Updated 12/05/22
US EPA published a Final Rule adding the twelve chemicals listed below to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting list on November 30, 2022.
Facilities that manufacture, process, or otherwise use any of these twelve chemicals in a quantity exceeding the reporting threshold must include them in TRI submissions for the 2023 reporting year (reports due July 1, 2024).
EPA determined that one of the newly listed chemicals, HHCB, should be classified as a persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemical. HHCB will be listed with other “chemicals of special concern” in 40 CFR 372.28 with a reporting threshold of 100 pounds.
From the Final Rule:
“...EPA has determined that the 12 chemicals can reasonably be anticipated to cause either adverse chronic human health effects at moderately low to low doses and/or environmental effects at low concentrations… (T)he data show that these 12 chemicals have moderately high to high human health toxicity and/or are highly toxic to aquatic organisms.”
[US EPA, 87 FR 73483]
Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) requires facilities that manufacture, import, process, or use certain chemicals to report annually to EPA about their activities if they exceed regulatory thresholds.
The 12 chemicals added to the EPCRA TRI reporting list are:
|
Chemical name
|
CASRN |
| dibutyltin dichloride |
683–18–1 |
| 1,3-Dichloro-2-propanol |
96–23– 1 |
| Formamide |
75–12– 7 |
| HHCB* |
1222–05–5 |
| N-hydroxyethylethylenediamine |
111–41–1 |
| Nitrilotriacetic acid trisodium salt |
5064–31–3 |
| p-(1,1,3,3-Tetramethylbutyl)phenol |
140–66–9 |
| 1,2,3-Trichlorobenzene |
87–61–6 |
| Triglycidyl isocyanurate |
2451–62–9 |
| Tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate |
115–96–8 |
| Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate |
13674–87–8 |
| Tris(dimethylphenol) phosphate |
25155–23–1 |
*1,3,4,6,7,8-Hexahydro-4,6,6,7,8,8- hexamethylcyclopenta[g]-2- benzopyran
EPA has determined that the production and use levels for each of these chemicals "would result in TRI reports being filed."
EPCRA TRI Reporting Thresholds
Most chemicals on the EPCRA 313 TRI reporting list are assigned reporting thresholds as follows:
- 25,000 pounds for chemicals manufactured (including imported) or processed; and
- 10,000 pounds for chemicals “otherwise used.”
(40 CFR 372.25(a) and (b))
HHCB and Chemicals of Special Concern
EPA assigns significantly lower reporting thresholds for some
chemicals of special concern.
In the rule, EPA singles out one of the twelve chemicals, HHCB, as especially hazardous to human health and/or the environment. Citing evidence that suggests HHCB is a persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemical, EPA added it to the list of "chemicals of special concern" in 40 CFR 372.28 with a reporting threshold of 100 pounds for this chemical.
Why These 12 Chemicals?
EPA's rulemaking to add these 12 chemicals to the EPCRA TRI reporting list comes in response to a petition submitted in 2014. The petition asked EPA to add 25 to the TRI list.
EPA gives their reasoning for adding each chemical, and for not adding other chemicals, in the text of the proposed rule published in October 2021.
EPCRA authorizes EPA to add to the list of chemicals for which reporting is required under EPCRA section 313. Lately, EPA has added many PFAS chemicals to the TRI reporting list. EPA added 172 PFAS chemicals to the list in 2020, added three to the list in 2021, and added five more in 2022.
EPA Right-to-Know and Superfund Training
Many facilities that manufacture, process, and use hazardous chemicals must comply with detailed requirements for chemical inventory reporting, release reporting, and emergency preparedness.
The Superfund and Right-to-Know Act Regulations online course guides EHS professionals through the complex planning and reporting responsibilities in the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).