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A Summary of the Federal
Emergency Planning and Community Rght-to-Know Act Reporting Requirements
(Particularly Toxic Chemical Release Reporting Under Sect.
313)
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Basic requirements of the federal EPCRA are as follows:
- Facility owners/operators that have on their premises chemicals
designated under EPCRA as "extremely hazardous substances" must cooperate
with state and local planning officials in preparing comprehensive
emergency plans (Sections 302 and 303);
- Facility owners/operators must report accidental releases of
"extremely hazardous substances" and CERCLA "hazardous substances" to
state and local response officials (Section 304);
- Facility owners/operators must make Material Safety Data Sheets
(MSDSs) available to local and state officials and must also report, to
local and state officials, inventories (including locations) of chemicals
on their premises for which MSDSs exist (Sections 311 and 312).
For further information on the federal EPCRA, call the Emergency Planning
and Community Right-to-Know Information Hotline at (800)-535-0202 or
(703)-412-9877.
Section 313 of the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know
Act requires that certain businesses submit reports each year on the
amounts of toxic chemicals their facilities release into the environment,
either routinely or as a result of accidents. The reports must be sent to
the US EPA and to designated state agencies by July 1 each year. The
federal reporting form is the EPA Form R.
Facilities, subject to the provisions of Section 313, must report if they
meet all three of the following criteria:
- It conducts manufacturing operations which fall under the following
Standard Industrial Classification Codes: 20 through 39.
- It has ten or more full-time employees.
- It manufactures, imports, processes, or otherwise uses any of the
listed toxic chemicals in amounts greater than the "threshold" quantities
specified below.
Thresholds
- Manufacturing and Importing
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25,000 pounds per toxic chemical or category
over the calendar year |
- Processing: the incorporation of a toxic chemical
into a product and includes making mixtures, repackaging, or using a
chemical as a feedstock, raw material, or starting material for making
another chemical.
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25,000 pounds per toxic chemical or category
over the calendar year |
- Otherwise use: applies to any use of a toxic
chemical at a covered facility that is not covered by the terms
"manufacture" or "process" and includes use of a toxic chemical contained
in a mixture or trade name product.
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10,000 pounds per toxic chemical or category
over the calendar year |
Exemptions
A facility is not required to count the amount of chemical present in a
mixture if:
- its concentration is less than 1 percent of the mixture, or
- its concentration is less than 0.1 percent of the mixture when the
chemical is defined by OSHA as carcinogenic. (such chemicals are listed
in the assistance documents which accompany the Form R)
In addition, a facility is not required to count toxic chemicals present
in articles processed or used at the facility. An "article" is a
manufactured item: (1) which is formed to a specific shape or design
during manufacture; (2) which has end use functions dependent in whole or
in part upon its shape or design during end use; and (3) which does not
release a toxic chemical under normal conditions of processing or use of
that item at the facility or establishments.
They are also not required to count toxic chemicals that are used for the
following purposes:
- as a structural component of the facility;
- in routine janitorial or facility grounds maintenance;
- in foods, drugs, cosmetics, or other items for personel use,
including supplies of such items (for example, in a facility-operated
cafeteria);
- in motor vehicle maintenance (including motor fuel); or
- in process water and non-contact cooling water as drawn from the
environment or from municipal sources, or in air used either as
compressed air or as part of combustion.
They are also not required to count toxic chemicals that are
manufactured, processed, or otherwise used for research or quality
control in a laboratory at a covered facility under the supervision of a
technically qualified individual. This exemption does not apply to
production, processing, or the use of toxic chemicals in pilot plant
scale operations and laboratories for distribution in commerce.
Finally, a facility is not subject to reporting under section 313 if the
owner's only interest in the facility is ownership of the real estate
upon which the facility is operated. However, the operator of the
facility must report if the criteria are met.
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