(a) Inspection.--In order to determine compliance with this act and SARA, Title III,¹ either the qualified council or local committee member or representatives, as defined in subsection (e), may enter a facility or vehicle site, during normal business hours, to inspect the facility or vehicle and to request information or reports from the facility or vehicle owner or operator concerning the chemical name, identity, amount or any other information necessary for emergency planning and response purposes for any substance, liquid, mixture, compound, material or product manufactured, produced, used, stored, supplied, imported, exported or distributed at, to or from the facility or vehicle.

(b) Testing.--Should the qualified council or local committee member or representative determine during the course of a facility or vehicle inspection that the chemical name, identity, amount or any other requested information for any substance, liquid, mixture, compound, material or product present at the facility or vehicle cannot be identified or determined to his satisfaction, due to the lack of proper labeling, placarding, recordkeeping or for any other reason, the representative shall have the authority to analyze or arrange for the analysis of the substance to identify the chemical properties of the sample or specimen, the amount of the substance, liquid, mixture, compound, material or product manufactured, produced, used, stored, supplied, imported, exported or distributed at, to or from the facility or vehicle to determine if it is regulated by this act. The owner or operator of a facility or vehicle shall pay any testing and laboratory analysis costs incurred by the council or a local committee as performed under this section. Samples of any substance required to be taken under this section by the qualified council or local representative shall be split with the facility for analysis.

(c) Emergency situations.--Should a release or threatened release of a known or unknown substance, liquid, mixture, compound, material or product occur or appear to be imminent at a facility or vehicle site which endangers or has the potential to endanger the health, safety and welfare of the public, employees of the facility or the vehicle's owner or operator, or the employees of the owner or operator of the vehicle, the council or the local committee may send qualified representatives or the certified hazardous material response team, or both, to the facility or vehicle site at any time in order to inspect the facility or vehicle and to assess the danger posed by the release or threatened release and to obtain samples or specimens of the substance, liquid, mixture, compound, material or product involved in the release or threatened release and to perform any other incident response activities deemed necessary by the representatives of the council or the local committee or the certified hazardous material response team.

(d) Trade secrets.--A person shall provide the qualified representative of the council or the local committee or the certified hazardous material response team with the chemical name, identity or any other information requested concerning any substance, liquid, mixture, compound, material or product present at the facility or vehicle, whether or not the chemical name, identity or other information requested is entitled to protection as a trade secret under section 322 of SARA, Title III,² unless the manufacturer of the substance will not provide the information requested to the facility owner because it has received trade secret protection under SARA, Title III. For that information which has received trade secret protection under section 322 of SARA, Title III, prior to the date of the inspection or request, the qualified representative shall give a written assurance to the person that reasonable measures will be taken to protect the confidentiality of any information provided to the qualified representative.

(e) Qualified person.--For purposes of this section, the council shall develop qualification standards for members of the council, local committees or their representatives who exercise the reporting, inspection and testing authority contained in this section. At a minimum, those qualifications shall include: