Uinta County Sheriff Andy Kopp recently received notice from Gov. Mark Gordon that he has been appointed to serve on the Wyoming Emergency Response Commission. In a letter dated Aug. 21, Gov. Gordon congratulated Kopp and said he would be serving at the pleasure of the governor for an indefinite term.

“I am honored and excited to be representing Uinta County law enforcement at the state level,” Kopp said. “I will be working with the state Homeland Security in strategic planning and management for natural disasters and other major emergencies.”

The State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) was created in April of 1987 through an executive order. In 2004, the Wyoming State Legislature passed the Wyoming Emergency Response Act. One of the provisions of this act was to establish the SERC in statute and expand their roles and responsibilities.

The mission of SERC is to ensure the protection of the residents of Wyoming from the effects of hazardous materials including chemicals, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives by leveraging local, state, federal, tribal and private partnerships.

SERC’s vision is that through rules, oversight and sustained funding they will fulfill the statutory requirements of the SERC by increasing Hazmat education, Tier II and spill reporting, continuing education and training and outreach programs to all SERC partners and stakeholders.

The duties of SERC are: to designate local emergency planning districts within the state and appoint a local emergency planning committee (LEPC) to serve each of the districts; coordinate and supervise activities of the local committees; review local emergency response plans annually; and receive all chemical release notifications and inventory reports.

Kopp said he had not yet received notice of the next quarterly meeting of SERC but is looking forward to serving on the commission.