Important TSCA Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Amendments: What the Revisions Mean for Your Business

Is your facility a manufacturer or importer of chemicals? If so, you should be getting ready for this year’s EPA Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR), and Montrose Environmental can help with your reporting needs. Facilities required to report have typically been chemical manufacturers, petroleum and coal product manufacturers, or byproduct manufacturers in utilities, paper manufacturing, cement manufacturing, and other manufacturing facilities.

Please note the following:

• EPA just amended the TSCA CDR rule on March 17^th to make reporting easier for facilities. We have been following EPA guidance about TSCA CDR in real time. Stay tuned for the 2020 TSCA CDR instruction document expected to be published in June 2020. In the meantime, please refer to EPA’s 2020 webinar slides here: https://www.epa.gov/chemical-data-reporting/2020-chemical-data-reporting-cdr-requirements-webinar-materials

• The report submission timeframe for 2020 has recently been extended. Reports can now be submitted from June 1^st through Nov 30^th, 2020. The report will cover facility information for the last 4 years, from 2016 through 2019, with 2019 being the principal reporting year. This means that more information would need to be reported for 2019 than for the previous years.

• To determine if chemical substances at your facility are listed on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory, please refer to the Substance Registry Services website: epa.gov/srs

TSCA CDR General Requirements

The CDR rule requires manufacturers (including importers) to provide information on the chemicals they manufacture domestically or import into the United States. EPA will use the information to determine the potential health and environmental risks of these chemicals.

A review of the total quantity of each manufactured or imported chemical, the composition of each TSCA-subject chemical, processing and use information, and consumer and commercial use information is needed to determine if the reporting threshold of 25,000 lbs/yr (or 2,500 lbs/yr for TSCA action chemicals) is met. The report also looks at the number of employees at the facility and the downstream processing and use of the chemical to assess potential exposure scenario for that chemical. If reporting thresholds are exceeded, a Form U must be submitted for each reportable chemical through EPA’s Central Data Exchange (CDX).

New Revisions to the Rule

Some of the key changes covered by the CDR revisions are as follows:

• More User-Friendly Form – Form U is now more user-friendly and follows a customized format instead of the pre-formatted version used in 2016.  Blank fields in the form can be hidden.
• Processing and Use Codes – In Form U, you can now enter certain Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) processing and use data codes (industrial and commercial/consumer products) already in use by many chemical manufacturers. While the facility still has the option of using existing CDR codes, they will become obsolete in the 2024 reporting cycle.
• Confidentiality Claims- The form has been modified to include clarifications to questions about substantiating confidentiality. Submitters will be required to report certain industrial processing and use and certain consumer and commercial use data elements.
• Byproduct Provisions – Reporting exemptions are now in place for byproducts that are recycled or manufactured in non-integral pollution control and boiler equipment. The form now allows you to also report inorganic byproduct percentages in metal categories.
• Co-manufacturing Reporting – When a company contracts with a producing company to manufacture a chemical substance, the 2020 report allows both parties to now report directly to EPA using the e-CDRweb reporting tool.

EPA is proposing to revise the definition of small manufacturers that are exempt from reporting. The annual revenue threshold that qualifies a facility as a small manufacturer will be significantly increased. Once finalized, 2020 reporting may be exempt for some current reporters.

Montrose Environmental assisted many clients with their TSCA Chemical Data Reporting in 2016 and we are excited to provide reporting services to clients for the 2020 reporting cycle. Our best advice for you during these unprecedented times is to start early – it will take time to gather data for the last 4 years.

For more information about EPA’s TSCA CDR, please visit  http://www.epa.gov/chemical-data-reporting

For help with your reporting needs, please reach out to our TSCA reporting expert, Farhana Momin, P.E., by email at fmomin@montrose-env.com or by phone at (678) 336-8535.