Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) is complicated and if submitted inaccurately (or not at all), can result in substantial penalties. Reporting is required every 4 years, and 2016 brings a number of changes to CDR requirements. Companies required to report under the CDR rules have until September 30 to submit their reports. Today and tomorrow we will review four changes for the 2016 CDR.
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Change 1: Consider every year
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) CDR Rule (formerly known as the Inventory Update Reporting (IUR) Rule) requires manufacturers and importers of chemical substances included on the TSCA Inventory list to report manufacturing information for chemicals manufactured or imported for commercial purposes for the reporting year. The last reporting period, in which 2011 manufacturing, processing, and use and 2010 production volume information was reported, ended in August 2012.
Starting with the 2016 reporting year, reporting is triggered if the annual reporting threshold is met during any of the calendar years since the last principal reporting year.
This means that for the 2016 submission period, which runs from June 1 through September 30, you must separately consider the volumes of a chemical substance manufactured (including imported) at a single site during the calendar years 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
Change 2: Reduced thresholds
Reporting is generally required for substances whose manufactured (including imported) volume was 25,000 pounds (lb) or more at a single site during a calendar year from 2012 to 2015.
However, a lower threshold applies for a chemical substance that is the subject of certain TSCA actions. For such chemicals, reporting is required if the volume manufactured (including imported) at a site is 2,500 lb or more. The following TSCA actions trigger the reduced reporting threshold:
- A rule proposed or issued under TSCA Section 5(a)(2) (Significant New Use Rule [SNUR]), 5(b)(4) (list of chemicals), or 6 (import and export requirements for certain specific chemicals)
- An order in effect under TSCA Section 5(e) (consent orders) or 5(f) (allows the EPA to immediately limit or prohibit a new chemical that poses an unreasonable risk)
- Relief that has been granted under a civil action under TSCA Section 5 (manufacturing and processing notices) or 7 (allows the EPA to begin judicial action for seizure of a substance that poses an imminent hazard)
These TSCA actions may have one or more of the following effects for specific chemical substances:
- Reduction in the threshold production volume that triggers reporting requirements
- Limitation on certain full or partial exemptions from reporting requirements
- Limitation on use of the small manufacturer exemption
The reduced reporting threshold is based on the status of the chemical at the beginning of the submission period. Since the ramifications of a reduced threshold for a chemical can be significant, let’s consider a scenario.
Scenario: You manufacture a chemical for which a SNUR was issued in 2014. You manufactured 1,000 lb in 2012, 10,000 lb in 2013, 5,000 lb in 2014, and 2,000 lb in 2015. For 2016 reporting, you must compare the reduced reporting threshold (2,500 lb) to the annual production volume in each of the years (2012–2015). Because the 2,500 lb threshold was exceeded at least once between 2012 and 2015 (in this case twice), you would report the total annual production volume for each year. You would also report additional manufacturing and process and use information based on the 2,000 lb manufactured in the principal reporting year 2015.
Register early!
The CDR must be submitted using e-CDRweb, EPA’s CDR electronic reporting tool.
You must register with EPA’s Central Data Exchange (CDX). CDX registration can be more complex and time-consuming than you would expect, due to identification verification requirements. Do not leave this to the last minute. Complete the registration early in the CDR process.
Check out tomorrow’s Advisor for two more changes in TSCA CDR requirements for 2016.