19
Toxic Chemical Release Reporting
October 1999: Several actions were taken to expand the TRI program:
• The reporting thresholds were lowered for certain PBT compound
chemicals.
• A category of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds was added to the chemical list, and a 0.1-g reporting threshold was established for the category.
• Certain other PBT chemicals were added to the reporting list, and lower
reporting thresholds were established.
• Reporting of vanadium was expanded to all forms of the metal except
when contained in alloys. Vanadium was formerly required to be
reported only if it were in the form of fume or dust.
June 2000: Phosphoric acid was deleted from the list of chemicals subject to
TRI reporting due to a court order.
January 2001: The reporting thresholds for lead and lead compounds were
lowered to 100 pounds.
May 2001: Chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region of South Africa
and the unreacted ore component of the chromite ore processing residue
(COPR) were deleted from TRI reporting requirements because the EPA
determined that there was not sufficient evidence that they met the required
toxic criteria.
June 2005: MEK was deleted from the list of chemicals subject to TRI reporting in response to a court order.
December 2006: The Toxics Release Inventory Burden Reduction Final Rule
was passed, expanding the eligibility of facilities to report under the simplified Form A. It expanded the reporting threshold for non-PBT chemicals and,
to a lesser extent, PBT chemicals except dioxin and dioxin-like compounds.
May 2007: The requirement for reporting of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds was expanded to require reporting on the mass of each individual
member of the dioxin category released in addition to the total mass of the
entire category released. This expansion was implemented to allow the EPA
to perform and publish toxic equivalency (TEQ) computations.
April 2009: The Toxics Release Inventory Burden Reduction Final Rule was
reversed as required by the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 enacted
on March 11, 2009. This action eliminated the expanded use of Form A that
was implemented in December 2006.
ROLE OF STAKEHOLDERS
Facilities are responsible for completing the reports and filing them with the EPA
and the applicable state agency within the published deadlines. This can be a timeconsuming process, even with the free software that the EPA provides for this
purpose. Facilities are allowed to estimate releases, but this still involves considerable recordkeeping and calculation time. Once the report is filed, facilities must
maintain copies of all documents for at least 3 years.
Toxic Chemical Release Reporting
October 1999: Several actions were taken to expand the TRI program:
• The reporting thresholds were lowered for certain PBT compound
chemicals.
• A category of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds was added to the chemical list, and a 0.1-g reporting threshold was established for the category.
• Certain other PBT chemicals were added to the reporting list, and lower
reporting thresholds were established.
• Reporting of vanadium was expanded to all forms of the metal except
when contained in alloys. Vanadium was formerly required to be
reported only if it were in the form of fume or dust.
June 2000: Phosphoric acid was deleted from the list of chemicals subject to
TRI reporting due to a court order.
January 2001: The reporting thresholds for lead and lead compounds were
lowered to 100 pounds.
May 2001: Chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region of South Africa
and the unreacted ore component of the chromite ore processing residue
(COPR) were deleted from TRI reporting requirements because the EPA
determined that there was not sufficient evidence that they met the required
toxic criteria.
June 2005: MEK was deleted from the list of chemicals subject to TRI reporting in response to a court order.
December 2006: The Toxics Release Inventory Burden Reduction Final Rule
was passed, expanding the eligibility of facilities to report under the simplified Form A. It expanded the reporting threshold for non-PBT chemicals and,
to a lesser extent, PBT chemicals except dioxin and dioxin-like compounds.
May 2007: The requirement for reporting of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds was expanded to require reporting on the mass of each individual
member of the dioxin category released in addition to the total mass of the
entire category released. This expansion was implemented to allow the EPA
to perform and publish toxic equivalency (TEQ) computations.
April 2009: The Toxics Release Inventory Burden Reduction Final Rule was
reversed as required by the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 enacted
on March 11, 2009. This action eliminated the expanded use of Form A that
was implemented in December 2006.
ROLE OF STAKEHOLDERS
Facilities are responsible for completing the reports and filing them with the EPA
and the applicable state agency within the published deadlines. This can be a timeconsuming process, even with the free software that the EPA provides for this
purpose. Facilities are allowed to estimate releases, but this still involves considerable recordkeeping and calculation time. Once the report is filed, facilities must
maintain copies of all documents for at least 3 years.