The emergency planning and community right to know act epcra of 1986 was created to help communities plan for chemical emergencies it also requires industry to report on the storage use and releases of hazardous substances to federal state and local governments epcra requires state and local governments and indian tribes to use this information to prepare for and protect their . The emergency planning and community right to know act epcra was passed in 1986 in response to concerns regarding the environmental and safety hazards posed by the storage and handling of toxic chemicals these concerns were triggered by the 1984 disaster in bhopal india caused by an accidental release of methylisocyanate. The emergency planning and community right to know act epcra a summary congressional research service 3 the general location of the chemicals in the facility3 information must be provided to the public in response to a written request. The emergency planning and community right to know act of 1986 is a united states federal law passed by the 99th united states congress located at title 42 chapter 116 of the us code concerned with emergency response preparedness on october 17 1986 president ronald reagan signed into law the superfund amendments and reauthorization act of 1986 sara. The emergency planning and community right to know act epcra of 1986 was created to help communities plan for chemical emergencies it also requires industry to report on the storage use and releases of hazardous substances to federal state and local governments epcra requires state and local governments and indian tribes to use this information to prepare their community from potential