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April 24, 2009 |
U.S. EPA Reinstates Stricter TRI Reporting Requirements On April 21, 2009, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rescinded the December 2006 Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Burden Reduction Rule and reinstated the more stringent reporting requirements that previously existed for industrial and federal facilities releasing toxic substances. This action was required by the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act and follows more than one dozen lawsuits filed by states that challenged the less stringent reporting requirements under the December 2006 Rule. The December 2006 Rule allowed for two main changes in the TRI reporting requirements. First, less stringent reporting requirements were put in place for waste management activities concerning non-Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) chemicals when total waste management activities did not exceed 5,000 pounds, the facility's total annual releases of the chemical did not exceed 2,000 pounds, and the facility did not manufacture, process, or otherwise use more than one million pounds of the non-PBT chemical. Second, and for the first time, the December 2006 Rule allowed less stringent reporting requirements for certain PBT chemicals when there was no release of the chemical during the reporting period, the facility's total waste management activities did not exceed 500 pounds, and the facility did not manufacture, process or otherwise use more than one million pounds of the PBT chemical. The December 2006 Rule allowed for these chemicals meeting the criteria above to be reported on the less detailed "Form A," rather than the more detailed "Form R." The April 21 action modifies "Form A" eligibility. Specifically, the more detailed "Form R" must be used for reporting all PBT chemicals regardless of any threshold. Further, "Form A" may be used only for non-PBT chemicals in situations where the annual reporting amount is 500 pounds or less and less than one million pounds of the chemical were manufactured, processed or otherwise used during the reporting year. The rule will be effective immediately upon publication and will apply to all reports due July 1, 2009. The effective date may pose peculiar challenges for the 2008 and 2009 reporting years. Facilities that reported 2008 emissions in advance of the July 1, 2009 deadline will have to resubmit their reports if they submitted "Form A" reports for chemicals that are now required to be reported on "Form R." Facilities that had been required to report on "Form A," but must now report on "Form R," might not have recorded and maintained sufficient information for calendar year 2008 and the first four months of 2009 to complete "Form R." EPA acknowledges this possibility and notes that facilities are required to make best estimates based on available data. Such facilities should be mindful of the more stringent reporting requirements when conducting their data collection for this and coming years. RECENT ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLICATIONS
"U.S. EPA Takes Another Step Towards Regulation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions," Environmental Update (April 20, 2009) ABOUT SCHIFF HARDIN LLP Schiff Hardin's diverse environmental practice advises clients engaged in a wide variety of industries and commercial endeavors such as electric generation, natural gas distribution and production, chemical manufacturing, auto and auto parts manufacturing, consumer goods manufacturing, real estate development and investments by financial institutions and equity investors. For more information, contact us.
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