The EPA recently amended the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule, including revisions to reporting requirements, definition updates and an extension of the 2020 CDR submission period.
The CDR rule mandates that manufacturers and importers report data on chemical manufacturing, processing and use every four years for certain chemical substances listed on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory. The current CDR submission period began on June 1.
CDR Rule Revisions
The EPA amended the CDR rule to improve the quality of CDR data collected, reduce the reporting burden for certain CDR reporters, and align reporting requirements with the 2016 Lautenberg Act amendments to TSCA.
Some of the key revisions include:
Industrial Processing and Use
Manufacturers may now use certain processing and use data codes already in use by many chemical manufacturers as part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s international codes. The use of these updated codes is optional for some manufacturers for this reporting period, but will be mandatory for all reporters in the 2024 period.
Confidentiality Claims
While information submitted under CDR generally may be claimed as confidential, upfront substantiation is now required for most confidentiality claims.
Reporting of Byproducts
There are two new reporting exemptions for byproducts: byproducts that are recycled in a site-limited, enclosed system (Portland cement manufacturing and Kraft pulping process) and byproducts that are manufactured as part of non-integral pollution control and boiler equipment.
Manufacturing Information
Instead of indicating whether a chemical is recycled, remanufactured, reprocessed, reused, recycled, or otherwise used instead of being disposed of as a waste or included in a waste stream, manufacturers now only need to identify whether the reported chemical is recycled or otherwise used instead of being disposed of as a waste or included in a waste stream.
Definition Updates
EPA’s definition updates are important because manufacturers falling within the new “small government” or “small manufacturer” definitions have no or reduced reporting requirements under the CDR rule, with certain exceptions. TSCA Section 8(a) generally exempts small manufacturers and processors of chemical substances from the chemical data reporting requirements under TSCA. However, the EPA is authorized by TSCA section 8(a)(3)(A)(ii) to require chemical data reporting from small manufacturers and processors with respect to certain chemical substances that are the subject of specific EPA actions. Other state and local reporting requirements may still apply.
The two new definitions are:
Small government means the government of a city, county, town, township, village, school district, or special district with a population of less than 50,000.
* * * * *
Small manufacturer means a manufacturer (including importer) that meets either of the following standards:
(1) First standard. A manufacturer (including importer) of a substance is small if its total annual sales, when combined with those of its parent company (if any), are less than $120 million. However, if the annual production or importation volume of a particular substance at any individual site owned or controlled by the manufacturer or importer is greater than 45,400 kilograms (100,000 lbs), the manufacturer (including importer) will not qualify as small for purposes of reporting on the production or importation of that substance at that site, unless the manufacturer (including importer) qualifies as small under paragraph (2) of this definition.
(2) Second standard. A manufacturer (including importer) of a substance is small if its total annual sales, when combined with those of its parent company (if any), are less than $12 million, regardless of the quantity of substances produced or imported by that manufacturer (including importer).
(3) Inflation index. EPA shall make use of the Producer Price Index for Chemicals and Allied Products, as compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, for purposes of determining the need to adjust the total annual sales values and for determining new sales values when adjustments are made. EPA may adjust the total annual sales values whenever the Agency deems it necessary to do so, provided that the five-year average of the Producer Price Index for Chemicals and Allied Products has changed more than 20 percent since either the most recent previous change in sales values or May 28, 2020, whichever is later. EPA shall provide Federal Register notification when changing the total annual sales values.
40 CFR § 704.3.
CDR Submission Period
The EPA extended the 2020 CDR submission period from September 30, 2020, to November 30, 2020. This is a one-time extension and will not affect the submission period for future reporting periods.
[View source.]
