NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA LOCAL EMERGENCY PLANNING COMMITTEE 2009 NW 67th Place, Gainesville FL 32653-1603 -- (352) 955-2200 x108 -- fax 955-2209

North Central Florida Regional Hazardous Materials Response Team

June 9th, 2000 was the organizational meeting of the newly created the North Central Florida Regional Hazardous Materials Team (NCFRHMT). This team is an outgrowth of the need to better protect the public from chemical releases and possible terrorist Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) attacks in our region. Some areas in rural north central Florida have Hazmat response times of two hours or more.

Five counties, Alachua, Bradford, Union, Columbia, and Gilchrist and three municipalities, Gainesville, Starke, and Lake City have entered into an Interlocal Agreement forming the NCFRHMT. The mission of the NCFRHMT is to respond to the hazardous materials incidents as requested to the 11 County members of the District 3 LEPC and to other areas are requested.

Each member has also enacted a Hazmat Cost Recovery Ordinance. Currently there is no funding mechanism for the NCFRHMT. The Gainesville Fire Rescue Team forms the core of the "Technical Response Team" for the NCFRHMT. The Team does not charge other local governments for response. This is accomplished through Cost Recovery Ordinances passed in each jurisdiction.

The goal of the NCFRHMT is to reduce response times by establishing a two-tiered response to a hazardous materials incidents and terrorist events involving hazardous materials. The first tier uses local "Initial Response Teams" to conduct primarily defensive operations to protect the public. Possible actions include: initial scene stabilization, emergency decon, initiation of evacuation and the determination for the need of a "Technical Team". Members of the Initial Response Team include Fire-Rescue, Law Enforcement, EMS, Hospitals, Emergency Management, or other agencies with a role in protecting public safety.

When requested, the "Technical Team" would be assembled to respond and provide technician level offensive operations. Based upon research conducted by the State Emergency Response Commission's District Response Team Workgroup, this is a unique approach to this problem.

• Regional Hazardous Materials Response Training and Response Project Summary - $188,000 (full application)

• Regional Hazardous Materials Response Planning Based on Geographic Information System
  Analysis of Hazards and Capabilities Project Summary - $86,240 (full application)

A primary goal of the North Central Florida Regional Hazardous Materials Team is to increase community safety by reducing long response times in many rural areas. If a toxic chemical cloud is floating towards a rural school, an accurate incident size-up and quick, appropriate decision are needed to best handle a release. This goal will be accomplished by having trained Hazmat technicians available to respond, with operations level personnel, as "Initial Response Teams" in the five counties and three municipalities that form the NCFRHMT. We believe that this is an affordable way of increasing Hazmat capabilities in rural areas where a stand-alone Hazmat team is too costly.

A second goal is to have immediately available in each county a standard Initial Response Trailer. It would contain the equipment necessary for those first responders to take action prior to the arrival of a "Technical Team". The standardization is critical in allowing responders from multiple agencies to be familiar with the equipment carried by all members of the NCFRHMT.

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