Committee approves plan to shrink LEPC membership from 31 to 14

Emergency management staff told the Public Safety & Judiciary Committee that the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) currently lists 31 members and rarely reaches quorum, limiting its ability to take action. "Our current membership of the LEPC is 31 members," the staff member said, and proposed changing Appendix A to assign one representative from each required category and to retain two county board members for elected local officials.

Committee members asked for clarification about what the LEPC does and how often it meets; staff described biannual meetings used for tabletop exercises and training and said the change would reduce the committee to 14 members and lower the quorum threshold. A motion to adopt the draft resolution to update Appendix A was made by Welty and seconded by Meyer; the committee approved the motion by voice vote and will proceed to identify and appoint the specific representatives.

The resolution directs staff to return names for formal appointment and does not immediately name individual designees. Committee members emphasized the need to preserve stakeholder representation (law enforcement, fire, health, hospital, transportation, media, facility owners/operators) while making the committee functional. The change will be reflected in a revised Appendix A and, if approved administratively, will be implemented by the county following appointment of representatives.