Title 40—Protection of Environment--Volume 1
PART 302—DESIGNATION, REPORTABLE QUANTITIES, AND NOTIFICATION
§ 302.1   Applicability.
This regulation designates under section 102(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“the Act”) those substances in the statutes referred to in section 101(14) of the Act, identifies reportable quantities for these substances, and sets forth the notification requirements for releases of these substances. This regulation also sets forth reportable quantities for hazardous substances designated under section 311(b)(2)(A) of the Clean Water Act.
§ 302.2   [Reserved]
§ 302.3   Definitions.
As used in this part, all terms shall have the meaning set forth below:
The Act, CERCLA, or Superfund means the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (Pub. L. 96-510);
Administrator means the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”);
Animal waste means feces, urine, or other excrement, digestive emission, urea, or similar substances emitted by animals (including any form of livestock, poultry, or fish). The term “animal waste” includes animal waste that is mixed or commingled with bedding, compost, feed, soil, or any other material typically found with such waste.
Consumer product shall have the meaning stated in 15 U.S.C. 2052;
Environment means (1) the navigable waters, the waters of the contiguous zone, and the ocean waters of which the natural resources are under the exclusive management authority of the United States under the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, and (2) any other surface water, ground water, drinking water supply, land surface or subsurface strata, or ambient air within the United States or under the jurisdiction of the United States;
Facility means (1) any building, structure, installation, equipment, pipe or pipeline (including any pipe into a sewer or publicly owned treatment works), well, pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, landfill, storage container, motor vehicle, rolling stock, or aircraft, or (2) any site or area where a hazardous substance has been deposited, stored, disposed of, or placed, or otherwise come to be located; but does not include any consumer product in consumer use or any vessel;
Farm means a site or area (including associated structures) that—
(1) Is used for—
(i) The production of a crop; or
(ii) The raising or selling of animals (including any form of livestock, poultry, or fish); and
(2) Under normal conditions, produces during a farm year any agricultural products with a total value equal to not less than $1,000.
Hazardous substance means any substance designated pursuant to 40 CFR part 302;
Hazardous waste shall have the meaning provided in 40 CFR 261.3;
Navigable waters means the waters of the United States, including the territorial seas, as defined in § 120.2 of this chapter.
Offshore facility means any facility of any kind located in, on, or under, any of the navigable waters of the United States, and any facility of any kind which is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and is located in, on, or under any other waters, other than a vessel or a public vessel;
Onshore facility means any facility (including, but not limited to, motor vehicles and rolling stock) of any kind located in, on, or under, any land or non-navigable waters within the United States;
Person means an individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, consortium, joint venture, commercial entity, United States Government, State, municipality, commission, political subdivision of a State, or any interstate body;
Release means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment (including the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other closed receptacles containing any hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant), but excludes:
(1) Any release which results in exposure to persons solely within a workplace, with respect to a claim which such persons may assert against the employer of such persons;
(2) Emissions from the engine exhaust of a motor vehicle, rolling stock, aircraft, vessel, or pipeline pumping station engine;
(3) Release of source, byproduct, or special nuclear material from a nuclear incident, as those terms are defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, if such release is subject to requirements with respect to financial protection established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under section 170 of such Act, or for the purposes of section 104 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act or any other response action, any release of source, byproduct, or special nuclear material from any processing site designated under section 102(a)(1) or 302(a) of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978; and
(4) The normal application of fertilizer;
Reportable quantity (“RQ”) means that quantity, as set forth in this part, the release of which requires notification pursuant to this part;
United States include the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, and any other territory or possession over which the United States has jurisdiction; and
Vessel means every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water.
§ 302.4   Hazardous substances and reportable quantities.
(a) Listed hazardous substances. The elements and compounds and hazardous wastes appearing in table 302.4 are designated as hazardous substances under section 102(a) of the Act.
(b) Unlisted hazardous substances. A solid waste, as defined in 40 CFR 261.2, which is not excluded from regulation as a hazardous waste under 40 CFR 261.4(b), is a hazardous substance under section 101(14) of the Act if it exhibits any of the characteristics identified in 40 CFR 261.20 through 261.24.
The numbers under the column headed “CASRN” are the Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Numbers for each hazardous substance. CASRNs are unique numeric identifiers for specific substances. CASRNs are updated by the Chemical Abstract Service and are sometimes deleted or replaced. This list of CERCLA hazardous substances relies on information provided in the statutory lists that comprise the table. CASRNs are provided for convenience only to aid in the identification of the designated hazardous substance. Some CASRNs are given only for parent compounds. In some cases, a chemical name may have more than one CASRN associated with it due to the chemical's various forms; however, each CAS Registry Number is a unique numeric identifier and designates only one substance. That is, two substances, or two forms of a substance, do not have the same CAS Registry Number. If there is a discrepancy between the hazardous substance name and the listed CAS Registry Number, the hazardous substance names appearing in Table 302.4 should be used as the official means to determine if a given chemical or substance is reportable.
Hazardous substances are given a Statutory Code based on their statutory source. The “Statutory Code” column indicates the statutory source for designating each substance as a CERCLA hazardous substance. Statutory Code “1” indicates a Clean Water Act (CWA) Hazardous Substance [40 CFR 116.4; 33 U.S.C. 1321(b)(2)(A)]. Statutory Code “2” indicates a CWA Toxic Pollutant [40 CFR 401.15, 40 CFR part 423 Appendix A, and/or 40 CFR 131.36; 33 U.S.C. 1317(a)]. Statutory Code “3” indicates a CAA HAP [42 U.S.C. 7412(b); Pub. L. 101-549 November 15, 1990; 70 FR 75047 December 19, 2005; 69 FR 69320 November 29, 2004; 61 FR 30816 June 18, 1996; 65 FR 47342 August 2, 2000; 87 FR 393 January 5, 2022]. Statutory Code “4” indicates Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Hazardous Wastes [40 CFR part 261 Subpart D—Lists of Hazardous Wastes; 42 U.S.C. 6921]. (Note: The “RCRA waste No.” column provides the waste identification numbers assigned by RCRA regulations). Statutory Code “5” indicates a hazardous substance designated under section 102(a) of CERCLA. The “Final RQ [pounds (kg)]” column provides the reportable quantity for each hazardous substance in pounds and kilograms.
Table 302.4—List of Hazardous Substances and Reportable Quantities
[All comments/notes are located at the end of the table.]
I Provides reference to Note I to Table 302.4 to discuss the applicability of CASRNs.
II Indicates the statutory source defined by 1, 2, 3, and 4, as described in the Note II to Table 302.4.
III No reporting of releases of this hazardous substance is required if the diameter of the pieces of the solid metal released is larger than 100 micrometers (0.004 inches).
IV The RQ for asbestos is limited to friable forms only.
v The Agency may adjust the statutory RQ for this hazardous substance in a future rulemaking; until then the statutory one-pound RQ applies.
## The Agency may adjust the statutory RQ for this hazardous substance in a future rulemaking; until then the statutory one-pound RQ applies.
§ The adjusted RQs for radionuclides may be found in appendix B to this table.
** Indicates that no RQ is being assigned to the generic or broad class.
a Benzene was already a CERCLA hazardous substance prior to the CAA Amendments of 1990 and received an adjusted 10-pound RQ based on potential carcinogenicity in an August 14, 1989, final rule (54 FR 33418). The CAA Amendments specify that “benzene (including benzene from gasoline)” is a hazardous air pollutant and, thus, a CERCLA hazardous substance.
b The CAA Amendments of 1990 list DDE (3547-04-4) as a CAA hazardous air pollutant. The CAS number, 3547-04-4, is for the chemical, p,p′dichlorodiphenylethane. DDE or p,p′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene, CAS number 72-55-9, is already listed in Table 302.4 with a final RQ of 1 pound. The substance identified by the CAS number 3547-04-4 has been evaluated and listed as DDE to be consistent with the CAA section 112 listing, as amended.
c Includes mineral fiber emissions from facilities manufacturing or processing glass, rock, or slag fibers (or other mineral derived fibers) of average diameter 1 micrometer or less.
d Includes mono- and di-ethers of ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, and triethylene glycol R-(OCH2CH2)n-OR′ where:
n = 1, 2, or 3;
R = alkyl C7 or less; or
R = phenyl or alkyl substituted phenyl;
R′= H or alkyl C7 or less; or
OR′ consisting of carboxylic acid ester, sulfate, phosphate, nitrate, or sulfonate.
e Includes organic compounds with more than one benzene ring, and which have a boiling point greater than or equal to 100 °C.
f See 40 CFR 302.6(b)(1) for application of the mixture rule to this hazardous waste.
Appendix A to § 302.4 lists CERCLA hazardous substances in sequential order by CASRN and provides a per-substance grouping of regulatory synonyms ( i.e., names by which each hazardous substance is identified in other statutes and their implementing regulations).
Appendix B to § 302.4—Radionuclides
Ci—Curie. The curie represents a rate of radioactive decay. One curie is the quantity of any radioactive nuclide which undergoes 3.7E 10 disintegrations per second.
Bq—Becquerel. The becquerel represents a rate of radioactive decay. One becquerel is the quantity of any radioactive nuclide which undergoes one disintegration per second. One curie is equal to 3.7E 10 becquerel.
@—Final RQs for all radionuclides apply to chemical compounds containing the radionuclides and elemental forms regardless of the diameter of pieces of solid material.
&—The adjusted RQ of one curie applies to all radionuclides not otherwise listed. Whenever the RQs in table 302.4 and this appendix to the table are in conflict, the lowest RQ shall apply. For example, uranyl acetate and uranyl nitrate have adjusted RQs shown in table 302.4 of 100 pounds, equivalent to about one-tenth the RQ level for uranium-238 listed in this appendix.
E—Exponent to the base 10. For example, 1.3E 2 is equal to 130 while 1.3E 3 is equal to 1300.
m—Signifies a nuclear isomer which is a radionuclide in a higher energy metastable state relative to the parent isotope.
φ—Notification requirements for releases of mixtures or solutions of radionuclides can be found in § 302.6(b) of this rule. Final RQs for the following four common radionuclide mixtures are provided: radium-226 in secular equilibrium with its daughters (0.053 curie); natural uranium (0.1 curie); natural uranium in secular equilibrium with its daughters (0.052 curie); and natural thorium in secular equilibrium with its daughters (0.011 curie).
§ 302.5   Determination of reportable quantities.
(a) Listed hazardous substances. The quantity listed in the column “Final RQ” for each substance in table 302.4, or in appendix B to table 302.4, is the reportable quantity (RQ) for that substance. The RQs in table 302.4 are in units of pounds based on chemical toxicity, while the RQs in appendix B to table 302.4 are in units of curies based on radiation hazard. Whenever the RQs in table 302.4 and appendix B to the table are in conflict, the lowest RQ shall apply.
(b) Unlisted hazardous substances. Unlisted hazardous substances designated by 40 CFR 302.4(b) have the reportable quantity of 100 pounds, except for those unlisted hazardous wastes which exhibit toxicity identified in 40 CFR 261.24. Unlisted hazardous wastes which exhibit toxicity have the reportable quantities listed in Table 302.4 for the contaminant on which the characteristic of toxicity is based. The reportable quantity applies to the waste itself, not merely to the toxic contaminant. If an unlisted hazardous waste exhibits toxicity on the basis of more than one contaminant, the reportable quantity for that waste shall be the lowest of the reportable quantities listed in Table 302.4 for those contaminants. If an unlisted hazardous waste exhibits the characteristic of toxicity and one or more of the other characteristics referenced in 40 CFR 302.4(b), the reportable quantity for that waste shall be the lowest of the applicable reportable quantities.
§ 302.6   Notification requirements.
(a) Any person in charge of a vessel or an offshore or an onshore facility shall, as soon as he or she has knowledge of any release (other than a federally permitted release or application of a pesticide) of a hazardous substance from such vessel or facility in a quantity equal to or exceeding the reportable quantity determined by this part in any 24-hour period, immediately notify the National Response Center (1-800-424-8802; in Washington, DC 202-267-2675; the facsimile number is 202-267-1322).
(b) Releases of mixtures or solutions (including hazardous waste streams) of
(1) Hazardous substances, except for radionuclides, are subject to the following notification requirements:
(i) If the quantity of all of the hazardous constituent(s) of the mixture or solution is known, notification is required where an RQ or more of any hazardous constituent is released;
(ii) If the quantity of one or more of the hazardous constituent(s) of the mixture or solution is unknown, notification is required where the total amount of the mixture or solution released equals or exceeds the RQ for the hazardous constituent with the lowest RQ; or
(iii) For waste streams K169, K170, K171, K172, K174, and K175, knowledge of the quantity of all of the hazardous constituent(s) may be assumed, based on the following maximum observed constituent concentrations identified by EPA:
(2) Radionuclides are subject to this section's notification requirements only in the following circumstances:
(i) If the identity and quantity (in curies) of each radionuclide in a released mixture or solution is known, the ratio between the quantity released (in curies) and the RQ for the radionuclide must be determined for each radionuclide. The only such releases subject to this section's notification requirements are those in which the sum of the ratios for the radionuclides in the mixture or solution released is equal to or greater than one.
(ii) If the identity of each radionuclide in a released mixture or solution is known but the quantity released (in curies) of one or more of the radionuclides is unknown, the only such releases subject to this section's notification requirements are those in which the total quantity (in curies) of the mixture or solution released is equal to or greater than the lowest RQ of any individual radionuclide in the mixture or solution.
(iii) If the identity of one or more radionuclides in a released mixture or solution is unknown (or if the identity of a radionuclide released by itself is unknown), the only such releases subject to this section's notification requirements are those in which the total quantity (in curies) released is equal to or greater than either one curie or the lowest RQ of any known individual radionuclide in the mixture or solution, whichever is lower.
(c) The following categories of releases are exempt from the notification requirements of this section:
(1) Releases of those radionuclides that occur naturally in the soil from land holdings such as parks, golf courses, or other large tracts of land.
(2) Releases of naturally occurring radionuclides from land disturbance activities, including farming, construction, and land disturbance incidental to extraction during mining activities, except that which occurs at uranium, phosphate, tin, zircon, hafnium, vanadium, monazite, and rare earth mines. Land disturbance incidental to extraction includes: land clearing; overburden removal and stockpiling; excavating, handling, transporting, and storing ores and other raw (not beneficiated or processed) materials; and replacing in mined-out areas coal ash, earthen materials from farming or construction, or overburden or other raw materials generated from the exempted mining activities.
(3) Releases of radionuclides from the dumping and transportation of coal and coal ash (including fly ash, bottom ash, and boiler slags), including the dumping and land spreading operations that occur during coal ash uses.
(4) Releases of radionuclides from piles of coal and coal ash, including fly ash, bottom ash, and boiler slags.
(d) Except for releases of radionuclides, notification of the release of an RQ of solid particles of antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, selenium, silver, thallium, or zinc is not required if the mean diameter of the particles released is larger than 100 micrometers (0.004 inches).
(e) The following releases are exempt from the notification requirements of this section:
(1) Releases in amounts less than 1,000 pounds per 24 hours of nitrogen oxide to the air which are the result of combustion and combustion-related activities.
(2) Releases in amounts less than 1,000 pounds per 24 hours of nitrogen dioxide to the air which are the result of combustion and combustion-related activities.
(3) Air emissions from animal waste (including decomposing animal waste) at a farm.
§ 302.7   Penalties.
(a) Any person—
(1) In charge of a vessel from which a hazardous substance is released, other than a federally permitted release, into or upon the navigable waters of the United States, adjoining shorelines, or into or upon the waters of the contiguous zone,
(2) In charge of a vessel from which a hazardous substance is released, other than a federally permitted release, which may affect natural resources belonging to, appertaining to, or under the exclusive management authority of the United States (including resources under the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976), and who is otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of the United States at the time of the release, or
(3) In charge of a facility from which a hazardous substance is released, other than a federally permitted release, in a quantity equal to or greater than that reportable quantity determined under this part who fails to notify immediately the National Response Center as soon as he or she has knowledge of such release or who submits in such a notification any information which he knows to be false or misleading shall be subject to all of the sanctions, including criminal penalties, set forth in section 103(b) of the Act.
(b) Notification received pursuant to this section or information obtained by the exploitation of such notification shall not be used against any such person in any criminal case, except a prosecution for perjury or for giving a false statement.
(c) This section shall not apply to the application of a pesticide product registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act or to the handling and storage of such a pesticide product by an agricultural producer.
§ 302.8   Continuous releases.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, no notification is required for any release of a hazardous substance that is, pursuant to the definitions in paragraph (b) of this section, continuous and stable in quantity and rate.
(b) Definitions. The following definitions apply to notification of continuous releases:
Continuous. A continuous release is a release that occurs without interruption or abatement or that is routine, anticipated, and intermittent and incidental to normal operations or treatment processes.
Normal range. The normal range of a release is all releases (in pounds or kilograms) of a hazardous substance reported or occurring over any 24-hour period under normal operating conditions during the preceding year. Only releases that are both continuous and stable in quantity and rate may be included in the normal range.
Routine. A routine release is a release that occurs during normal operating procedures or processes.
Stable in quantity and rate. A release that is stable in quantity and rate is a release that is predictable and regular in amount and rate of emission.
Statistically significant increase. A statistically significant increase in a release is an increase in the quantity of the hazardous substance released above the upper bound of the reported normal range of the release.
(c) Notification. The following notifications shall be given for any release qualifying for reduced reporting under this section:
(1) Initial telephone notification;
(2) Initial written notification within 30 days of the initial telephone notification;
(3) Follow-up notification within 30 days of the first anniversary date of the initial written notification;
(4) Notification of a change in the composition or source(s) of the release or in the other information submitted in the initial written notification of the release under paragraph (c)(2) of this section or the follow-up notification under paragraph (c)(3) of this section; and
(5) Notification at such times as an increase in the quantity of the hazardous substance being released during any 24-hour period represents a statistically significant increase as defined in paragraph (b) of this section.
(d) Initial telephone notification. Prior to making an initial telephone notification of a continuous release, the person in charge of a facility or vessel must establish a sound basis for qualifying the release for reporting under CERCLA section 103(f)(2) by:
(1) Using release data, engineering estimates, knowledge of operating procedures, or best professional judgment to establish the continuity and stability of the release;
(2) Reporting the release to the National Response Center for a period sufficient to establish the continuity and stability of the release; or
(3) When a person in charge of the facility or vessel believes that a basis has been established to qualify the release for reduced reporting under this section, initial notification to the National Response Center shall be made by telephone. The person in charge must identify the notification as an initial continuous release notification report and provide the following information:
(i) The name and location of the facility or vessel; and
(ii) The name(s) and identity(ies) of the hazardous substance(s) being released.
(e) Initial written notification. Initial written notification of a continuous release shall be made to the appropriate EPA HQ office. (Note: In addition to the requirements of this part, releases of CERCLA hazardous substances are also subject to the provisions of SARA Title III, also known as the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), section 304, and EPA's implementing regulations codified at 40 CFR part 355, which require initial telephone and written notifications of continuous releases to be submitted to the appropriate State emergency response commission and local emergency planning committee.)
(1) Initial written notification to the appropriate EPA HQ office shall occur within 30 days of the initial telephone notification to the National Response Center, and shall include, for each release for which reduced reporting as a continuous release is claimed, the following information:
(i) The name of the facility or vessel; the location, including the latitude and longitude; the case number assigned by the National Response Center or the Environmental Protection Agency; the Dun and Bradstreet number of the facility, if available; the port of registration of the vessel; the name and telephone number of the person in charge of the facility or vessel.
(ii) The population density within a one-mile radius of the facility or vessel, described in terms of the following ranges: 0-50 persons, 51-100 persons, 101-500 persons, 501-1,000 persons, more than 1,000 persons.
(iii) The identity and location of sensitive populations and ecosystems within a one-mile radius of the facility or vessel (e.g., elementary schools, hospitals, retirement communities, or wetlands).
(iv) For each hazardous substance release claimed to qualify for reporting under CERCLA section 103(f)(2), the following information must be supplied:
(A) The name/identity of the hazardous substance; the Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number for the substance (if available); and if the substance being released is a mixture, the components of the mixture and their approximate concentrations and quantities, by weight.
(B) The upper and lower bounds of the normal range of the release (in pounds or kilograms) over the previous year.
(C) The source(s) of the release (e.g., valves, pump seals, storage tank vents, stacks). If the release is from a stack, the stack height (in feet or meters).
(D) The frequency of the release and the fraction of the release from each release source and the specific period over which it occurs.
(E) A brief statement describing the basis for stating that the release is continuous and stable in quantity and rate.
(F) An estimate of the total annual amount that was released in the previous year (in pounds or kilograms).
(G) The environmental medium(a) affected by the release:
( 1 ) If surface water, the name of the surface water body;
( 2 ) If a stream, the stream order or average flowrate (in cubic feet/second) and designated use;
( 3 ) If a lake, the surface area (in acres) and average depth (in feet or meters);
( 4 ) If on or under ground, the location of public water supply wells within two miles.
(H) A signed statement that the hazardous substance release(s) described is(are) continuous and stable in quantity and rate under the definitions in paragraph (b) of this section and that all reported information is accurate and current to the best knowledge of the person in charge.
(f) Follow-up notification. Within 30 days of the first anniversary date of the initial written notification, the person in charge of the facility or vessel shall evaluate each hazardous substance release reported to verify and update the information submitted in the initial written notification. The follow-up written notification shall be submitted to the appropriate EPA HQ office. The follow-up notification shall include the following information:
(1) The name of the facility or vessel; the location, including the latitude and longitude; the case number assigned by the National Response Center or the Environmental Protection Agency; the Dun and Bradstreet number of the facility, if available; the port of registration of the vessel; the name and telephone number of the person in charge of the facility or vessel.
(2) The population density within a one-mile radius of the facility or vessel, described in terms of the following ranges: 0-50 persons, 51-100 persons, 101-500 persons, 501-1,000 persons, more than 1,000 persons.
(3) The identity and location of sensitive populations and ecosystems within a one-mile radius of the facility or vessel (e.g., elementary schools, hospitals, retirement communities, or wetlands).
(4) For each hazardous substance release claimed to qualify for reporting under CERCLA section 103(f)(2), the following information shall be supplied:
(i) The name/identity of the hazardous substance; the Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number for the substance (if available); and if the substance being released is a mixture, the components of the mixture and their approximate concentrations and quantities, by weight.
(ii) The upper and lower bounds of the normal range of the release (in pounds or kilograms) over the previous year.
(iii) The source(s) of the release (e.g., valves, pump seals, storage tank vents, stacks). If the release is from a stack, the stack height (in feet or meters).
(iv) The frequency of the release and the fraction of the release from each release source and the specific period over which it occurs.
(v) A brief statement describing the basis for stating that the release is continuous and stable in quantity and rate.
(vi) An estimate of the total annual amount that was released in the previous year (in pounds or kilograms).
(vii) The environmental medium(a) affected by the release:
(A) If surface water, the name of the surface water body;
(B) If a stream, the stream order or average flowrate (in cubic feet/second) and designated use;
(C) If a lake, the surface area (in acres) and average depth (in feet or meters);
(D) If on or under ground, the location of public water supply wells within two miles.
(viii) A signed statement that the hazardous substance release(s) is(are) continuous and stable in quantity and rate under the definitions in paragraph (b) of this section and that all reported information is accurate and current to the best knowledge of the person in charge.
(g) Notification of changes in the release. If there is a change in the release, notification of the change, not otherwise reported, shall be provided in the following manner:
(1) Change in source or composition. If there is any change in the composition or source(s) of the release, the release is a new release and must be qualified for reporting under this section by the submission of initial telephone notification and initial written notification in accordance with paragraphs (c) (1) and (2) of this section as soon as there is a sufficient basis for asserting that the release is continuous and stable in quantity and rate;
(2) Change in the normal range. If there is a change in the release such that the quantity of the release exceeds the upper bound of the reported normal range, the release must be reported as a statistically significant increase in the release. If a change will result in a number of releases that exceed the upper bound of the normal range, the person in charge of a facility or vessel may modify the normal range by:
(i) Reporting at least one statistically significant increase report as required under paragraph (h) of this section and, at the same time, informing the National Response Center of the change in the normal range; and
(ii) Submitting, within 30 days of the telephone notification, written notification to the appropriate EPA Headquarters office describing the new normal range, the reason for the change, and the basis for stating that the release in the increased amount is continuous and stable in quantity and rate under the definitions in paragraph (b) of this section.
(3) Changes in other reported information. If there is a change in any information submitted in the initial written notification or the follow-up notification other than a change in the source, composition, or quantity of the release, the person in charge of the facility or vessel shall provide written notification of the change to the appropriate EPA HQ office, within 30 days of determining that the information submitted previously is no longer valid. Notification shall include the reason for the change, and the basis for stating that the release is continuous and stable under the changed conditions.
(4) Certificate of changes. Notification of changes shall include the case number assigned by the National Response Center or the Environmental Protection Agency and also the signed certification statement required at (e)(1)(iv)(H) of this section.
(h) Notification of a statistically significant increase in a release. Notification of a statistically significant increase in a release shall be made to the National Response Center as soon as the person in charge of the facility or vessel has knowledge of the increase. The release must be identified as a statistically significant increase in a continuous release. A determination of whether an increase is a “statistically significant increase” shall be made based upon calculations or estimation procedures that will identify releases that exceed the upper bound of the reported normal range.
(i) Annual evaluation of releases. Each hazardous substance release shall be evaluated annually to determine if changes have occurred in the information submitted in the initial written notification, the followup notification, and/or in a previous change notification.
(j) Use of the SARA Title III (EPCRA) section 313 form. In lieu of an initial written report or a follow-up report, owners or operators of facilities subject to the requirements of SARA Title III (EPCRA) section 313 may submit to the appropriate EPA HQ office, a copy of the Toxic Release Inventory form submitted under SARA Title III (EPCRA) section 313 the previous July 1, provided that the following information is added:
(1) The population density within a one-mile radius of the facility or vessel, described in terms of the following ranges: 0-50 persons, 51-100 persons, 101-500 persons, 501-1,000 persons, more than 1,000 persons.
(2) The identity and location of sensitive populations and ecosystems within a one-mile radius of the facility or vessel (e.g., elementary schools, hospitals, retirement communities, or wetlands).
(3) For each hazardous substance release claimed to qualify for reporting under CERCLA section 103(f)(2), the following information must be supplied:
(i) The upper and lower bounds of the normal range of the release (in pounds or kilograms) over the previous year.
(ii) The frequency of the release and the fraction of the release from each release source and the specific period over which it occurs.
(iii) A brief statement describing the basis for stating that the release is continuous and stable in quantity and rate.
(iv) A signed statement that the hazardous substance release(s) is(are) continuous and stable in quantity and rate under the definitions in paragraph (b) of this section and that all reported information is accurate and current to the best knowledge of the person in charge.
(k) Documentation supporting notification. Where necessary to satisfy the requirements of this section, the person in charge may rely on recent release data, engineering estimates, the operating history of the facility or vessel, or other relevant information to support notification. All supporting documents, materials, and other information shall be kept on file at the facility, or in the case of a vessel, at an office within the United States in either a port of call, a place of regular berthing, or the headquarters of the business operating the vessel. Supporting materials shall be kept on file for a period of one year and shall substantiate the reported normal range of releases, the basis for stating that the release is continuous and stable in quantity and rate, and the other information in the initial written report, the followup report, and the annual evaluations required under paragraphs (e), (f), and (i), respectively. Such information shall be made available to EPA upon request as necessary to enforce the requirements of this section.
(l) Multiple concurrent releases. Multiple concurrent releases of the same substance occurring at various locations with respect to contiguous plants or installations upon contiguous grounds that are under common ownership or control may be considered separately or added together in determining whether such releases constitute a continuous release or a statistically significant increase under the definitions in paragraph (b) of this section; whichever approach is elected for purposes of determining whether a release is continuous also must be used to determine a statistically significant increase in the release.
(m) Penalties for failure to comply. The reduced reporting requirements provided for under this section shall apply only so long as the person in charge complies fully with all requirements of paragraph (c) of this section. Failure to comply with respect to any release from the facility or vessel shall subject the person in charge to all of the reporting requirements of § 302.6 for each such release, to the penalties under § 302.7, and to any other applicable penalties provided for by law.