Are You Required to Submit TRI Reports?

Summer is right around the corner, and you know what that means: It’s time to prepare your Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) report. The EPA requires industrial facilities in certain sectors to submit an annual report to TRI, a public database that tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals. They must detail the amount of TRI-covered chemicals they release into the environment and/or manage through recycling, energy recovery, and treatment. The “release” of a chemical into the environment refers to chemicals placed in some type of land disposal or emitted to the air or water. If you aren’t sure whether or not you are required to submit TRI reports, now is the time to find out.

Which chemicals does TRI cover?

The inventory broadly focuses on chemicals that cause chronic human health effects (like cancer), significant adverse acute human health effects, and/or significant adverse environmental effects. The official list of toxic chemicals, which is published and updated by the EPA, currently contains nearly 700 chemicals and chemical categories.

Why does the EPA track certain toxic chemicals?

The Toxics Release Inventory compiles all of the information it gathers annually, so that the public can know where toxic chemicals are, where they are coming from, and how they are being released. Since the specified toxic chemicals can threaten human health and the environment, many decision-making bodies (including companies, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the general public) use the data to make informed judgments. Individuals and communities at large can encourage facilities to reduce or better manage their toxic releases based on the information found in TRI.

When is the deadline for reporting?

The deadline to submit TRI reports – July 1st – is quickly approaching. All U.S. facilities that meet the EPA’s reporting criteria must submit TRI reports to the EPA by that date, as mandated in Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).

Are you required to submit TRI reports?

Facilities in the United States must conduct TRI reporting if they meet the following three criteria:

• The facility is in one of the industry sectors specified by the EPA. TRI-covered industries include mining, utilities, manufacturing, and merchant wholesalers.
• The facility employs 10 or more full-time employees (or the equivalent, in the form of 20,000 hours or more during the reporting year).
• The facility manufactures, processes, or otherwise uses one or more of the specified toxic chemicals in quantities above the threshold level for reporting in a given year.

In addition, federal facilities that meet the criteria for employees and chemical use must submit TRI reports even if they are not in a covered industry.

If you aren’t sure whether your facility must report, use the EPA’s TRI Threshold Screening Tool for help. To get started, you will need to know your NAIC code(s), your facility type (federal, GOCO, neither), how many employees work at your facility, how many hours the employees work per week, and how many weeks they worked during the reporting year. In addition, you must know which chemicals and/or chemical categories your facility manufactured, processed, or otherwise used during the reporting year, as well as the quantities of the chemical activity.

How can I get started?

For each TRI-covered toxic chemical manufactured, processed, or otherwise used in amounts that exceed the threshold for reporting, your facility must submit one TRI form R (long form) to both the EPA and the state in which the facility is located. However, if the facility meets all three of the following criteria, it can submit a shorter version of the form known as Form A:

• The covered chemical is not a Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) chemical.
• The chemical has not been manufactured, processed, or otherwise used in excess of 1,000,000 lbs.
• The total annual waste management of the chemical does not exceed 500 lbs.

Do the EPA’s criteria for TRI reporting apply to your facility? If so, now is the time to get started. Failure to comply with EPCRA regulations may result in an EPA investigation and the issue of significant civil penalties, like heavy monetary fines. In addition, you may be required to correct the violation.

If your facility needs to submit TRI reports, contact Environmental Works, Inc. Our environmental consultants can assist with a variety of issues, including the proper completion and submission of TRI reports, and we have locations in Springfield, St. Louis, and Kansas City, Missouri, and Springdale, Arkansas. For more information, please give us a call at 417-890-9500.