TRI Toolkit Q&A

EPA provides extensive industry-specific, chemical-specific, and general TRI guidance for the public and the regulated community. A list of available TRI guidance documents can be found at: https://ofmpub.epa.gov/apex/guideme_ext/f?p=guideme:gd-list.

TRI.NET was EPA's desktop application that allowed users to create complex queries based on specific variables derived from the TRI National Analysis. TRI.NET was developed for analysts who require a highly interactive environment in order to refine queries and analyses. To build queries, users could select variables found in hierarchical folders that cover general variable counts, releases, waste transfers, waste quantities and hazard categories (a generated toxicity rating multiplied by chemical weight in pounds). After the user selected general variables, the application also allowed users to filter out variables, leaving only the most pertinent data points. TRI.NET utilized interactive features such as maps, My TRI Neighborhood, Drill Down, Advanced Trends, EPA Reports, and Data Layering; these features allowed users to further focus their interests. Raw data sets from the TRI National Analysis must be downloaded separately from the TRI.NET application; this can be done individually for each year or for a grouping of years. Each year that EPA releases a new data, the dataset will be available for download. TRI data and tools are available at https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/tri-data-and-tools.

Changes between reporting years can be found in the annually-published Reporting Forms & Instructions document available within GuideME (www.epa.gov/tri/guideme). Select the Reporting Forms & Instructions tab and then in the Table of Contents scroll to “Important Information for Reporting Year” and click on the “New Information” section for the current reporting year.

There are three main hotlines that can assist callers via phone with questions about different aspects of the TRI reporting requirements. The Superfund, TRI, EPCRA, RMP & Oil Information Center can assist callers in understanding the TRI regulations, guidance, and reporting requirements, as well as properly completing forms with TRI-MEweb. The Central Data Exchange (CDX) Help Desk can assist TRI-MEweb Preparers and Certifiers with CDX technical issues, such as registration for or access to CDX accounts, CDX user IDs, and passwords; the status of reports submitted via TRI-MEweb; access to CDX data flows; step-by-step instructions for TRI-MEweb submission and receipt; and, TRI-MEweb technical problems (e.g., Data Quality Alerts (DQAs), Notices of Significant Errors (NOSEs), and critical errors). The TRI Data Processing Center (DPC) can answer questions about the processing and status of Electronic Signature Agreements (ESAs); verify EPAs receipt of facility reports; and, answer questions about Electronic Facility Data Profiles (e-FDPs). Please note that all calls received by the TRI DPC will automatically go to a voice-mail system. Phone calls will be returned within 24 hours. If you need immediate assistance, please call the CDX Hotline. Contact information for these hotlines is available at the following URL:https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/forms/tri-program-contacts.

Through a cooperative agreement with EPA, the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) developed ChemicalRight2Know.org as a collaborative forum for users of TRI and other environmental data to vet their analyses, share success stories and best practices, and collaborate on solving community chemical-related problems. Users can create accounts on the Web site to participate in blogs and may submit TRI-related documents, web links, articles, mash ups, and events to be posted. The site provides TRI data in action, highlighting real world stories of people using TRI data at local levels. Additionally, research and analysis are posted from academia and other sources, giving users an overview of how TRI data can be used. The ChemicalRight2Know.org forum is available at the following URL:http://www.chemicalright2know.org/.

TRI-CHIP is a searchable database system that contains hazard information on EPCRA section 313 chemicals. This downloadable application allows users to create customized searches across a single chemical, a set of specific chemicals, or a TRI chemical category of interest. TRI-CHIP pulls hazard information from TRI Federal Register notices, the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs registration documents, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), California EPA's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the National Toxicology Program's Report on Carcinogens, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. This database application is designed in Microsoft Access and provides users with advanced queries for isolating data based on certain adverse health effects and/or quantitative toxicity values. Through these queries, users can isolate chemicals with specific toxicity criteria such as the lowest observed adverse effect levels, print customized toxicity profile reports, and access Web sites to locate additional toxicity information. Users are also able to export chemicals of interest into TRI.NET, where industrial release and geographic location information on the chemicals is available. For additional information on TRI-CHIP or to download the application, visit the following URL: https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/tri-chemical-hazard-information-profiles.

The myRight-to-Know tool is an EPA Web application designed for mobile devices. The application takes existing EPA information and packages it in a format and with a level of detail that is appropriate for mobile devices and mobile users. The myRTK tool can map any location or address, showing nearby facilities that report to TRI, as well as large permit holders under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act that are expected to produce, manage, or release TRI-reportable chemicals. The application compares individual facility releases to releases by other facilities in the county, as well as to other facilities in the same industrial sector. In addition to helping mobile users locate and identify nearby facilities, the tool describes what chemicals are released into the air, water, and land; the health effects associated with these chemicals; and the facility’s history of compliance with environmental laws. The current version of the application works well on i-Phone, Droids 2.0 and higher, Firefox and Chrome browsers. A new multi-platform version, currently under development, will work on newer Blackberry phones, most other web enabled phones and the Internet Explorer browser.Additional information about this mobile application is available at the following URL:https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/my-right-know-application.

The TRI National Analysis is an annual report that displays EPAs analysis of the most recent TRI data. On the National Analysis Web site, there are documents and Web pages that outline national and local trends in toxic chemical disposal or other releases to the environment. For example, the RY13 National Analysis contains information for Reporting Year 2013 (RY13). The RY13 National Analysis showed that 21,598 facilities reported 4.14 billion pounds of toxic chemicals disposed of or otherwise released into the environment, up 15% from RY12 to RY13. The long-term trend, however, showed that disposal or other releases of TRI chemicals had generally decreased, down 7% from RY03 to RY13. The RY13 National Analysis also:-Presented trends in toxic chemicals managed and the types of pollution prevention activities that facilities have implemented;-Reported trends in releases of toxic chemicals, including a focus on selected chemicals of concern;-Highlighted toxic chemical waste trends for four industry sectors;-Provided analyses of TRI chemicals by state, city, county, zip code, metropolitan area or micropolitan area, and by Large Aquatic Ecosystems (LAEs) such as the Chesapeake Bay, as well as information about facilities in Indian Country; and-Combined TRI data with other EPA data, such as greenhouse gas emissions, to provide a more complete picture of national trends in chemical use, management and releases. Additional information about the TRI National Analysis, including access to specific analyses and datasets, is available at the following URL: https://www.epa.gov/trinationalanalysis.The TRI National Analysis is also published in Spanish every year and is available on the National Analysis website.

There are many ways to access TRI data, but one of the easiest ways to search for a facility reporting to TRI in a particular neighborhood is the Envirofacts website. Envirofacts provides access to several EPA databases that contain information about environmental activities that may affect air, water, and land in the United States. Within Envirofacts, the TRI Search allows users to search for facilities by geographical location, either by city and state or by zip code. The results display any facility that has reported from 1987 to present, even though the facility may or may not have submitted TRI data in the most recent reporting year. The last year of data displayed represents the last year TRI data was reported.The TRI Search on the Envirofacts website is available at the following URL: https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-search.Additional information about access to analysis of TRI data is available at the following URL: https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/tri-data-and-tools.

Executive Order 13148, “Greening the Government Through Leadership in Environmental Management,” was signed by President Clinton on April 21, 2000. The Order was published in the Federal Register on April 26, 2000 (65 FR 24595). This Executive Order superseded EO 12856, originally signed August 3, 1993.

To receive information on EO 13148, federal facilities can call the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Information Hotline at 1-800-424-9346.

No. EO 13148 does not require federal facilities to comply with state and local right-to-know requirements that are more stringent than EPCRA requirements. However, federal facilities are encouraged to be “leaders and responsible members of their communities by informing the public and their workers of possible sources of pollution resulting from facility operations.” In addition, EO 13148 does not remove any reporting obligation for private sector facilities or federal facilities if the state right-to-know laws require compliance by those facilities.

No. EO 13148 does not give EPA the authority to fine federal facilities. However, section 406 authorizes EPA to conduct reviews and inspections of federal facilities as necessary to monitor compliance with TRI, pollution prevention, and community right-to-know reporting requirements as set out in Part 5. Section 406(c) requires EPA to report annually to the President on federal agency compliance with sections 501 and 504 of the Executive Order.

Federal facilities were required to report under EPCRA section 313 no later than the 1994 reporting year. Some federal facilities, however, began reporting voluntarily before the 1994 reporting year.

A federal facility must comply with EPCRA section 313 if the total number of work hours at the facility meets or exceeds 20,000 in a year (roughly equal to 10 or more full time employees), and the facility meets or exceeds “manufacture,” “process,” or “otherwise use” thresholds for an EPCRA section 313 chemical. Federal facilities must include the activities of GOCO facilities located at the federal facility when making their threshold and other waste management determinations.

According to Executive Order 13148, EPCRA section 313 applies to each federal facility, both government-owned, government-operated and government-owned, contractor-operated, in which the total number of work hours meets or exceeds 20,000 in a year (roughly 10 or more full time employees) and meets or exceeds the “manufacture,” “process,” or “otherwise use” thresholds for any EPCRA section 313 chemical. However, federal facilities that do not meet these minimum requirements also are encouraged to submit EPCRA section 313 reports. As EO 13148 states in its preamble, “the federal government should be a good neighbor to local communities by becoming a leader in providing information to the public concerning toxic and hazardous chemicals...at federal facilities.”

Yes. The two GOCOs are considered to be a single federal facility for the purposes of EPCRA section 313 threshold determinations and release and other waste management reporting as required by EO 13148. EPA has interpreted “contiguous or adjacent sites” to include sites separated only by a public right-of-way. Therefore, the two GOCOs are considered to occupy sites that are contiguous or adjacent. Each GOCO should provide any information required by the federal facility in making threshold determinations and reporting releases and other waste management under EPCRA section 313. EO 13148 does not alter any separate obligation(s) a GOCO may have under EPCRA and the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA). Private contractors operating at federal facilities must continue to meet any legal reporting requirements they have under EPCRA and PPA. Thus, a GOCO that operates a covered facility under 40 CFR Section 372.22 must file a Form R or an Alternate Certification Statement (Form A) for each toxic chemical for which the facility exceeds an activity threshold as specified in 40 CFR Section 372.25. EO 13148 (65 FR 24595, April 26, 2000) supersedes EO 12856 (August 1993).

“Federal agency” is equivalent to an “Executive agency” as defined in 5 USC 105. Title 5 USC 105 defines an “Executive agency” as “an Executive department [including military departments under the auspices of the Department of Defense], a Government corporation and an independent establishment.” Examples of federal agencies are the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Interior (DOI), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

It is the responsibility of each federal agency to make sure that its facilities have fulfilled their obligation to comply with the EO. If a federal facility is unsure whether its agency meets the criteria for a “federal agency” as defined in Title 5 U.S.C., then the facility should consult its general counsel.

EPCRA section 329(a) defines “facility” as “all buildings, equipment, structures, and other stationary items which are located on a single site or on contiguous or adjacent sites and which are owned or operated by the same person (or by any person which controls, is controlled by, or under common control with, such person).”

Yes. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is part of the Department of Interior (DOI), which is a federal agency. If the facility meets the activity threshold requirements under EPCRA section 313, then the facility must report. The facility should submit reports both to EPA and to the state, unless the American Indian tribe has chosen to act independently of the state for the purpose of section 313 reporting. If this is the case, the facility should submit reports to the tribal emergency response commission (TERC), or until the TERC is established, the Chief Executive Officer of the Indian tribe, as well as to EPA.

Section 902(b) states that “this order applies to Federal facilities in any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory or possession over which the United States has jurisdiction.” In addition, the Executive Order encourages federal facilities outside these areas to “be leaders and responsible members in their communities” (section 203) by making “best efforts to comply with the goals of this order at those facilities.” (Section 902(b)).

No. Work conducted for a federal agency at a non-federally owned or operated facility is not subject to threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations. Federal agencies are only responsible for reporting on activities conducted by or for the federal agency at federally owned or operated sites.

Yes. The General Services Administration is a federal agency as defined in EO 13148. Because any building would be considered a “facility” or part of a “facility” under EPCRA section 329(4), any EPCRA section 313 chemicals used in an office building owned or operated by GSA (or any other agency) could be subject to threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations under EPCRA section 313.

Under EPCRA section 313, the owner or operator of a facility is responsible for reporting. If the owner of the facility has a “landlord or real estate interest only” in the operations conducted at the facility, then the obligation for reporting falls to the operator who typically has the most knowledge of any EPCRA section 313 chemicals used at the facility. In this example, the agency is the operator and responsible for making threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations assuming that GSA had a “landlord or real estate interest only” in the facility.

Yes. The collection of both royalties and bonus bids, with the requirement that BLM conduct assessments of the fair market value of the sodium salt deposits, shows that BLM has more than a real estate interest in the location of the sodium salt mining facility at the BLM facility. In addition, BLM is required by federal laws to make leasing arrangements with the sodium salt mining facility based on the presence, or potential presence, of sodium salt deposits at the BLM facility.

If RTC has only a “landlord or real estate interest” in the facility's operation, then it is not subject to EPCRA section 313 reporting requirements (40 CFR 372.38(e)). If, however, RTC takes over the facility's operations, then it is subject to EPCRA section 313 reporting requirements.

A vessel is part of a federal facility when it is located within the boundaries of that facility. This would include vessels in dry dock at a federal facility. A federal facility is not responsible for including EPCRA section 313 chemicals associated with a vessel in threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations if the vessel is located in a public waterway. The use of any toxic chemicals for the maintenance of this vessel, if it is motorized, may be exempted under the motor vehicle exemption.

Yes. All of the buildings and other stationary items located on multiple contiguous or adjacent properties are part of one facility for EPCRA reporting. Therefore, the amount of each EPCRA section 313 chemical manufactured, processed, or otherwise used and the number of employees must be aggregated for all of these contiguous or adjacent properties to determine whether the entire facility meets reporting thresholds. A manager of an individual establishment, however, does have the option of filing as a separate establishment within a multi-establishment facility. The establishment would make its release and other waste management calculations and report the information on the separate Form R. If a manager chooses to file a Form R report for an establishment, he or she must check that the establishment is “part of a facility” in Facility Identification, Part I, section 4.2 of the Form R report. While the establishment can make separate release and other waste management calculations from the rest of the facility, the threshold determinations must be based on the entire facility.

For purposes of EO 13148, military departments are covered under the auspices of the Department of Defense, a federal agency. This means that the entire base, regardless of whether multiple DOD organizations conduct operations on the property, is one facility for the purposes of EPCRA reporting, and quantities of EPCRA section 313 chemicals would be aggregated across the facility for making threshold determinations. DOD is ultimately responsible for ensuring that all non-exempt releases and other waste management activities of the reportable EPCRA section 313 chemical are accounted for in the individual Form R reports.

Yes. When multiple federal agencies “manufacture,” “process,” or “otherwise use” EPCRA section 313 chemicals in excess of threshold amounts at buildings at a single location, each federal agency is responsible for activities conducted by, or solely for, that federal agency. In the above example, NASA, DOE, DOD, and DOT are engaged in separate activities at one location. Each of these agencies would be considered an operator of a separate facility, and separately would make threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations if appropriate.

The primary tenant of the site is responsible for reporting under EPCRA section 313 if the other agencies' activities on that site are in support of the primary tenant. If the activities conducted by the other agencies on that site are independent of, and do not support the primary tenant, then each agency files its own EPCRA section 313 reports.

EO 13148 does not extend compliance under EPCRA or the Pollution Prevention Act to GOCOs if they are not otherwise covered. The contractor that operates this GOCO, therefore, is not required to comply with EPCRA if it does not meet the NAICS code or other threshold requirements under EPCRA section 313. However, EO 13148 requires the federal facility, when making its threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations, to include the activities of the GOCO. The GOCO would provide the federal facility with the information necessary for the federal facility to meet its reporting obligations under EPCRA section 313.

Yes. The federal facility must report, not the contractor. EO 13148 makes EPCRA section 313 applicable to federal facilities without regard to NAICS code. EO 13148 also requires each federal agency, when its facilities are meeting their EPCRA section 313 reporting responsibilities, to include the activities at the GOCO facilities when making threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations.

Yes. To meet its reporting requirements under EPCRA section 313, a federal facility must include the activities at these GOCOs when making its threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations.

The federal agency should consider all the activities at the GOCO facility. The contractor is located at the federal facility to support the activities of the federal agency. While some of the contractor’s activities may be independent of its operations to support the government, the location of the GOCO facility at the federal facility requires the federal agency to consider the GOCO facility’s activities when making its threshold determinations under EPCRA section 313.

Each establishment (“distinct and separate economic activities [e.g., separate NAICS codes] [that] are performed at a single location”) at a federal facility has the option of filing separately under EPCRA section 313, as long as all the releases and other waste management activities at the entire facility are accounted for. In addition, the threshold determinations must be made for the entire facility, not for each establishment. If a facility is filing separate Form Rs for each establishment, enter in Facility Identification, Part I, section 4.5 of the Form R report, only the NAICS code of the establishment for which data is included in the report. The NAICS code for the other establishments at the federal facility would be included in the Form R reports for those establishments. Also, managers should check that the establishment is “part of a facility” in Facility Identification, Part I, section 4.2 of the Form R report.

Yes. For the reporting year, the federal facility would have exceeded the manufacture threshold of 25,000 pounds ([19,000 manufacturing] + [7,000 importing] = 26,000) for this EPCRA section 313 chemical. Note that importing is the equivalent of manufacturing, and therefore the two “manufactured” quantities must be added for threshold determinations.

EPCRA section 313 chemicals undergoing remediation are not included in threshold determinations because remediated chemicals are not manufactured, processed, or otherwise used. However, if a covered facility exceeds an activity threshold for a listed chemical elsewhere at the facility, any releases and other waste management activities of the listed EPCRA section 313 chemicals undergoing remediation must be included in the facility's release and other waste management calculations. In that event, a release does not include material already in a landfill but does include any material releases to the environment (including being placed in a landfill) or transferred off-site due to the remediation activity. While federal facilities are not required to make threshold determinations for remediated EPCRA section 313 chemicals, they should consider the spirit of EO 13148 by providing this information to the public.

No. EPA does not require a covered federal facility to account for quantities of EPCRA section 313 chemicals in office supplies (e.g., correction fluid, copier machine fluids, etc.) when the facility makes threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations. EPA interprets these items to be personal use items and the chemicals contained in them are exempt from threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations under the “personal use” exemption.

The use of paint on process-related equipment is not exempt under the structural component exemption. Amounts of listed EPCRA section 313 chemicals used to paint process-related equipment, including amounts released during the painting application, must be considered toward threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations.

No. A federal facility does not have to report EPCRA section 313 chemicals contained in an on-site stockpile as an on-site release to land if the stored material is intended for processing or use. However, any quantity of EPCRA section 313 chemical that escapes to the air or remains in the soil from the stockpiled material (e.g., evaporative losses to air, material leached to the ground, etc.) must be reported as an on-site release to the environment if the facility meets a reporting threshold for the EPCRA section 313 chemical elsewhere at the facility. Once a federal facility meets the criteria for filing a Form R report for an EPCRA section 313 chemical (such as benzene), all non-exempt releases and other waste management activities of that chemical at the facility are to be included in the Form R report. (Note: Benzene typically is present in coal below the de minimis level and if this is the case, the quantity of benzene in coal is exempt from threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations under EPCRA section 313.)

The determination of which agency is responsible for meeting EPCRA section 313 reporting requirements depends on the interest of those agencies involved. According to 40 CFR 372.38(e), the owner of a covered facility (DOD in this example) is not required to comply with EPCRA section 313 requirements if its interest in the facility is limited to ownership of the real estate upon which the facility is operated.If the contractor is the lessee as stated in the question, then DOE does not need to evaluate the contractor's activities because the activities are not being performed at a facility owned or operated by DOE. If the contractor's operations are in a covered NAICS code, and the contractor has 10 or more full-time employees, the contractor will need to perform threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations if applicable.

A federal agency operating a facility on tribal lands for which the agency must meet EPCRA section 313 requirements should submit its Form R reports to the U.S. EPA and the Chief Executive Officer of the applicable Indian tribe. If the tribe has entered into a cooperative agreement with a state, then the facility must submit the report to the receiving entity designated in the cooperative agreement.

Yes. For federal facilities, the reporting requirements under section 313 are based only on the number of employees and the quantity of an EPCRA section 313 chemical that was manufactured, processed, or otherwise used during the calendar year. The amount of chemical released or managed as a waste does not affect the reporting requirements (except in the case of exemptions for articles). The facility would report “zeros” or “NA” (not applicable) in the appropriate fields of Part II, Sections 5 and 6 of the Form R.

A “full-time employee” for the purpose of Section 313 reporting, is defined as 2,000 hours per year (40 CFR Section 372.3). In other words, if the total number of hours worked by all employees (i.e., federal and contractor) is 20,000 hours or more, the federal facility meets the “full-time employee” threshold.

Yes. The facility must count the hours worked by the federal employees and the GOCO facility employees toward the 20,000-hour threshold. The employees of the GOCO facility are contract employees who are working in support of the operations of the federal facility. All contractor employee hours, with the exception of minor on-site intermittent service vendors such as vending machine servicers, must be considered when a facility is making its full-time employee determinations.

Yes. The hours worked by federal employees directly in support of the activities of a facility must be counted towards the 20,000-hour employee threshold, regardless of the location of the federal employees (i.e., at the federal facility or off-site).

Yes. A federal facility, when making threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations for section 313 reporting purposes, should include the amount of EPCRA section 313 chemicals used in the operations of contractors under its control, even if the federal facility neither owns nor operates the equipment used in the contractor's operations. In the above example, the private contractor, under contract to the federal facility, conducts recycling operations involving EPCRA section 313 chemicals on-site at a federal facility, and uses equipment that the contractor owns and operates. The contractor is under the control of the federal facility, and the facility should include the amount of EPCRA section 313 chemicals used in the contractor's operations when making threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations.

No. The Postal Service need not include in its threshold determinations the quantities of EPCRA section 313 chemicals that are present in the mail being handled at its facilities. The Postal Service's activities in handling any packages containing EPCRA section 313 chemicals are not “manufacture,” “process,” or “otherwise use” (see 40 CFR Section 372.3).

All quantities of EPCRA section 313 chemicals “manufactured,” “processed,” or “otherwise used” in all non-exempt activities at a facility should be counted in threshold determinations (40 CFR Section 372.30(a)).

Yes. Although the EPCRA section 313 chemical was transferred between facilities of the same federal agency, the U.S. based DOD facility “imported” the chemical for purposes of EPCRA section 313.

For threshold determinations, the facility is not required under EPCRA section 313 to consider remediation activities of an EPCRA section 313 chemical releases in previous years. However, the facility must consider any releases and other waste management of the remediated EPCRA section 313 chemical if the facility triggered a reporting threshold for the chemical elsewhere at the facility. In addition, the facility should consider the objective of EO 13148, which calls on the federal facilities to be leaders in the provision of information to the public about the releases and other waste management of EPCRA section 313 chemicals. To meet the spirit of this goal, federal facilities are encouraged to consider remediation activities when making their threshold calculations.

Quantities of EPCRA section 313 chemicals that are “repackaged” but not distributed in commerce do not meet the definition of “processed.” However, if the fuel is used on-site in a non-exempt activity, the EPCRA section 313 chemicals in the fuel must be considered in the facility's “otherwise use” threshold determinations. If the facility exceeds the “otherwise use” threshold for any EPCRA section 313 chemicals in the fuel, then the facility must report any releases or other waste management activities for the chemicals, such as any releases that occur during the “repackaging” step.

Yes. The source of funding for DOE activities is irrelevant in determining if a facility should report under EPCRA section 313. If DOE or its contractors are conducting activities that involve the use of EPCRA section 313 chemicals, then those activities must be included in threshold determinations, regardless of who funds the activities.

Yes. Even though the contractor is performing functions under a separate NAICS Code, DOE is responsible for reporting on all of the covered activities involving EPCRA section 313 chemicals at the facility (40 CFR Section 372.30(a)). In this case, the contractor's operations are in support of the DOE facility's operations and thus process-related. The EPCRA section 313 chemicals used at cleaning operation would be applied toward the DOE facility's otherwise use threshold. The contractor, however, would not be subject to EPCRA section 313 because these operations are not in a covered NAICS code.

Because the NAICS code restriction under EPCRA section 313 has been waived under Executive Order 13148, federal facilities are required to consider all activities, including construction, when making threshold determinations under EPCRA section 313. EPCRA section 313 chemicals that are contained in materials used to fabricate process-related equipment, for instance, should be considered toward the facility's threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations. EPCRA section 313 chemicals that are contained in materials used to fabricate non-process related structures (e.g., steel, paints, cement) and which are used to construct the site, however, are exempt as structural components and do not need to be included in threshold determinations or release and other waste management calculations.

Yes. Maintaining the health of personnel is critical to the operations of a federal facility with a base hospital. The use of these chemicals is process-related and would be counted toward the facility's otherwise use threshold.

The use of EPCRA section 313 chemicals to manufacture ammunition is a reportable activity, regardless of the source of those chemicals. The quantity of EPCRA section 313 chemical should be counted toward the Army facility's processing threshold. Process is defined as “the preparation of a toxic chemical, after its manufacture, for distribution in commerce” (40 CFR Section 372.3). EPA interprets the activity of processing to be reportable when the EPCRA section 313 chemicals are initially prepared. The facility, therefore would count the amount of EPCRA section 313 chemical toward the facility's processing threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations during the year that the ammunition was made.

The BLM facility should count the amount of EPCRA section 313 chemical in the fire retardant toward its processing threshold. Processing means the preparation of an EPCRA section 313 chemical, after its manufacture, for distribution in commerce (40 CFR Section 372.3). “Distribution in commerce” includes any distributive activity in which benefit is gained by the transferor, even if there is no direct monetary gain. The BLM facility also must consider any releases and other waste management of the EPCRA section 313 chemical prior to the transfer.

While EO 13148 allows federal agency facilities to claim the same exemptions, stating in Section 3-304 that “all other existing statutory or regulatory limitations or exemptions on the application of EPCRA section 313 shall apply to the reporting requirements set forth in section 3-304(a) of this order,” taking these exemptions often is counter to the basic tenet of the Order. This is especially the case when the exempted activities at federal facilities result in substantial releases and other waste management activities of EPCRA section 313 chemicals. A primary goal of EO 13148, is that federal facilities shall be leaders and responsible members of their communities by informing the public and their workers of possible sources of pollution resulting from facility operations.

No. A federal agency may not have all of its facilities exempted from the requirements of EO 13148; only a “specified site or facility” may be exempted. In the interest of national security, the head of a federal agency may request a site-specific Presidential exemption by following the procedures set forth in section 120(j)(1) of CERCLA. Such exemptions must be renewed for each individual site or facility yearly, and Congress must be notified.

A national security exemption may last up to one year.

No. The national security exemption provision in section 6-601 of EO 13148 permits the head of a federal agency to request from the President a facility or site specific exemption from any or all requirements of EO 13148 when such an exemption is determined to be in the interest of national security. EO 13148 further states that federal facilities should comply with the Executive Order to the maximum extent practicable, without compromising national security. For these reasons, the head of the agency (e.g., the Secretary of Defense) may request a Presidential order exempting the installation from EPCRA section 312 reporting requirements pertaining to the five chemicals, but the facility would not have grounds for exemption from the other portions of EPCRA.

No. Blueprint machines are not considered typical office supply items, and, therefore, the chemicals used in them do not meet the criteria for the “personal use” exemption under EPCRA section 313 (see 40 CFR Section 372.38(c)(3)). Because the federal facility uses 12,000 pounds per year of ammonia, the facility exceeds the 10,000-pound “otherwise use” threshold and must report for ammonia.

Yes. Under EPCRA section 313, a federal facility that meets a reporting threshold for a toxic chemical is responsible for reporting releases of that chemical that occur during loading or unloading of a transportation vehicle while the vehicle is on property owned or operated by the federal facility. The only releases that are exempt from these requirements are releases of an EPCRA section 313 chemical from a transportation vehicle that occur while the vehicle is still under “active shipping papers.”

A product containing a listed chemical for which a supplier submits an SDS marked “For Official Federal Government Use Only” is not necessarily a “trade secret” under EPCRA or subject to a national security exemption. The federal agency head must assess the facility specific use of the product and the listed chemical or chemicals in it against the criteria for determining whether these exemptions are applicable.Under EPCRA, a facility or supplier may claim only the identity of the reportable chemical as a trade secret. If a facility claims either for itself or its supplier that a chemical's identity is a trade secret, the facility must submit two versions of the Form R and two versions of the substantiation form prescribed in 40 CFR 350. An “unsanitized” set of forms should give the actual name and concentration of the listed chemical. The “sanitized” version should give only a generic identity of the listed chemical. If EPA finds that the trade secret claim is valid, the Agency will make only the “sanitized” set of forms available to the public. Under EO Section 6-601, the head of a federal agency may request a yearly national security exemption for a use of a listed chemical at that facility by following the procedures set out in CERCLA Section 120(j)(1). This request must be specific to the facility, and may request relief from the obligation to comply with any of the requirements of EO 13148. EO 13148 does not require a federal facility to submit classified or national security information to EPA, to states, or to tribes.

If the chemical composition of a particular chemical is considered national security information, a federal facility does not have to divulge the information, as long as the information has been exempted under Executive Order 13148, Section 801. Under this national security exemption, the facility would not have to provide the exact chemical composition to anyone who does not have proper security clearance.

The refueling of the aircraft in this situation would be exempt under the motor vehicle maintenance exemption. If the aircraft is based at another facility, however, the refueling would be considered a “processing” activity (i.e., repackaging the toxic chemicals for distribution into commerce) and would not be exempt. The motor vehicle maintenance exemption can be claimed only for “otherwise use” activities. Regardless of where the aircraft is based, EPA encourages federal facilities to consider the scale of the activity and the quantity of EPCRA section 313 chemicals used and consider taking the leadership option outlined in the Executive Order by not taking the motor vehicle maintenance exemption.

The Air Force facility can claim the motor vehicle exemption for the fueling of aircraft based at that facility. This is an “otherwise use” activity. For the aircraft based at other Air Force facilities, however, the facility cannot claim the motor vehicle exemption. This is a “processing” activity, which is not covered by the motor vehicle exemption (40 CFR Section 372.38(c)(4)).

No. The federal facility has processed the EPCRA section 313 chemicals in the fuel because these vehicles are not based at the facility and are going back to other facilities. The motor vehicle maintenance exemption applies only to the otherwise use of EPCRA section 313 chemicals. The federal facility, therefore, should count the amount of the EPCRA section 313 chemicals in fuels towards the processing threshold when making threshold determinations and release and other waste management activities for EPCRA section 313 reporting.

Under 40 CFR 372.3, an “article” must be 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; and (3) which does not release a toxic chemical under normal conditions of processing or otherwise use of the item at the facility or establishments. If the batteries containing lead are completely sealed while present at the facility, they would be considered articles, and thus would be exempt from EPCRA section 313 reporting. If, however, lead is released from the batteries into the environment, as would occur during maintenance of the batteries, the release would negate the articles exemption. If the exemption is negated, the amount of lead and any other EPCRA section 313 chemical in these non-article batteries would be applied toward the 25,000-pound processing threshold to determine if the facility must report.

Federal facilities, like non-federal facilities, can claim the laboratory activities exemption for activities in which “a toxic chemical is manufactured, processed, or otherwise used in a laboratory at a covered facility under the supervision of a technically qualified individual, as defined in Section 720.3(ee) of this title (40 CFR Section 372.38(d)).” To claim the laboratory exemption, therefore, the activity must occur in a laboratory and must be under the supervision of a “technically qualified individual.” However, if the federal facility determines that a significant quantity of the toxic chemical is being used in an exempt activity, the facility should consider whether taking the exemption is consistent with the spirit of EO 13148.

No. The type of the laboratory activity and the conditions under which the activity occurs determine whether the quantity of EPCRA section 313 chemical “manufactured” “processed,” or “otherwise used” qualifies for the laboratory activities exemption. Agency managers should not assume that quantities of EPCRA section 313 chemicals are automatically exempt from section 313 reporting requirements because the facility has “laboratory” in its name. Non-exempt activities include support activities such as the use of EPCRA section 313 chemicals used to clean laboratory glassware and maintain laboratory equipment. EPCRA section 313 chemicals in pilot plant scale operations, laboratories that produce specialty chemicals, and activities conducted outside the laboratory (e.g., wastewater treatment, photo processing) are not exempt.

If a laboratory is part of a larger facility, only those EPCRA section 313 chemicals used in covered laboratory activities can be considered for the exemption. A facility must still determine if quantities of EPCRA section 313 chemicals used in other activities trigger any activity threshold (i.e., manufacture, process, or otherwise use).

The federal facility may exclude the quantity of the EPCRA section 313 chemical used in the exempted laboratory activity from threshold determinations and release and other waste management reporting. All other quantities of the EPCRA section 313 chemical that are not included in the “laboratory activities” exemption and are not otherwise exempt (e.g., routine janitorial and facility grounds maintenance) must be included in threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations.

The answer to this question depends on where the facility is conducting the machinery testing. Equipment and component testing are laboratory activities if conducted in a laboratory, and thus are subject to the laboratory activity exemption as long as 1) listed EPCRA section 313 chemicals are being manufactured, processed, or otherwise used there; 2) the laboratory is located at a covered facility; and 3) the equipment and component testing is conducted under the supervision of a technically qualified individual.

No. The laboratory activities exemption applies only to activities that occur in a laboratory (see 40 CFR Section 372.38(d)).

No. The laboratory activities exemption applies to the “manufacture,” “process,” or “otherwise use” of an EPCRA section 313 chemical in a laboratory under the supervision of a technically qualified individual (40 CFR Section 372.38(d)). It does not apply to the facility as a whole.

If a facility produces a specialty chemical for use entirely at that facility in an experiment under the supervision of a technically qualified individual and is not further distributed, then it is exempt from reporting under EPCRA section 313. If, however, the specialty chemical is used in a non-experimental manufacture, processing, or otherwise use activity, or it is distributed outside of the DOE facility for further use, it must be counted toward the facility's otherwise use threshold and release and other waste management calculations.

Federal facilities, like all facilities subject to EPCRA section 313, must consider the use of the EPCRA section 313 chemicals and the operations of the facility when assessing eligibility under the personal use exemption. This exemption is limited to EPCRA section 313 chemicals used in non-process related activities. A facility for which providing services to the public or housing people is integral to its operations (process related) cannot claim the personal use exemption for EPCRA section 313 chemicals used to support those activities. EPCRA section 313 chemicals used in personal items, such as “white- out,” in the administrative offices of these facilities are not process-related, and therefore, would be eligible for the personal use exemption.

No. The personal use exemption applies to the “Personal use by employees or other persons at the facility of foods, drugs, cosmetics, or other personal items containing EPCRA section 313 chemicals, including supplies of such products within the facility such as in a facility operated cafeteria, store, or infirmary (40 CFR Section 372.38(3)).” This exemption allows facilities to disregard mostly small-scale products that are ancillary to the operations of the facility. It cannot be claimed for products that are integral to operations. For a military base, housing personnel typically is integral to its operations. Treating the resultant wastewater also would be integral to its operations. The personal use exemption does not apply.

No. The routine janitorial or facility grounds maintenance exemption can be claimed only for those activities that are not integral to the operations of the facility. Only activities that are not process-related are eligible for this exemption. For a prison, housing people is a process-related activity.Supporting this activity, such as the cleaning of the prison cells and other areas used by the prisoners, also are process-related. The EPCRA section 313 chemicals used in the cleaning activities, therefore, are not eligible for the routine janitorial or facility grounds maintenance exemption. The facility should count amounts of EPCRA section 313 chemicals used in these cleaning activities toward the facility’s otherwise use threshold.

The routine janitorial or facility grounds maintenance exemption is applicable to non-process related activities. Cleaning administrative offices is a non-process related activity. The EPCRA section 313 chemicals used to clean the administrative offices at the federal facility are exempt from threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations under the routine janitorial or facility grounds maintenance exemption.

A federal hospital that uses a product containing an EPCRA section 313 chemical for sterilizing rooms and equipment would not be eligible for the routine janitorial or facility grounds maintenance exemption. Keeping hospital rooms and equipment clean is integral to the operations of the hospital and therefore is process-related. A facility cannot claim this exemption for process-related activities. While the hospital cannot claim the routine janitorial or facility grounds maintenance exemption for EPCRA section 313 chemicals used in products to keep rooms and equipment sterile, the hospital can claim the exemption for EPCRA section 313 chemicals used in products to clean administrative offices at the hospital.

Yes. Executive Order 13148 section 501(a) states that “Each agency shall comply with the provisions set forth in section 313 of EPCRA, section 6607 of PPA, all implementing regulations, and future amendments to these authorities, in light of applicable EPA guidance.” This PBT rule includes several actions to ensure public access to information about PBT chemicals, including: setting criteria for persistence and bioaccumulation; establishing lower reporting thresholds for PBT chemicals; and, designating certain chemicals as EPCRA section 313 PBTs.

For purposes of EPCRA section 313, there is no requirement to report for chemicals not on the EPCRA section 313 list of chemicals (see 40 CFR Section 372.30(a)). Reporting on any non-listed chemical is voluntary. A federal agency may decide to require its facilities to report for other hazardous substances or pollutants.

A federal facility may submit a Form R report for chemicals other than those listed under EPCRA section 313, such as hazardous substances and other pollutants targeted under its use reduction goal (section 503). However, the Executive Order does not require the agency to file a Form R for these non-listed chemicals.

When a federal facility reports on releases of a toxic pollutant that does not appear on the EPCRA section 313 list of chemicals, the facility should use either the specific Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) number and the chemical name for that CAS number found in the 9th Collective Index; or the CAS number and the most commonly used chemical name. The facility should not use trade names.

If a federal facility reporting under EPCRA section 313 discharges waste-water containing EPCRA section 313 chemicals to a FOTW, the facility should report the discharge to the FOTW as a discharge to a POTW (Part II, section 6.1 of Form R), because the operations performed by the FOTW are essentially equivalent to those performed by a POTW.

The federal facility should report for the amount of the EPCRA section 313 chemical that it sent off-site for disposal, as well as the amount received from the other federal facility. The total amount should be entered in Part II, section 6.2.A, under “transfers to other off-site locations.” The method of disposal by the off-site location should be entered in Part II, section 6.2.C.

EPA enters into the TRIS database only the EPCRA section 313 reports submitted by the federal agency’s facility. EPCRA section 313 reports submitted by a contractor at a federal facility are superseded by EPCRA section 313 reports from the federal agency’s facility. This ensures that there is no double counting of the TRI data. While EPA does not enter the contractor’s EPCRA section 313 reports into the TRIS database, contractors must, by law, continue to comply with EPCRA section 313 if it meets the reporting requirements.To help ensure that federal facility reports and corresponding GOCO reports are properly identified, EPA is requesting that the federal agency and contractor staff follow certain procedures to distinguish the federal facility’s Form R reports from the contractor’s Form R reports. In particular, federal facilities and contractors must complete Part I, section 4.1 of the Form R in a specific fashion. For example, part of a Department of Energy facility in Anytown, North Dakota, is operated by a contractor that has a legal obligation to report under EPCRA section 313. In section 4.1, Facility or Establishment Name, DOE would enter: U.S. DOE Anytown Plant. In filling out a separate Form R, the contractor would enter: U.S. DOE Anytown Plant - contractor name, in section 4.1.In addition, a federal facility will be asked to submit copies of the contractor’s Form R reports along with the Agency’s Form R reports. If a federal facility is unable to obtain the contractor’s Form R reports, the facility must, at a minimum, provide the following information in a cover letter: · Contractor name; · Contractor’s technical contact; and · Contractor’s TRI facility name and address.

Federal facilities and GOCO facilities are assigned their own unique TRIFIDs, and federal facilities and contractors should file TRI reports independently under their respective TRIFID. Section 4.2 of the TRI form requires facilities to indicate if they are a federal facility, a GOCO facility, or neither. Federal facilities should select “Federal” for the “Facility Type” field, even if their TRI reports contain release and other waste management information from contractors located at the facility. Contractors at federal facilities that are required to file TRI reports should select “GOCO”.Executive Order 13834, “Executive Order Regarding Efficient Federal Operations” instructs federal facilities to comply with TRI reporting requirements. Reporting by such federal facilities can contain TRI data submitted by a GOCO facility located at the federal facility. To prevent duplicate data in the TRI database, which could result in “double counting” data for some chemicals and locations, EPA must be able to identify and distinguish the GOCO reports submitted by the federal contractor from the federal facility reports which contain data for the same site. EPA encourages federal facilities to list their agency name and then the specific plant or site name when reporting their facility name in Part I, Section 4.1. For example, if the federal facility is named “US DOE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT” and there are two federal contractors at the facility named “AMERICAN CONTRACTORS OPERATIONS” and “GENERAL CONTRACTORS OPERATIONS” then EPA encourages the contractors to use facility names as follows: demonstrated below:• US DOE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT – AMERICAN CONTRACTORS OPERATIONSUS DOE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT – GENERAL CONTRACTORS OPERATIONS

A federal facility should report its facility name on page one of the Form R reports (Section 4.1). It is very important that the federal agency name precede the specific plant or site name, as shown in the following example:U.S. DOE Savannah River SiteA GOCO contractor at a federal facility should report its names as shown in the following example:U.S. DOE Savannah River Site - Westinghouse Operations

To complete the site name in Part I, section 4.1 of the Form R, each federal agency should use an acronym or other identifier that is unique to that agency. For example, because the Department of Transportation is commonly called “DOT” and the Department of the Treasury is commonly called the “Treasury,” the Department of Transportation could use “U.S. DOT (site name),” and the Department of the Treasury could use “U.S. Treasury (site name),” in Part I, section 4.1 of the Form R. Note that all reporting facilities within a federal agency must use the same agency identifier.

The federal facility should report whatever identifier is used to identify the physical location as the facility address (e.g., 3 Miles south of I-30 and I-95). If the facility receives no mail at this location, the facility should report the mailing address information in the space provided in Part I, section 4.1.2

The senior management officer responsible for the operation of the federal facility should sign the certification statement on Form R (40 CFR Section 372.85(b)(2)).

Supplier notification is required of commercial suppliers who supply customers whose primary NAICS code corresponds to SIC codes 20-39 (40 CFR Section 372.45(a)). If a federal facility’s primary NAICS code is not among the covered NAICS codes, there currently is no regulatory mechanism to ensure that this information is received by the purchasing facility. One mechanism for ensuring that suppliers identify EPCRA section 313 chemicals present in mixtures and trade name products and provide concentration information is for the federal facilities to request this type of information from their suppliers, revise existing contracts with suppliers to require this information, or ensure this information is required to be provided in any new contracts with suppliers.

Quantities of toxic chemicals that are directly reused on-site or sent off-site for direct reuse without undergoing any reclamation or recovery steps prior to that reuse need not be reported. Assuming no contaminants are removed during the melting process, the toxic chemical in the metal scraps is not actually being recovered but merely melted and reused. Therefore, the amount of the toxic chemical in the metal scraps would not be reportable in Part II, Sections 6.2 or 8 of the Form R. If the facility is repackaging and distributing the toxic chemical in commerce as part of its reuse, the facility should consider the amounts of toxic chemical toward the facility’s processing threshold. EPA has not yet promulgated regulations defining the term “recycle” for the purpose of EPCRA section 313. Even so, for the purposes of TRI reporting, EPA considers toxic chemicals “recycled” when the toxic chemicals are recovered for reuse. If toxic chemicals are directly reused without any intervening reclamation or recovery steps the toxic chemicals are not considered recycled for Form R reporting purposes. Reclamation or recovery would not include simple phase changing of the toxic chemical before further reuse (e.g., simple remelting of scrap metal). Changing the relative amounts of the chemicals in an alloy (which may occur when mixed scrap metal is melted together) would constitute a reclamation or recovery step. Another example of a recovery step would be removing toxic chemicals using a pollution control device or removing contaminants from the toxic chemical after it has been used and can no longer be reused for its intended purpose without reclamation or recovery. Accordingly, if the scrap metal is not mixed with other scrap with varying concentrations of chemicals and can be melted and directly reused, without any recovery steps, then the toxic chemicals in the scrap metal are being directly reused and do not need to be reported as recycling. Facilities should use their best readily available information in determining if the scrap sent off-site is being directly reused or instead is recycled because of an intervening reclamation or recovery step prior to reuse. Additional information regarding direct reuse can be found in the Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Reporting Forms and Instructions.

The facility should enter NA in the RCRA ID field. For the address, the facility should enter the complete address of the receiving facility in the off-site address fields, the city in the city field, the foreign state or province in the county field, the postal code in the zip code field, and the foreign country code in the country field. The most commonly used foreign country codes are listed in Table IV of the Reporting Forms and Instructions. The facility does not need to enter information in the state field. Additional guidance can be found in the Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Reporting Forms and Instructions.