chemical agent release is highly unlikely, this planning process is important because it requires coordination of local military and civilian efforts and ensures that decisions will be made and carried out effectively in a crisis.

CSEPP was created in 1985 when the U.S. Congress passed a law directing the Army to dispose of its aging chemical weapons inventory with maximum protection of the public and environment as a primary consideration.  As a first step, the Army prepared an environmental impact statement analyzing the risks at each storage site.  Further analysis of local emergency response capabilities also identified potential weaknesses that needed immediate attention.

As a result, the federal government began the CSEPP program, designed to ensure the capabilities of local communities to respond effectively to possible emergencies involving the U.S. chemical weapon stockpile, however unlikely they may be.

Because CSEPP is tailored to the specific needs of communities in each of the site areas, state and local participation is essential at every stage of the program.  In 1993 Congress, through the Defense Authorization Act, urged governors of the stockpile states to create Citizen's Advisory Commissions.  These nine-member bodies gathered input from citizens around their respective sites on a n umber of stockpile issues, including alternative technologies to incineration.

None of this is to imply that the community is not prepared to handle an emergency.  A comprehensive plan is already in place, CSEPP only serves to enhance that ability and any capabilities gained from this program can be applied successfully to other more common natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and tornadoes and man-made emergencies.

At the local level, Emergency Managers, the mayors, county judge executives, fiscal court and city commissioners are also involved with planning, as are the police, fire and ambulance departments.

The state CSEPP office include nine positions - a branch manager, secretary, three computer specialists, a data technician, training and exercise officer, planner and public affairs officer.  As a branch of the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management, an organization recognized nationally for its emergency response planning and capabilities, it has a wealth of resources from which to draw.  Other organizations from state government such as the Department of Transportation, Kentucky State Police, Cabinet for Human Resources, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection and the Department of Military Affairs also cooperate in the planning aspects of the program.