The Legislature finds and declares that the public has a right to know about acutely hazardous materials accident risks that may affect their health and safety, and that this right includes full and timely access to hazard assessment information, including offsite consequence analysis for the most likely hazards, which identifies the offsite area which may be required to take protective action in the event of an acutely hazardous materials release.

The Legislature further finds and declares that the public has a right to participate in decisions about risk reduction options and measures to be taken to reduce the

risk or severity of acutely hazardous materials accidents.