Hazardous material emergencies shall be managed
by the Toms River Township Police Department, Emergency Management,
and the Toms River Township Bureau of Fire Prevention as hereinafter
provided.
[Amended 3-10-2020 by Ord. No. 4661-20]
The Hazardous Material Emergency Management
Team (hereinafter referred to as "Haz-Mat Team") shall consist of
the Haz-Mat Team staff coordinators, the Code Enforcement Officer
and one representative each from all of the first aid squads in the
municipality, from each fire district, from the Department of Public
Works, from the Board of Health or Human Services Department, from
the Department of Construction and Inspection Services, from the Department
of Law Enforcement and from the Department of Law and Community Development,
Engineering Division. Except for the fire districts and first aid
squad representatives and the Code Enforcement Officer, all members
of said Team shall be appointed by the Mayor with advice and consent
of Council.
Line response shall consist of specially trained
personnel from the fire and police, who shall be appointed by the
Toms River Township Fire Commissioners and Chief of Police.
The staff coordinators of the Haz-Mat Team shall
be the Chief Inspector of the Bureau of Fire Prevention, the Emergency
Management Coordinator and the Chief of Police, and they shall exercise
overall supervision over the Team and any support units created to
assist that Team.
Three classes of hazardous material emergency
shall be recognized, as follows:
A. Class 1: a non-life-threatening incident presenting
minor risks of damage to person or property and which may be safely
responded to by nonemergency personnel or equipment.
B. Class 2: a life-threatening incident involving substantial
risk of damage to persons or property and requiring emergency or specialized
personnel or equipment.
C. Class 3: an incident of disaster proportions with
life-threatening or serious property-damage consequences and which
requires the use of resources beyond those of the Haz-Mat Team.
A staff coordinator or a designee of the Haz-Mat
Team shall determine the response to be made to each reported incident
depending on the type class thereof, provided that a Class 1 incident
shall require a minimum single individual response of the responsible
agency, a Class 2 incident shall require a minimum response of fire
and police personnel, and a Class 3 incident shall require a minimum
response by a police unit, a fire company, first aid squad and Emergency
Management personnel. These minimum responses shall not preclude any
additional responses of personnel or equipment to be determined by
the staff coordinators. The staff coordinators are authorized in any
Class 2 or Class 3 incident to request assistance from nonmunicipal
emergency services.
The Haz-Mat Team shall respond to any incident
involving a threat to public safety created by any hazardous material
as defined by any building code, property maintenance code, fire safety
code or state and federal statute.
All Haz-Mat personnel under the jurisdiction
of the Township of Toms River and the Toms River Township Fire Commissioners,
or receiving financial assistance therefrom, shall cooperate to the
fullest extent possible with any responses required by the staff coordinators.
The members of the Team shall serve as liaisons between the staff
coordinators and each municipal department or agency whose participation
is required to effectuate the purposes of this chapter, and each team
member shall serve as a liaison directly from and to the department
or agency from which be is a representative, where applicable. For
purposes of this chapter, all employees and officials of the departments
and agencies from whom representatives are drawn for membership on
the Haz-Mat Team shall constitute Haz-Mat personnel.
The Haz-Mat Team shall meet at least once monthly
and shall review responses to prior incidents, assess the performance
of such responses and formulate plans for future emergency operations.
The Chief Inspector of the Bureau of Fire Prevention
shall furnish a written report of the activities of the Haz-Mat Team,
including any recommendation for action by the Township Council or
Mayor, and the Toms River Township Fire Commissioners, both to the
Township Council and Mayor, and the Toms River Township Fire Commissioners
within seven days of each monthly meeting of said Team, and shall
furnish special reports following any Class 3 incident as soon as
practically possible thereafter.
Ex officio members of the Team shall be a Toms
River Township Councilperson and a Commissioner from Toms River Township
Fire District No. 1 and a Commissioner from Toms River Township Fire
District No. 2.