Irvine considers wider hazardous materials notices

Irvine leaders are set to consider rules Tuesday that would expand public notice and planning review for facilities handling hazardous materials, according to Voice of OC.

The proposal follows hazardous-material incidents in Orange County, including a Garden Grove evacuation in May involving more than 50,000 people after emergency officials said a chemical tank nearly exploded.

Voice of OC reported that Irvine City Council members are scheduled to take up the proposed zoning changes at 4 p.m. Tuesday. The plan would apply to facilities with risk management plans and would broaden who must be notified nearby.

City council members asked staff in June to prepare what the staff report called a "preliminary inventory of Irvine facilities handling acutely hazardous materials," according to Voice of OC. Staff found more than 1,100 county-registered Irvine businesses using hazardous materials, while seven met the threshold for the California Accidental Release Prevention program.

Under the proposal, sites with a risk management plan would have to notify people within one-quarter mile and seek a conditional use permit from the Planning Commission. City staff wrote that current zoning is limited because "there are only two planning areas that contemplate notification of property owners and tenants within a one-quarter-mile radius of a use with an RMP,"

The staff report said the change would expand the standard notice area from 500 feet to one-quarter mile. "By requiring a conditional use permit for uses that require an RMP and expanding the typical public notification radius from 500 feet to one-quarter mile, the zoning text amendment enhances public transparency," city staff wrote, according to Voice of OC.

Irvine City Councilmember Melinda Liu said the changes "will allow comprehensive planning and reduce response time," according to Voice of OC. Irvine City Councilmember Mike Carroll wrote, "We have to be ready before an emergency happens, not after," and added, "We’re updating the city’s hazardous materials standards so our Irvine first responders are fully equipped to keep our community safe."

City staff also recommended that some hazardous-chemical rules continue to be handled by the county Health Care Agency and OC Fire Authority, which have had that role since 1997, Voice of OC reported.