TOXIC CHEMICAL RELEASE INVENTORY

ALTERNATE THRESHOLD FOR LOW ANNUAL REPORTABLE AMOUNTS;

TOXIC CHEMICAL RELEASE REPORTING

INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

OMB CONTROL NO. 2070-0143

EPA ICR #1704.06

November, 2002

1 IDENTIFICATION OF THE INFORMATION COLLECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1(a) Title and Number of the Information Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1(b) Short Characterization/Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 NEED FOR AND USE OF THE COLLECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2(a) Need/Authority for the Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2(b) Practical Utility/Users of the Data ......................................4

3 NON-DUPLICATION, CONSULTATIONS, & OTHER COLLECTION CRITERIA . 5

3(a) Non-Duplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3(b) Increasing Public Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3(c) Effects of Less Frequent Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3(d) General Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3(e) Confidentiality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3(f) Sensitive Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

4 THE RESPONDENTS AND THE INFORMATION REQUESTED ...............6

4(a) Respondents/SIC Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

4(b) Information Requested . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

5 THE INFORMATION COLLECTED--AGENCY ACTIVITIES, COLLECTION

METHODOLOGY, AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

5(a) Agency Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

5(b) Collection Methodology and Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5(c) Small Entity Flexibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

5(d) Collection Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

6 ESTIMATING THE BURDEN AND COST OF THE COLLECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

6(a) Estimating Respondent Burden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

6(b) Estimating Respondent Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

6(c) Estimating Agency Burden and Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

6(d) Bottom Line Burden Hours and Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

6(e) Reasons for Change in Burden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

6(f) Burden Statement (To appear on Collection Instrument) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

ATTACHMENT A

RELEVANT STATUTES: EPCRA SECTION 313 AND PPA SECTION 6607 . . . . A-1

ATTACHMENT B

40 CFR Part 372: Toxic Chemical Release Reporting: Community Right-to-Know . B- 1

ATTACHMENT C

Form A Certification Statement 

EPA Form 9350-2 (Proposed Revision) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-1

ATTACHMENT D

TRI REPORTING PACKAGE FOR 2000 REPORTING CYCLE

(EPA 745-B-00-001, FEBRUARY 2001) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-1 

ATTACHMENT E

EPA ICR 1704.06, OMB No. 2070-0143, 

Response to Public Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-1

ATTACHMENT F

EPA ICR 1704.06, OMB No. 2070-0143, 

Response to OMB Terms of Clearance Notice

January 18, 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F-1
1

1 IDENTIFICATION OF THE INFORMATION COLLECTION

1(a) Title and Number of the Information Collection

Title: Alternate Threshold for Low Annual Reportable Amounts; Toxic

Chemical Release Reporting

EPA ICR No. 1704.06

OMB Control No. 2070-0143

1(b) Short Characterization/Abstract

This Information Collection Request (ICR) covers the public reporting and record keeping

requirements associated with Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting based on an alternate

threshold for facilities with low amounts of listed toxic chemicals in waste. EPA collects

information from facilities and enters it into TRI under the authority of section 313 of the

Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) (42 U.S.C. 11001 et seq.)

and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) (42 U.S.C. 11071 to 11079). EPCRA

section 313 requires owners or operators of certain facilities (i.e., facilities in listed Standard

Industrial Classification (SIC) codes) manufacturing, processing, or otherwise using any of over

650 listed toxic chemicals and chemical categories (hereafter “listed toxic chemicals”) in excess of

the applicable threshold quantities to report on their environmental releases and transfers of and

waste management activities for such chemicals annually. Under section 6607 of the PPA,

facilities must provide information on the quantities of the toxic chemicals in waste streams and

the efforts made to reduce or eliminate those quantities. A covered facility must file a separate

form for each toxic chemical manufactured, processed or otherwise used in excess of the

reporting thresholds established in section 313(f)(1). 

OMB last approved this Information Collection request in January 2001 with an expiration

date of January 31, 2003. The existing reporting and recordkeeping requirements associated

with the Form A Certification Statement are discussed in this ICR (EPA ICR #1704), which is

separate from the ICR related to TRI Reporting Form R (EPA ICR #1363). The reporting and

recordkeeping requirements associated with the Form R are contained in a separate ICR and are

approved under OMB Control #2070-0093 (EPA ICR #1363). Please note that these two ICRs

function entirely separately, such that the OMB action taken with regard to EPA ICR #1704

applies only to the alternate reporting requirements and the Form A Certification Statement.

As specified by 5 CFR 1320.12(a)(1), EPA issued a Federal Register notice on July 1,

2002 (67 FR 44197), which sought comments on the renewal of this ICR as required by 5 CFR

1320.8(d) regarding the burden estimates and the information collection activities described in the

proposed ICR. EPA has reviewed and responded to the Form R and Form A Certification

Statement comments received during the 60 day comment period and has included its responses
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as ATTACHMENT E. The proposed revised Form A Certification Statement is included in this

document as ATTACHMENT C. This modified Form will not become effective until OMB

approves it. EPA’s response to OMB’s January 19, 2001 Terms of Clearance for the Form A

Certification Statement is included as part of this ICR as Attachment F.

In the July 1, 2002 Federal Register notice (67 FR 44197), EPA requested comment on

one change to the Form A Certification Statement: the addition of a field in Part I, Facility

Identification Information for the email address of the facility technical contact person. EPA

received public comments regarding this proposed change and has responded to those comments

in Attachment E. None of the those who submitted comments were opposed to the addition of

the data field, but some raised concerns regarding the protection of privacy. These concerns are

responded to in Attachment E. A copy of the proposed Reporting Form R (EPA Form 9350-2) is

included as Attachment C.

This ICR is for the Form A Certification Statement. EPA established an alternate

threshold for a category of facilities with low amounts of a listed toxic chemical in wastes. A

facility that meets the section 313 reporting thresholds, but estimates that the total annual

reportable amount of the listed toxic chemical does not exceed 500 pounds per year, can take

advantage of the alternate manufacture, process or otherwise use thresholds of 1 million pounds

per year for that listed toxic chemical, provided that certain conditions are adhered to. Each

qualifying facility that chooses to apply this alternate manufacture, process or otherwise use

threshold must file a Form A Certification Statement, certifying that they met the condition of the

alternate threshold for one or more chemicals for each listed chemical for which the facility

exceeded statutory thresholds. The Form A Certification Statement is submitted to both the

EPCRA reporting center and the designated state recipient in the same manner that the Form R is

submitted. The Form A Certification Statement provides a signed statement that the sum of the

amount of the listed toxic chemical or chemicals in wastes did not exceed 500 pounds for this

reporting year, and that the chemical(s) was manufactured, processed, or otherwise used in an

amount not exceeding 1 million pounds during this reporting year.

Responding to this information collection requires determining whether a chemical is

eligible for certification under the alternate threshold, and completing the Form A Certification

Statement. A single Form A Certification Statement may contain as many listed toxic chemicals

as met the conditions of the alternate threshold. For a facility certifying for a single listed toxic

chemical, the burden is estimated to average 13.7 hours for facilities submitting a certification

statement under EPCRA section 313. (This includes the time required for calculations, Form A

Certification Statement completion, and record keeping.) By comparison, the average time

required for calculations, form completion, and record keeping for Form R is estimated to average

19.5 hours per form. Thus, for a facility filing Form A Certification Statement for a single

chemical, the alternate threshold yields an average savings of 5.8 hours. 

For a facility certifying multiple chemicals on a Form A Certification Statement, the per

chemical burden on the facility is reduced. An average of 2.4 chemicals per facility were reported
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to EPA using Form A Certification Statements for the 2000 reporting year. About 50 percent of

the facilities using the Form A Certification Statement reported on one chemical, another 20

percent reported on two chemicals, 15 percent on three chemicals, and the remaining 15 percent

of facilities reported on 4 or more chemicals.

2 NEED FOR AND USE OF THE COLLECTION

2(a) Need/Authority for the Collection

Section 313 of EPCRA, 42 U.S.C. 11023, requires certain facilities that manufacture,

process, or otherwise use listed toxic chemicals in excess of the applicable threshold quantities to

report their environmental releases of such chemicals annually. Beginning with the 1991 reporting

year, such facilities also began reporting source reduction and recycling data for listed chemicals,

pursuant to section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act, 42 U.S.C. 13106. Copies of 42 U.S.C.

11023 and 13106 are included in Attachment A.

Each covered facility must file a separate report for each listed chemical manufactured,

processed or otherwise used in excess of the reporting thresholds established in section 313(f)(1). 

EPA has authority to revise these threshold amounts pursuant to section 313(f)(2); however, such

revised threshold amounts must obtain reporting on a substantial majority of total releases of the

chemical at all facilities subject to section 313.

This ICR is for the Form A Certification Statement. EPA established an alternate

threshold under EPCRA section 313(f)(2) for a category of facilities with low amounts of a listed

toxic chemical in wastes. A facility that meets the appropriate reporting thresholds, but estimates

that the total amount of the chemical in waste does not exceed 500 pounds per year, can take

advantage of alternate manufacture, process, or otherwise use thresholds of 1 million pounds per

year for that chemical, provided that certain conditions are met. A facility that chooses to apply

the alternate threshold must submit an EPA Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Form A

Certification Statement (EPA Form #9350-2). EPA’s regulations implementing TRI reporting are

codified at 40 CFR part 372. A copy of 40 CFR part 372 is included as Attachment B.

The information being collected on the Form A Certification Statement is necessary to

fulfill EPA’s responsibilities under EPCRA section 313(f)(2). A Form A Certification Statement

addresses the statutory mandates and the public's right-to-know while allowing regulatory relief

for facilities having lower volumes of chemicals in wastes. Form A provides appropriate

information relating to the location of facilities manufacturing, processing or otherwise using

these chemicals, that the chemicals are being manufactured, processed or otherwise used at

current reporting thresholds, and that the sum of amounts of the chemical in waste did not exceed

500 pounds for that reporting year. The requirement to submit a Form A Certification Statement

fosters continued attention to chemical management practices and provides a locational tool vital

to any compliance program or other interested party. It is necessary to receive some type of
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specific indication that a facility is taking advantage of the alternate threshold annually to assist in

any compliance monitoring and enforcement efforts.

2(b) Practical Utility/Users of the Data

The Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3502(11), states that “the term 'practical utility'

means the ability of an agency to use information, particularly the capability to process such

information in a timely and useful fashion.” EPA has demonstrated that it can process and utilize

TRI information in a timely and useful fashion, as well as make the information available in a

timely fashion for a variety of further useful purposes. This information is collected annually and

is subsequently disseminated within a year of its receipt. Further information on Agency activities

is summarized in Section 4(a).

According to EPCRA section 313(h), the data submitted in the forms are intended to

“inform persons about releases of toxic chemicals to the environment; to assist governmental

agencies, researchers, and other persons in the conduct of research and data gathering; to aid in

the development of appropriate regulations, guidelines, and standards; and for other similar

purposes.” The purpose of the Agency’s collection of this information is therefore to facilitate the

availability of this information to the public.

TRI data made available as a result of this information collection is used by many different

individuals and organizations, including concerned citizens, environmental and public interest

groups, journalists, government agencies, the financial and business community, the regulated

community, and educational and research institutions. Government agencies, researchers and

environmental and public interest groups use data collected under EPCRA section 313 to produce

national, regional, state and local level reports. Governments use the data to set priorities, target

voluntary initiatives, and evaluate the development of regulations. Citizens and local interest

groups use TRI data to assess the status of toxic chemicals in their community and to determine

priorities for concern. Investment analysts use TRI data to provide recommendations to clients

seeking to make investments on an environmental basis. Insurance companies and lenders look to

TRI data as an indication of potential environmental liabilities. Many reporting companies use

TRI data in preparing annual environmental reports, similar to annual reports on financial

performance. The ICR for Form R (OMB #2070-0093, EPA #1363) provides specific examples

of some of the actual uses of TRI data. 

The Form A Certification Statement provides information that a section 313 listed

chemical is being manufactured, processed or otherwise used at threshold levels specified in 40

CFR part 372.25. Through the use of the Form A Certification Statement, the individuals and

groups described above will continue to have knowledge that the sum of the amounts in waste for

a particular facility did not exceed a specified amount for the chemical for which the alternate

threshold was applied.
5

3 NON-DUPLICATION, CONSULTATIONS, & OTHER COLLECTION

CRITERIA

3(a) Non-Duplication

The information requested by the Form A Certification Statement represents a subset of

information requested by Form R. To the extent that this reporting option is used, corresponding

data will not be reported under Form R. Information comparing TRI reporting to information

available under other statutes is available in the ICR for Form R (OMB #2070-0093, EPA

#1363). 

3(b) Increasing Public Awareness

EPA has emphasized the Form A Certification Statement during training sessions, directly

contacted potentially eligible facilities, and made some modifications to the reporting package to

make the Form A Certification Statement easier to identify and use. These actions, in addition to

the additional time for which the Form A Certification Statement option has been available, have

increased the level of use of the Form A Certification Statement. 

3(c) Effects of Less Frequent Collection

Section 313 requires annual reporting. Section 313(I) permits EPA to modify the

reporting frequency by rulemaking, after submitting a notification to Congress. As Form A

Certification Statements are required to be submitted on or before July 1 following the year in

which the facility's activities occur, and as the national data are available from EPA within a year

after EPA receives data, a less frequent collection of information would delay the availability of

the data to the public. Since TRI represents the best available database tracking multimedia

releases, transfers and other handling of listed toxic chemicals, changes in reporting frequency

would have profound impacts on the quality and value of the data for purposes of planning,

establishing baselines and tracking performance.

EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) has stressed the need

to continue to collect information on an annual basis that a facility is manufacturing, processing,

or otherwise using a listed section 313 chemical in threshold amounts set out in 40 CFR part

372.25. Submission of the Form A Certification Statement allows EPA and other data users to

identify facilities applying the alternate threshold. In order to target facilities effectively and

efficiently for compliance inspections, EPA must be able to distinguish between facilities that did

not report under EPCRA section 313 because they took advantage of this regulatory amendment,

and facilities that did not report for other reasons.

In addition, the State and many of the Regional TRI program offices have submitted

comments that echo enforcement concerns raised by OECA to the effect that the submission of a

Form A Certification Statement is “paramount” to the ability of EPA and states to readily verify
6

compliance with the regulation or to enforce against violations. Additionally, a report may

provide sufficient information to citizens and interest groups and prevent unnecessary legal

actions that might otherwise be pursued if there was a complete absence of information for a

given facility.

By requiring the Form A Certification Statement on an annual basis, any compliance

assistance or enforcement program, as well as other interested parties, are able to determine that

the facility is continuing to manufacture, process, or otherwise use a listed section 313 chemical

and that the amounts associated with these activities are in excess of current reporting thresholds.

3(d) General Guidelines

This information collection is consistent with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.6, except

that respondents may be required to submit information that is confidential. Specifically,

reporting facilities are required to identify the chemical for which reports are submitted. 

Respondents can, however, claim the chemical identity as a trade secret, although they must

provide a generic name as part of the information that is made available to the public. EPA

securely stores and maintains the true identity of the chemical. EPA will disclose information that

is covered by a claim of confidentiality only to the extent permitted by, and in accordance with,

the procedures in 40 CFR part 2.

EPA actively encourages the use of automated techniques, most notably PC-based report

generating programs produced both by the Agency and by the private sector and other

submissions on magnetic media. EPA recognizes that not all reporting facilities are able to or are

interested in investing the time and funds necessary to employ such automated techniques. The

final decision on how to report is ultimately the reporting facility's.

3(e) Confidentiality

Respondents may designate the specific chemical identity of a substance as a trade secret. 

Procedures for submission and review of trade secret claims under section 313 are set forth in 40

CFR part 350 and are covered by another EPA ICR (EPA ICR #1428; OMB #2050-0078).

3(f) Sensitive Questions

This collection does not request any sensitive information.

4 THE RESPONDENTS AND THE INFORMATION REQUESTED

4(a) Respondents/SIC Codes

A facility must report to TRI if it meets all three of the following criteria: 
7

(1) Has a primary Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code covered by the

regulations;

(2) Has 10 or more full-time employees (or the hourly equivalent of 20,000 hours);

and

(3) Manufactures, processes, or otherwise uses any of the listed toxic chemicals or

chemical categories above the applicable threshold. Currently, the thresholds are

25,000 pounds for chemicals manufactured (including imported) or processed, and

10,000 pounds for chemicals otherwise used.

The industries currently subject to reporting under EPCRA section 313 include SIC major

groups 10 (metal mining), except SIC code 1011, 1081, and 1094; 12 (coal mining), except SIC

code 1241; 20 through 39 (manufacturing); as well as industry codes 4911, 4931, 4939

(electricity generating facilities), limited to facilities that combust coal and/or oil for the purpose

of generating power for distribution in commerce; 4953 (refuse systems), limited to facilities

regulated under RCRA Subtitle C; 5169 (chemicals and allied products wholesaling, not

elsewhere classified); 5171(petroleum bulk stations and terminals); and 7389 (limited to facilities

primarily engaged in solvent recovery services on a contract or fee basis). Qualifying federal

facilities also report to TRI as a result of Executive Order 12856. 

Under the final PBT (Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic Chemicals) Rule, published

October 29, 1999, all PBT chemicals are excluded from eligibility for alternate threshold reporting

(i.e., Form A Certification Statement cannot be used to report PBT chemicals).

With the exception of the PBT chemicals, the Form A Certification Statement can be

submitted by those facilities that would otherwise be required to submit a Form R, but determine

that they are eligible to apply the alternate threshold based on the sum of amounts in waste. 

Therefore, the alternate threshold does not bring additional facilities into EPCRA section 313

regulation that are not already part of the regulated community.

4(b) Information Requested

(I) Data Items

The following information must be reported on a Form A Certification Statement pursuant

to 40 CFR part 372:

 (1) Reporting year.

 (2) An indication of whether the chemical identified is being claimed as trade secret.

 (3) Chemical name or names and CAS number(s) (if applicable) of the chemical(s), or the

category(ies) or the generic chemical name(s).

 (4) Signature of a senior management official certifying the following: pursuant to 40 CFR
8

part 372.27, “ hereby certify that to the best of my knowledge and belief for the toxic

chemical listed in this statement, the sum of reportable wastes did not exceed 500 pounds

for this reporting year and that the chemical was manufactured, or processed, or otherwise

used in an amount not exceeding 1 million pounds during this reporting year.”

 (5) Date signed.

 (6) Facility name and address.

 (7) Mailing address of the facility if different than (6).

 (8) Toxic chemical release inventory facility identification number if known.

 (9) Name and telephone number of a Technical Contact.

 (10) The four-digit SIC codes for the facility or establishments in the facility.

 (11) Latitude and longitude coordinates for the facility.

 (12) Dun and Bradstreet Number of the facility.

 (13) EPA Identification Number(s) (RCRA I.D. Number(s) of the facility).

 (14) Facility NPDES Permit Number(s).

 (15) Underground Injection Well Code (UIC) I.D. Number(s) of the facility.

 (16) Name of the facility's Parent Company.

 (17) Parent Company's Dun and Bradstreet Number.

These 17 elements are a subset of the information collected on Form R. Beyond the

change to element 3 which allows for multiple chemicals to be reported on a single Form A

Certification Statement, the only element unique to the Form A Certification Statement is element

4. Element 4 of the Form A Certification Statement corresponds to the certification statement on

Form R and represents a signed statement by a facility owner/operator or senior management

official. Unlike Form R, the signed statement on the Form A Certification Statement certifies that

the sum of amounts of the listed chemical in waste did not exceed 500 pounds and that the

amounts manufactured, or processed, or otherwise used did not exceed 1 million pounds for that

year.

A copy of the Form A Certification Statement is included in Attachment C. A copy of the

TRI reporting package and instructions for the 2000 reporting cycle (February, 2001) is included

in Attachment D. 

Justification for elements requested:

Elements 1 through 6 relate to the conditions being met in order to claim eligibility for the

submission of a Form A Certification Statement. These elements are essential in meeting the

statutorily mandated requirement of continuing to capture a substantial majority of releases for

each listed EPCRA section 313 chemical.

Elements 7 through 17 are requested for identification purposes. Of these, elements 7

through 9 are necessary to determine which facility is claiming the alternate threshold along with

the information needed to contact the claimant. Elements 10 through 17 are requested in order to

cross-reference the facility and level of activity being certified with other reporting systems in
9

addition to more accurately tracking the facility's TRI reporting history. These data elements are

essential for enforcement purposes and have proven to be useful for cross program multimedia

investigations.

(ii) Respondent Activities

The regulated community is expected to comply with the reporting requirements by

completing the Form A Certification Statement and mailing it to EPA and the appropriate state

agency. Section 313(g)(2) provides that a "facility may use readily available data (including

monitoring data) collected pursuant to other provisions of law, or where data are not readily

available, reasonable estimates of the amounts involved." Respondents are not required to

develop new information.

The same level of assistance presently available to Form R respondents is available to

those facilities applying the alternate threshold and completing the Form A Certification

Statement. Instructions and guidance documents are available, and a toll-free hotline is available

to handle general and technical inquiries from the regulated community. The following steps will

be completed by a facility using the alternate threshold:

Compliance Determination

Calculations (Compliance)

Completion of Form (Disclosure)

Substantiation of a Trade Secret Claim (not performed by all respondents)

Record keeping

Supplier Notification (not performed by all respondents)

Petition Submission (not a requirement)

Compliance Determination. Facilities must first determine if they are eligible to apply the

alternate threshold, and/or provide supplier notification. The determination is based on the SIC

code(s) for the facility, the number of full-time employees or equivalents, the chemicals

manufactured, processed or otherwise used at the facility, and the quantity of those chemicals. 

Calculations (Compliance). A facility has to calculate the annual reportable amount for a

chemical in order to determine if the facility is eligible to apply the alternate threshold. The annual

reportable amount is calculated as the combined total of the amounts released at the facility

(including disposal), treated at the facility (as represented by amounts destroyed or converted by

treatment processes), recovered at the facility as a result of recycling operations, combusted for

the purpose of energy recovery at the facility, and transferred from the facility to off-site locations

for the purpose of recycling, energy recovery, treatment, or disposal. In addition, the facility must

also determine that it did not manufacture, process, or otherwise use more than 1 million pounds

of the listed chemical. 

Completion of Form (Disclosure). Each facility taking advantage of the alternate
10

threshold must complete the Form A Certification Statement described under section 3(b)(I).

Substantiation of a Trade Secrecy Claim. Respondents wanting to make a trade secrecy

claim for the chemical identity should refer to documentation requirements discussed in the Trade

Secrecy ICR for EPCRA (EPA #1428, OMB #2050-0078).

Record keeping. Each facility taking advantage of the alternate threshold is required to

maintain records for a period of three years from the date of the submission of the Form A

Certification Statement, and to make them available upon request. These records provide

substantiation that an appropriate threshold determination was made and that the sum of amounts

in total waste did not exceed 500 pounds for that chemical for that reporting year. This

documentation is necessary for any compliance effort verifying the claims made by a facility taking

advantage of the alternate threshold. Facilities must maintain a copy of each Form A Certification

Statement and Form R submitted, as well as the documents, calculations, and other information

they collected for developing the reports submitted.

Supplier Notification. No additional supplier notification requirements are associated with

the Form A Certification Statement.

Petition Submission. No additional procedures relating to petition submissions are

required by the Form A Certification Statement.

5 THE INFORMATION COLLECTED--AGENCY ACTIVITIES, COLLECTION

METHODOLOGY, AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT.

5(a) Agency Activities

EPA activities for this ICR parallel requirements established for reporting TRI releases on

Form R (OMB #2070-0093, EPA #1363), approved February, 2000, including:

Assistance to Respondents

Data Management 

Data Processing and Quality Control

Systems Maintenance and Operation

Making the Data Available to the Public

List Revisions and Petition Reviews

Trade Secrecy Reviews

Assistance to Respondents. Assistance to respondents is offered in the same manner as

described by the Form R ICR (OMB #2070-0093, EPA #1363). These assistance efforts extend

to facilities for completion of a Form A Certification Statement.
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Data Processing and Quality Control. Once a Form A Certification Statement is submitted

and received by the EPCRA Reporting Center, the information is recorded into the TRIS Oracle

database. If submitted electronically (floppy disk), the information is automatically read into

TRIS; if the Form A Certification Statement was submitted in hardcopy, the information is

manually keyed into TRIS. Automated data quality checks and field verifications are built into the

electronic reporting software (ATRS - Automated TRI Reporting Software). Additional data

quality checks, field verifications, and reconciliations are performed sequentially once the

electronic submission is read into TRIS or once the hardcopy is completely keyed in.

Systems Maintenance and Operations. The TRIS database is maintained on an Oracle

server on an isolated, secure local area network at the EPCRA Reporting Center. Standard

database management activities are routinely preformed to maintain data and system integrity. 

Tape backups of the TRIS database are made nightly.

Availability of the Data. In accordance with statute, a copy of the database is publicly

available in electronic format using the Agency's internet site (the data is also maintained on the

Agency's intranet site). Users can access the data using either Envirofacts or TRI Explorer. Both

tools allow the user to view individual chemical submissions, all submissions for a given facility,

or summary information by Zip Code, city, county, state, EPA Region, or nationally. Searches

can be conducted in numerous ways, including on a chemical basis or by industry SIC code.

In addition to the public electronic database, EPA has also made the TRI information

available through a variety of other electronic and non-electronic means. EPA prepares a national

data release report that describes the annual data received and presents extensive summary

information in text, charts, and graphics. Electronic versions of the database are available in .dbf

and comma delimited format from the Agency's web site. Versions of the Oracle TRIS database

are available upon special request.

Trade Secrecy Reviews. A respondent may claim a chemical as trade secret on the Form

A Certification Statement in the same manner as when filing a Form R. When a respondent claims

a chemical identity as a trade secret, a substantiation must be included. Respondents often claim

trade secret status on Form R but do not provide substantiation. In those cases, EPA must review

the claim and contact the respondent to determine the true intent. In many cases, the trade secret

claim was not intended and no substantiation is made. Trade Secrecy reviews, including the costs

to EPA, are discussed in greater detail in the ICR for the Trade Secrecy Rule for EPCRA (EPA

#1428, OMB #2050-0078).

5(b) Collection Methodology and Management

The Form A Certification Statement can be submitted using EPA’s magnetic media

reporting program, and EPA encourages the submission of Form A Certification Statements

electronically. The use of electronic reporting serves to reduce the reporting burden on industry. 

It also reduces both the cost and the time required for EPA to enter, process, and make the data
12

available. For the 2000 TRI reporting cycle, approximately 80% of Form A Certification

Statements and Form Rs were submitted electronically.

5(c) Small Entity Flexibility

Small entities, as defined by the statute, are exempt from reporting. In addition, the

alternate threshold is advantageous to those entities which might be classified as small under other

definitions. The range established by the 500 pound category may apply proportionally higher to

smaller entities, thereby resulting in greater regulatory relief for these facilities. EPA considered a

number of different threshold levels when it promulgated this rule. This alternate threshold was

chosen because it best balanced burden reduction with the need for data and information, and is

consistent with the requirements of EPCRA section 313.

Furthermore, EPA has prepared various materials to assist facilities in reporting to TRI,

thereby lowering the cost of reporting. These materials include detailed reporting instructions, a

question and answer document, magnetic media reporting, general technical guidance, and

industry specific guidance documents. In addition, EPA maintains a toll-free hotline to answer

regulatory and technical questions to assist facilities.

Through the development of the Form A Certification Statement (in conjunction with the

petition process, electronic reporting, efforts to review the original list of TRI chemicals to

determine whether any of those chemicals do not meet the listing criteria, and other mechanisms),

EPA has reduced, to the extent practicable and appropriate at this time, the burden on persons

providing the information being collected under EPCRA section 313. EPA continues to work

with affected parties to identify opportunities for further burden reduction.

5(d) Collection Schedule

Section 313 requires annual reporting for the Form R. The respondent and Agency

schedule of activities associated with the collection and processing of information under EPCRA

section 313 is unchanged for the alternate threshold. Whether making a Form R submission or

submitting a Form A Certification Statement based on the alternate threshold, respondents must

submit their forms to EPA for any given reporting year on or before July 1 of the succeeding year.

6 ESTIMATING THE BURDEN AND COST OF THE COLLECTION

6(a) Estimating Respondent Burden

This section presents the burden of this information collection activity on respondents in

terms of the time required for facility personnel to perform the steps outlined in Section 3 of this

document. These burden estimates are based upon previous ICRs and economic analyses,

respondent experience as reflected in comments to EPA and other parties, and information

acquired through site visits and telephone interviews. 
1 Facilities must also determine whether they are within a covered Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code; have

the equivalent of 10 or more full-time employees; and manufacture, process or use any of the listed toxic chemicals

above the threshold quantity. The time required for compliance determination at all facilities in covered SIC codes

with 10 or more employees is already accounted for in the Form R information collection request (OMB #2070-0093).

13

The burden to respondents is estimated for Form A requirements. Burden estimates are

developed for the compliance activities and then multiplied by the number of facilities or reports

(as appropriate) to estimate the total burden to respondents. The burden estimates used by EPA

are national average values. As with any average, some facilities will be above the average, and

others will be below it. Large, complex facilities may require more than the average time to

comply. However, there are many other facilities subject to the rule that are not large or complex. 

Therefore, EPA believes that its burden estimates represent reasonable national averages. The

tasks associated with the alternate threshold reporting include report calculations and certification,

form completion, and recordkeeping and submission.1

 Specifically:

• Rule Familiarization: Facilities that are reporting under section 313 for the first

time must read the reporting package and become familiar with the reporting

requirements. This includes the time needed to review instructions, and the time

needed to train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information.

• Calculations/Certification: Facilities must gather data and perform calculations

to determine eligibility for the alternate threshold. This includes the time to search

data sources, and the time to complete and review the information. 

• Form Completion: Facilities must complete the form. Facilities can now use a

single Form A to submit certifications for all chemicals that are eligible for the

alternate threshold.

• Recordkeeping/Submission: Facilities must maintain recordkeeping systems and

submit the completed Form A to EPA and the states.

Each of these steps is described in more detail below.

Rule Familiarization

If a facility will be reporting under the section 313 requirements for the first time, facility

staff must review and comprehend the reporting requirements. At a minimum, this effort will

involve reading the instructions to the Toxic Release Inventory Reporting Forms, however, it may

also involve consulting EPA guidance documents, attending a training course, and/or calling the

EPCRA technical hotline. The cost associated with rule familiarization occurs only in the first

year that a facility becomes subject to reporting. In subsequent years, staff are assumed to be

familiar with the requirements that apply to their facility. Thus, the facility would no longer bear

this cost. Similarly, facilities that already report on one or more existing TRI chemicals will not
2 USEPA/OPPT, Regulatory Impact Analysis of the EPCRA Section 313 Alternate Threshold Final Rule,

November 18, 1994.

14

incur a rule familiarization cost.

Calculations/Certification

To certify that a listed toxic chemical qualifies for the alternate threshold, a facility must

estimate its annual reportable amount and the amount manufactured, processed, or otherwise

used. If a facility's annual reportable amount for a listed toxic chemical is 500 pounds or less, the

facility is eligible to apply the alternate threshold of 1 million pounds manufactured, processed or

otherwise used. 

Recordkeeping/Submission

After a facility has certified a listed toxic chemical as eligible for the alternate threshold, it

incurs additional labor costs for recordkeeping and submission. Recordkeeping allows a facility

to use the information in making calculations in subsequent years, and as documentation in the

event it receives a compliance audit. Facilities may maintain such records as estimation

methodology and calculations, engineering reports, inventory, incident and operating logs, and

any other supporting materials needed to document eligibility for the alternate threshold. 

Facilities must transmit Form As to EPA and State authorities. 

Form A Completion

If a facility is eligible to apply the alternate threshold, it must complete the Form A. The

facility completes one Form A that contains certifications for all the listed toxic chemicals to

which it is applying the alternate threshold. 

Respondent Burden

The calculations needed to determine eligibility for the Form A are a subset of the

calculations necessary to complete Form R. Thus, the time required to calculate the annual

reportable amount was estimated in previous ICRs by aggregating EPA’s estimates of the time

required to calculate each of the sections of Form R that are relevant to determining annual

reportable amount. According to this estimate, calculations for a Form A take approximately 64

percent of the time of calculations for the Form R.2

For the purposes of this ICR, first-year reporting burden hour estimates have not been

modified from previous ICRs. However, based on EPA’s recent revision to the unit burden

estimates for Form R calculations, EPA now estimates that calculating an annual reportable

amount for Form A will require an average of 9.3 hours for each listed toxic chemical that the
3 USEPA/OEI, Estimates of Burden Hours for Economic Analyses of the Toxics Release Inventory, June 10,

2002.

4 USEPA/OEI, Estimates of Burden Hours for Economic Analyses of the Toxics Release Inventory, June 10,

2002. Note that one outlier among the 9 facilities reported a much higher per chemical burden than the other 8

facilities. Without this outlier, the average of facility-level burden hours per chemical certification would be 3.8 to 4.9

hours per chemical certified.

15

facility must report under EPCRA section 313.3 EPA’s estimates by activity and labor category

are shown in Table 1. 

Table 1

Average Annual Burden Hour Estimates for Form A

Activity Management Technical Clerical Total

Hours

First-year activities

Rule Familiarization - first-time filers 12 22.5 0 34.5

Calculations/ Certification - first-time filers 16.3 26 2.2 44.5

Form A Completion - first-time filers 0.15 1.8 0.15 2.1

Recordkeeping/Submission 0 2.4 0.6 3

Total 28.45 52.7 2.95 84.1

Subsequent year activities

Calculations/ Certification - subsequent year

filers

3.4 5.5 0.4 9.3

Form A Completion - subsequent year filers 0.1 1.2 0.1 1.4

Recordkeeping/Submission 0 2.4 0.6 3

Total 3.5 9.1 1.1 13.7

In April 2002, EPA contacted nine facilities that file Form As to gather information on the

typical facility level burden associated with using the reporting form. The total facility level

burden estimates were reported in ranges. Depending on whether the midpoint or maximum of

the range was used, the average of facility-level burden hours per chemical certification was

reported at 11.2 to 15.5 hours. EPA’s estimate of 13.7 hours for a facility certifying one chemical

on a Form A falls within this range.4

6(b) Estimating Respondent Costs

Respondent costs are related to the number of chemicals certifications reported on the

Form As and the loaded hourly rates of the personnel who complete the reporting activities. The

total reporting burden is estimated to average 84.1 hours for a facility submitting a single

certification statement under EPCRA section 313 for the first time. (This includes the time

required for rule familiarization, calculations/certification, Form A completion, and
5 USEPA/OEI, Wage Rates for Economic Analyses of the Toxics Release Inventory Program, June 10, 2002.

Note that the wage rates used in this supporting statement have been inflated to March 2002 using an ECI-based

adjustment factor of 1.03 as prescribed in this reference. The loaded hourly rates are $52.38 for management labor,

$42.57 for technical labor, and $23.09 for clerical labor.

16

recordkeeping/submission.) The total reporting burden is estimated to average 13.7 hours for a

facility submitting a single certification statement under EPCRA section 313 in subsequent

reporting years. (This includes the time required for calculations/certification, Form A

completion, and recordkeeping/submission.) By comparison, the average time required for

calculations, form completion, and recordkeeping/submission for Form R is estimated to average

19.5 hours per form. Thus, for a facility filing Form A for a single chemical, the alternate

threshold yields an average savings of 5.8 hours in subsequent reporting years. 

For a facility that certifies multiple chemicals on a Form A, the burden per reported

chemical is reduced. An average of 2.4 chemicals per facility were reported to EPA using Form

As for the 2000 reporting year. About 50 percent of the facilities using Form A reported on one

chemical, another 20 percent reported on two chemicals, 15 percent on three chemicals, and the

remaining 15 percent of facilities reported on 4 or more chemicals. The typical per facility burden

and cost for certifying one to three chemicals is shown in Table 2. The loaded hourly rates used

in Table 2 correspond with the loaded hourly rates for the relevant labor categories in the Form R

ICR renewal.5

Table 2

Annual Burden and Cost per Facility (Assuming 1, 2, or 3 Chemicals)

Activity Number of Chemicals Reported on Each Form A

1 Chemical 2 Chemicals 3 Chemicals

hours cost hours cost hours cost

First-year filers

Rule Familiarization - first-time filers 34.5 $1,586 34.5 $1,586 34.5 $1,586

Calculations/ Certification - first-time filers 44.5 $2,011 89 $4,022 133.5 $6,033

Form A Completion - first-time filers 2.1 $88 2.1 $88 2.1 $88

Recordkeeping/Submission 3 $116 6 $232 9 $348

Total per Facility 84.1 $3,801 131.6 $5,928 179.1 $8,055

Average per Chemical 84.1 $3,801 65.8 $2,964 59.7 $2,685

Subsequent year filers

Calculations/ Certification - subsequent year

filers

9.3 $421 18.6 $842 27.9 $1,263 

Form A Completion - subsequent year filers 1.4 $59 1.4 $59 1.4 $59 

Recordkeeping/Submission 3 $116 6 $232 9 $348 

Total per Facility 13.7 $596 26 $1,133 38.3 $1,670 

Average per Chemical 13.7 $596 13 $567 12.8 $557 
17

6(c) Estimating Agency Burden and Cost

EPA will incur costs to process the Form As, perform outreach and training, disseminate

information, develop policy and guidance, respond to petitions, and perform compliance and

enforcement audits. EPA measures its resource requirements in terms of the number of forms that

must be processed. EPA employees (as measured by full time equivalents, or FTEs) and

extramural costs are separated into a fixed component and an variable component. The fixed

component of EPA FTEs and costs is described in the Form R ICR (OMB #2070-0093). The

variable component is the amount that varies depending on the number of forms. The variable

component reflects total extramural data processing costs divided by the total number of reports

processed in the 2000 reporting year. EPA expends $27.50 in variable costs for each form

processed. A total of 5,121 Form As are expected to be filed. Thus, the total annual burden to

EPA is estimated to be $140,828 in variable costs for Form A.

6(d) Bottom Line Burden Hours and Costs

Total respondent burden is related to the number of chemicals certifications reported on

the Form As and the number of facilities that file Form As. The number of respondents and

responses is based on the actual numbers of facilities making chemical certifications on Form As

in the latest reporting year. As shown in Table 3, usage of Form A has increased since 1995, the

first year the form was available. Starting in 1998, non-manufacturing industries began reporting

to TRI using both Form A and Form R. Also starting in 1998, respondents were allowed to make

multiple chemical certifications on a single Form A. Note that electronic submissions allow some

companies to report for multiple facilities on a single Form A, which is why there are fewer

facilities than Form As. Note also that facilities can file both Form Rs and Form As, so the total

number of TRI reporting facilities is less than the sum of facilities filing Form Rs and facilities

filing Form As.

Table 3

Usage of Form A vs. Form R

Form A Form R

Reporting Year Facilities Responses Chemicals Facilities Responses

1994 N/A N/A N/A 23,663 77,941

1995 3,231 6,865 6,865 21,373 70,749

1996 3,618 7,720 7,720 20,757 67,713

1997 5,185 10,947 10,947 19,594 64,148

1998 5,822 5,627 13,942 21,089 75,978

1999 5,444 5,085 12,894 20,167 72,450

2000 5,451 5,121 13,209 20,669 78,304

In an effort to reduce reporting burden, EPA has developed intelligent software for the
6 USEPA/OEI, Estimates of Burden Hours for Economic Analyses of the Toxics Release Inventory, June 10, 2002.

7

 Since 1994, there have been three reporting years with no major programmatic changes. Based on reporting for

1996, 1997, and 1999, the average rate of facilities that file using new TRIFIDs is 4.7%. These facilities filed an

average of 4.5% of the Form As. For the purposes of this ICR, these facilities represent "first-time filers."

18

desktop computer called TRI–Made Easy (TRI-ME) to assist facilities in determining and

completing their reporting obligations. Over the three years of the ICR period, EPA expects

adoption rates of TRI-ME to increase rapidly. For the purposes of this ICR, EPA uses an

annualized estimate of 60 percent of reports being filed using TRI-ME. Note that 73 percent of

responses were received electronically for the 1999 reporting year. For the 2000 reporting year,

this percentage increased to 79 percent. EPA expects to attain similar adoption rates for TRI-ME

by the end of the ICR renewal period. 

Based on responses from facilities that tested TRI-ME in Reporting Year 2000, EPA

expects that TRI-ME will result in a burden reduction of 25 percent in the activities of Form R

Completion and Recordkeeping/Submission.6

 For the Form A ICR, this burden reduction

estimate is applied to the activities of Calculations/Certification and Recordkeeping/Submission.

Total respondent burden and cost for Form A, including an adjustment for TRI-ME, is

shown in Table 4.7
19

Table 4

Total Annual Respondent Burden and Cost

ACTIVITY Hours Number of

Facilities

Number of

Chemicals

Total

Burden

Rule Familiarization - First-year filers 34.5 256 N/A 8,839 

Calculations/Certification - First-year filers 44.5 N/A 594 26,433 

Form A Completion - First-year filers 2.1 256 N/A 538 

TRI-ME Reduction - First-year filers (11.9) N/A 357 (4,248)

Calculations/Certification - Subsequent year filers 9.3 N/A 12,615 117,316 

Form A Completion - Subsequent year filers 1.4 5,195 N/A 7,273 

TRI-ME Reduction - Subsequent year filers (3.1) N/A 7,569 (23,464)

Recordkeeping/Submission - All filers 3 N/A 13,209 39,627 

Total Burden 172,313 

ACTIVITY Cost Number of

Facilities

Number of

Chemicals

Total Cost

Rule Familiarization - First-year filers $1,586 256 N/A $406,328 

Calculations/Certification - First-year filers $2,011 N/A 594 $1,194,534 

Form A Completion - First-year filers $88 256 N/A $22,545 

TRI-ME Reduction - First-year filers ($532) N/A 357 ($189,924)

Calculations/Certification - Subsequent year filers $421 N/A 12,615 $5,310,744 

Form A Completion - Subsequent year filers $59 5,195 N/A $306,493 

TRI-ME Reduction - Subsequent year filers ($134) N/A 7,569 ($1,014,246)

Recordkeeping/Submission - All filers $116 N/A 13,209 $1,532,244 

Total Cost $7,568,718 

Total annual respondent burden and cost for completing the Form A are estimated at 172,313

burden hours with a loaded labor cost of $7.57 million per year. Total EPA cost for processing

the Form As is estimated at $140,828 per year.

6(e) Reasons for Change in Burden

The estimated burden described above differs from what is currently in OMB’s inventory

for alternate threshold reporting: 14,793 responses (chemicals) and 644,761 burden hours. The

burden estimated in this supporting statement differs from OMB’s inventory as a result of

adjustments to estimates of the number of responses (from 14,793 responses (chemicals) to 5,121

responses (Form As)), changes to subsequent year unit reporting burden estimates (from 30.2 to

9.2 burden hours per chemical certified on a Form A), and an adjustment for use of TRI-ME for

those forms completed using TRI-ME. Table 5 summarizes the major program changes and

adjustments that have been made over the last several years, as well as changes due to

adjustments in this ICR supporting statement.

6(f) Burden Statement (To appear on Collection Instrument)
20

The annual public burden for this collection of information, which is approved under OMB

Control No. 2070-0143, is estimated to average 13.7 hours for a facility that certifies one

chemical per Form A. Responding to this information collection requires 1) determining whether

a listed toxic chemical is eligible for certification under the alternate threshold, and 2) completing

the Form A. The burden of determining eligibility for certification and associated recordkeeping

is estimated to average 12.3 hours for each chemical that is certified. The burden of completing

the Form A is estimated to average 1.4 hours, regardless of the number of chemicals being

certified. The total burden per response is the combination of these two, and will vary depending

on the number of listed toxic chemicals being certified. 

Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to

generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This

includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology

and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and

maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to

comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to

respond to a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review the collection of

information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the information. An agency may not conduct or

sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a

currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA’s regulations are listed

in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15.

To comment on the Agency's need for this information, the accuracy of the provided

burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent burden, including the use

of automated collection techniques, EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under

Docket ID No. OEI-2002-0004, which is available for public viewing at the OEI Docket in the

EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW,

Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30

p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Reading

Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the OEI Docket is (202) 566-1752. An

electronic version of the public docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at

http://www.epa.gov/edocket. Use EDOCKET to submit or view public comments, access the

index listing of the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in the public

docket that are available electronically. Once in the system, select “search,” then key in the

docket ID number identified above. Also, you can send comments to the Office of Information

and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW, Washington,

DC 20503, Attention: Desk Office for EPA. Please include the EPA Docket ID No. OEI- 2002-

0004 and OMB control number 2070-0143 in any correspondence. 

The completed forms should be submitted in accordance with the instructions

accompanying the form, or as specified in the corresponding regulation.
21

Table 5

Changes in Form A Burden

Activity - Explanation

# 1704 - Form A

(OMB #2070-0143)

# 1784 - Industry Expansion

(OMB #2070-0157)

 Responses Burden Hours Responses Burden Hours

1995 Program Change - Alternate

Threshold: This rule established an

alternate report for low reportable amounts

and had its own ICR.

23,288 803,436 — —

1995 Program Change - Petition

Delistings: EPA granted several petitions

to delist chemicals from the list of

chemicals subject to reporting.

-2,241 -77,539 — —

1996 Program Change - Petition

Delistings: -533 -18,442 — —

1996 Adjustment - Form A ICR

Renewal: Minor adjustment to burden. — + 2,328 — —

1997 Program Change - Industry

Expansion: This rule expanded the list of

industries subject to reporting under TRI. — — +45,415 +2,704,085

1997 Adjustment - ICR Amendments:

The burden hours for the industry

expansion rule (with minor adjustment to

burden) were incorporated into the Form R

and Form A ICRs by OMB.

+7,121 +281,517 -45,415 -2,704,085

1998 Form A ICR. Program Change:

Reporting change to allow submission of

multiple chemicals on a single Form A.

-14,478 -82,264 — —

1999 Adjustment - Form A ICR renewal - 4,085 - 262,161 — —

2000 Form A ICR Renewal +5,721 -2,114 — —

2003 Proposed Form A ICR Renewal:

This request incorporates accounting

adjustments to more accurately reflect

reporting burden and actual number of

responses.

-9,672 -472,448 — —

CURRENT TOTALS ---------------------- 5,121 172,313 0 0
A-1

ATTACHMENT A

RELEVANT STATUTES: EPCRA SECTION 313 AND PPA SECTION 6607
A-2

EMERGENCY PLANNING AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT SECTION 313

UNITED STATES CODE 

TITLE 42 - THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE 

CHAPTER 116 - EMERGENCY PLANNING AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW 

SUBCHAPTER I - EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NOTIFICATION 

§ 11023. Toxic chemical release forms 

 (a) Basic requirement 

 The owner or operator of a facility subject to the requirements of this section shall complete a

toxic chemical release form as published under subsection (g) of this section for each toxic

chemical listed under subsection (c) of this section that was manufactured, processed, or

otherwise used in quantities exceeding the toxic chemical threshold quantity established by

subsection (f) of this section during the preceding calendar year at such facility. Such form shall

be submitted to the Administrator and to an official or officials of the State designated by the

Governor on or before July 1, 1988, and annually thereafter on July 1 and shall contain data

reflecting releases during the preceding calendar year. 

 (b) Covered owners and operators of facilities 

 (1) In general 

 (A) The requirements of this section shall apply to owners and operators of

 facilities that have 10 or more full-time employees and that are in Standard

 Industrial Classification Codes 20 through 39 (as in effect on July 1, 1985) and

 that manufactured, processed, or otherwise used a toxic chemical listed under

 subsection (c) of this section in excess of the quantity of that toxic chemical

 established under subsection (f) of this section during the calendar year for

 which a release form is required under this section. 

 (B) The Administrator may add or delete Standard Industrial Classification

 Codes for purposes of subparagraph (A), but only to the extent necessary to

 provide that each Standard Industrial Code to which this section applies is

 relevant to the purposes of this section. 

 (C) For purposes of this section - 

 (i) The term "manufacture" means to produce, prepare, import, or

 compound a toxic chemical. 

 (ii) The term "process" means the preparation of a toxic chemical, after its

 manufacture, for distribution in commerce - (I) in the same form or

 physical state as, or in a different form or physical state from, that in

 which it was received by the person so preparing such chemical, or (II)
A-3

 as part of an article containing the toxic chemical. 

 (2) Discretionary application to additional facilities 

The Administrator, on his own motion or at the request of a Governor of a State (with

regard to facilities located in that State), may apply the requirements of this section to the

owners and operators of any particular facility that manufactures, processes, or otherwise

uses a toxic chemical listed under subsection (c) of this section if the Administrator

determines that such action is warranted on the basis of toxicity of the toxic chemical,

proximity to other facilities that release the toxic chemical or to population centers, the

history of releases of such chemical at such facility, or such other factors as the

Administrator deems appropriate. 

 (c) Toxic chemicals covered 

The toxic chemicals subject to the requirements of this section are those chemicals on

the list in Committee Print Number 99-169 of the Senate Committee on Environment

and Public Works, titled "Toxic Chemicals Subject to Section 313 of the Emergency

Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986" (42 U.S.C. 11023) (including

any revised version of the list as may be made pursuant to subsection (d) or (e) of this

section). 

 (d) Revisions by Administrator 

 (1) In general 

 The Administrator may by rule add or delete a chemical from the list described in

 subsection (c) of this section at any time. 

 (2) Additions 

A chemical may be added if the Administrator determines, in his judgment, that there

is sufficient evidence to establish any one of the following: 

 (A) The chemical is known to cause or can reasonably be anticipated to cause

 significant adverse acute human health effects at concentration levels that are

 reasonably likely to exist beyond facility site boundaries as a result of

 continuous, or frequently recurring, releases. 

 (B) The chemical is known to cause or can reasonably be anticipated to cause

 in humans - 

 (i) cancer or teratogenic effects, or 

 (ii) serious or irreversible - (I) reproductive dysfunctions, (II) neurological

 disorders, (III) heritable genetic mutations, or (IV) other chronic health

 effects. 

 (C) The chemical is known to cause or can reasonably be anticipated to cause,
A-4

 because of - 

 (i) its toxicity, 

 (ii) its toxicity and persistence in the environment, or 

 (iii) its toxicity and tendency to bioaccumulate in the environment, a

 significant adverse effect on the environment of sufficient seriousness, in

 the judgment of the Administrator, to warrant reporting under this section.

 The number of chemicals included on the list described in subsection C

 of this section on the basis of the preceding sentence may constitute in the

 aggregate no more than 25 percent of the total number of chemicals on

 the list. A determination under this paragraph shall be based on generally

 accepted scientific principles or laboratory tests, or appropriately

 designed and conducted epidemiological or other population studies,

 available to the Administrator. 

 (3) Deletions 

 A chemical may be deleted if the Administrator determines there is not sufficient

 evidence to establish any of the criteria described in paragraph (2). 

 (4) Effective date 

Any revision made on or after January 1 and before December 1 of any calendar year

shall take effect beginning with the next calendar year. Any revision made on or after

December 1 of any calendar year and before January 1 of the next calender year shall

take effect beginning with the calendar year following such next calendar year. 

 (e) Petitions 

 (1) In general 

Any person may petition the Administrator to add or delete a chemical from the list

described in subsection (c) of this section on the basis of the criteria in subparagraph

(A) or (B) of subsection (d)(2) of this section. Within 180 days after receipt of a

petition, the Administrator shall take one of the following actions: 

 (A) Initiate a rulemaking to add or delete the chemical to the list, in accordance

with subsection (d)(2) or (d)(3) of this section. 

 (B) Publish an explanation of why the petition is denied. 

 (2) Governor petitions 

A State Governor may petition the Administrator to add or delete a chemical from the

list described in subsection (c) of this section on the basis of the criteria in

subparagraph (A), (B), or (c) of subsection (d)(2) of this section. In the case of such

a petition from a State Governor to delete a chemical, the petition shall be treated in
A-5

the same manner as a petition received under paragraph (1) to delete a chemical. In

the case of such a petition from a State Governor to add a chemical, the chemical will

be added to the list within 180 days after receipt of the petition, unless the

Administrator -

 (A) initiates a rulemaking to add the chemical to the list, in accordance with

 subsection (d)(2) of this section, or 

 (B) publishes an explanation of why the Administrator believes the petition

 does not meet the requirements of subsection (d)(2) of this section for adding 

a chemical to the list. 

 (f) Threshold for reporting 

 (1) Toxic chemical threshold amount 

The threshold amounts for purposes of reporting toxic chemicals under this section

are as follows: 

 (A) With respect to a toxic chemical used at a facility, 10,000 pounds of the

 toxic chemical per year. 

 (B) With respect to a toxic chemical manufactured or processed at a facility - 

 (i) For the toxic chemical release form required to be submitted under this

 section on or before July 1, 1988, 75,000 pounds of the toxic chemical

 per year. 

 (ii) For the form required to be submitted on or before July 1, 1989,

 50,000 pounds of the toxic chemical per year. 

 (iii) For the form required to be submitted on or before July 1, 1990, and

 for each form thereafter, 25,000 pounds of the toxic chemical per year. 

 (2) Revisions 

The Administrator may establish a threshold amount for a toxic chemical different

from the amount established by paragraph (1). Such revised threshold shall obtain

reporting on a substantial majority of total releases of the chemical at all facilities

subject to the requirements of this section. The amounts established under this

paragraph may, at the Administrator's discretion, be based on classes of chemicals or

categories of facilities. 

 (g) Form 

 (1) Information required 

Not later than June 1, 1987, the Administrator shall publish a uniform toxic chemical

release form for facilities covered by this section. If the Administrator does not

publish such a form, owners and operators of facilities subject to the requirements of

this section shall provide the information required under this subsection by letter
A-6

postmarked on or before the date on which the form is due. Such form shall - 

 (A) provide for the name and location of, and principal business activities at, the

facility; 

 (B) include an appropriate certification, signed by a senior official with

 management responsibility for the person or persons completing the report,

 regarding the accuracy and completeness of the report; and 

 (C) provide for submission of each of the following items of information for each

listed toxic chemical known to be present at the facility: 

 (i) Whether the toxic chemical at the facility is manufactured, processed,

 or otherwise used, and the general category or categories of use of the

 chemical. 

 (ii) An estimate of the maximum amounts (in ranges) of the toxic chemical

 present at the facility at any time during the preceding calendar year. 

 (iii) For each waste stream, the waste treatment or disposal methods

 employed, and an estimate of the treatment efficiency typically achieved

 by such methods for that waste stream. 

 (iv) The annual quantity of the toxic chemical entering each environmental

 medium. 

 (2) Use of available data 

In order to provide the information required under this section, the owner or operator

of a facility may use readily available data (including monitoring data) collected

pursuant to other provisions of law, or, where such data are not readily available,

reasonable estimates of the amounts involved. Nothing in this section requires the

monitoring or measurement of the quantities, concentration, or frequency of any toxic

chemical released into the environment beyond that monitoring and measurement

required under other provisions of law or regulation. In order to assure consistency,

the Administrator shall require that data be expressed in common units. 

 (h) Use of release form 

The release forms required under this section are intended to provide information to

the Federal, State, and local governments and the public, including citizens of

communities surrounding covered facilities. The release form shall be available,

consistent with section 11044(a) of this title, to inform persons about releases of toxic

chemicals to the environment; to assist governmental agencies, researchers, and other

persons in the conduct of research and data gathering; to aid in the development of

appropriate regulations, guidelines, and standards; and for other similar purposes. 

 (I) Modifications in reporting frequency 

 (1) In general 
A-7

The Administrator may modify the frequency of submitting a report under this

section, but the Administrator may not modify the frequency to be any more often

than annually. A modification may apply, either nationally or in a specific geographic

area, to the following: 

 (A) All toxic chemical release forms required under this section. 

 (B) A class of toxic chemicals or a category of facilities. 

 (C) A specific toxic chemical. 

 (D) A specific facility. 

 (2) Requirements 

 A modification may be made under paragraph (1) only if the Administrator - 

 (A) makes a finding that the modification is consistent with the provisions of

 subsection (h) of this section, based on - 

 (i) experience from previously submitted toxic chemical release forms,

 and 

 (ii) determinations made under paragraph (3), and 

 (B) the finding is made by a rulemaking in accordance with section 553 of 

 title 5. 

 (3) Determinations 

The Administrator shall make the following determinations with respect to a

proposed modification before making a modification under paragraph (1): 

 (A) The extent to which information relating to the proposed modification

 provided on the toxic chemical release forms has been used by the

 Administrator or other agencies of the Federal Government, States, local

 governments, health professionals, and the public. 

 (B) The extent to which the information is (i) readily available to potential 

users from other sources, such as State reporting programs, and (ii) provided to the

Administrator under another Federal law or through a State program. 

 (C) The extent to which the modification would impose additional and

 unreasonable burdens on facilities subject to the reporting requirements under

 this section. 

 (4) 5-year review 

Any modification made under this subsection shall be reviewed at least once every 5

years. Such review shall examine the modification and ensure that the requirements of

paragraphs (2) and (3) still justify continuation of the modification. Any change to a

modification reviewed under this paragraph shall be made in accordance with this

subsection. 
A-8

 (5) Notification to Congress 

The Administrator shall notify Congress of an intention to initiate a rulemaking for a

modification under this subsection. After such notification, the Administrator shall

delay initiation of the rulemaking for at least 12 months, but no more than 24 months,

after the date of such notification. 

 (6) Judicial review 

 In any judicial review of a rulemaking which establishes a modification under this

 subsection, a court may hold unlawful and set aside agency action, findings, and

 conclusions found to be unsupported by substantial evidence. 

 (7) Applicability 

A modification under this subsection may apply to a calendar year or other reporting

period beginning no earlier than January 1, 1993. 

 (8) Effective date 

Any modification made on or after January 1 and before December 1 of any calendar

year shall take effect beginning with the next calendar year. Any modification made

on or after December 1 of any calendar year and before January 1 of the next calendar

year shall take effect beginning with the calendar year following such next calendar

year. 

 (j) EPA management of data 

The Administrator shall establish and maintain in a computer data base a national

toxic chemical inventory based on data submitted to the Administrator under this

section. The Administrator shall make these data accessible by computer

telecommunication and other means to any person on a cost reimbursable basis. 

 (k) Report 

Not later than June 30, 1991, the Comptroller General, in consultation with the

Administrator and appropriate officials in the States, shall submit to the Congress a

report including each of the following: 

 (1) A description of the steps taken by the Administrator and the States to implement

the requirements of this section, including steps taken to make information collected

under this section available to and accessible by the public. 

 (2) A description of the extent to which the information collected under this section

has been used by the Environmental Protection Agency, other Federal agencies, the

States, and the public, and the purposes for which the information has been used. 
A-9

 (3) An identification and evaluation of options for modifications to the requirements of

this section for the purpose of making information collected under this section more

useful. 

 (l) Mass balance study 

 (1) In general 

 The Administrator shall arrange for a mass balance study to be carried out by the

 National Academy of Sciences using mass balance information collected by the

 Administrator under paragraph (3). The Administrator shall submit to Congress a

 report on such study no later than 5 years after October 17, 1986. 

 (2) Purposes 

 The purposes of the study are as follows: 

 (A) To assess the value of mass balance analysis in determining the accuracy of

 information on toxic chemical releases. 

 (B) To assess the value of obtaining mass balance information, or portions

 thereof, to determine the waste reduction efficiency of different facilities, or

 categories of facilities, including the effectiveness of toxic chemical regulations

 promulgated under laws other than this chapter. 

 (C) To assess the utility of such information for evaluating toxic chemical

 management practices at facilities, or categories of facilities, covered by this

 section. 

 (D) To determine the implications of mass balance information collection on a

 national scale similar to the mass balance information collection carried out by

 the Administrator under paragraph (3), including implications of the use of such

collection as part of a national annual quantity toxic chemical release program. 

 (3) Information collection 

 (A) The Administrator shall acquire available mass balance information from

 States which currently conduct (or during the 5 years after October 17, 1986

 initiate) a mass balance-oriented annual quantity toxic chemical release program.

 If information from such States provides an inadequate representation of

 industry classes and categories to carry out the purposes of the study, the

 Administrator also may acquire mass balance information necessary for the

 study from a representative number of facilities in other States. 

 (B) Any information acquired under this section shall be available to the public,

 except that upon a showing satisfactory to the Administrator by any person that

the information (or a particular part thereof) to which the Administrator or any

officer, employee, or representative has access under this section if made public

would divulge information entitled to protection under section 1905 of title 18, such
A-10

information or part shall be considered confidential in accordance with the purposes

of that section, except that such information or part may be disclosed to other

officers, employees, or authorized representatives of the United States concerned

with carrying out this section. 

 (C) The Administrator may promulgate regulations prescribing procedures for

 collecting mass balance information under this paragraph. 

 (D) For purposes of collecting mass balance information under subparagraph

 (A), the Administrator may require the submission of information by a State or

 facility. 

 (4) Mass balance definition 

For purposes of this subsection, the term "mass balance" means an accumulation of the

annual quantities of chemicals transported to a facility, produced at a facility, consumed

at a facility, used at a facility, accumulated at a facility, released from a facility, and

transported from a facility as a waste or as a commercial product or byproduct or

component of a commercial product or byproduct. 
A-11

POLLUTION PREVENTION ACT SECTION 6607

UNITED STATES CODE

TITLE 42 - THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE

CHAPTER 133 - POLLUTION PREVENTION

§ 13106. Source reduction and recycling data collection 

 (a) Reporting requirements 

 Each owner or operator of a facility required to file an annual toxic chemical release form

under section 11023 of this title for any toxic chemical shall include with each such annual

filing a toxic chemical source reduction and recycling report for the preceding

calendar year. The toxic chemical source reduction and recycling report shall cover each

toxic chemical required to be reported in the annual toxic chemical release form filed by the

owner or operator under section 11023(c) of this title. This section shall take effect with the

annual report filed under section 11023 of this title for the first full calendar year beginning

after November 5, 1990. 

 (b) Items included in report 

 The toxic chemical source reduction and recycling report required under subsection (a) of

this section shall set forth each of the following on a facility-by-facility basis for each toxic

chemical: 

. (1) The quantity of the chemical entering any waste stream (or otherwise released

into the environment) prior to recycling, treatment, or disposal during the calendar

year for which the report is filed and the percentage change from the previous year.

The quantity reported shall not include any amount reported under paragraph (7).

When actual measurements of the quantity of a toxic chemical entering the waste

streams are not readily available, reasonable estimates should be made based on best

engineering judgment

 (2) The amount of the chemical from the facility which is recycled (at the facility or

elsewhere) during such calendar year, the percentage change from the previous year,

 and the process of recycling used. 

 (3) The source reduction practices used with respect to that chemical during such year

at the facility. Such practices shall be reported in accordance with the following

categories unless the Administrator finds other categories to be more appropriate. 

 (A) Equipment, technology, process, or procedure modifications. 

 (B) Reformulation or redesign of products. 

 (C) Substitution of raw materials. 

 (D) Improvement in management, training, inventory control, materials 

handling, or other general operational phases of industrial facilities. 

 (4) The amount expected to be reported under paragraph (1) and (2) for the two
A-12

calendar years immediately following the calendar year for which the report is filed.

Such amount shall be expressed as a percentage change from the amount reported in

paragraphs (1) and (2). 

 (5) A ratio of production in the reporting year to production in the previous year. The

ratio should be calculated to most closely reflect all activities involving the toxic

chemical. In specific industrial classifications subject to this section, where a

feedstock or some variable other than production is the primary influence on waste

characteristics or volumes, the report may provide an index based on that primary

variable for each toxic chemical. The Administrator is encouraged to develop

production indexes to accommodate individual industries for use on a voluntary basis. 

 (6) The techniques which were used to identify source reduction opportunities.

 Techniques listed should include, but are not limited to, employee recommendations,

external and internal audits, participative team management, and material balance

audits. Each type of source reduction listed under paragraph (3) should be associated

with the techniques or multiples of techniques used to identify the source reduction

technique. 

 (7) The amount of any toxic chemical released into the environment which resulted

from a catastrophic event, remedial action, or other one-time event, and is not

associated with production processes during the reporting year. 

 (8) The amount of the chemical from the facility which is treated (at the facility or

 elsewhere) during such calendar year and the percentage change from the previous

year. For the first year of reporting under this subsection, comparison with the

previous year is required only to the extent such information is available. 

 (c) SARA provisions 

 The provisions of sections 11042, 11045(c), and 11046 of this title shall apply to the

 reporting requirements of this section in the same manner as to the reports required 

under section 11023 of this title. The Administrator may modify the form required for 

purposes of reporting information under section 11023 of this title to the extent he deems

necessary to include the additional information required under this section. 

 (d) Additional optional information 

 Any person filing a report under this section for any year may include with the report

 additional information regarding source reduction, recycling, and other pollution 

control techniques in earlier years. 

 (e) Availability of data 

 Subject to section 11042 of this title, the Administrator shall make data collected 

under this section publicly available in the same manner as the data collected under section

11023 of this title. 
B- 1

ATTACHMENT B

40 CFR Part 372: Toxic Chemical Release Reporting: 

Community Right-to-Know 
C-1

ATTACHMENT C

Form A Certification Statement 

EPA Form 9350-2 (Proposed Revision)

(Note: An electronic copy of this attachment is not available. Please contact the

Environmental Protection Agency at the address noted in the Federal Register notice for a

complete copy of this ICR.)
D-1

ATTACHMENT D

TRI REPORTING PACKAGE FOR 2000 REPORTING CYCLE

(EPA 745-B-00-001, FEBRUARY 2001). 

INCLUDES INSTRUCTIONS FOR FORM A CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

(Note: An electronic copy of this attachment is not available. Please contact the

Environmental Protection Agency at the address noted in the Federal Register notice for a

complete copy of this ICR.)
E-1

ATTACHMENT E

EPA ICR 1704.06, OMB No. 2070-0143, 

Response to Public Comments
F-1

ATTACHMENT F

EPA ICR 1704.06, OMB No. 2070-0143, 

Response to OMB Terms of Clearance Notice

January 18, 2001
F-2

Alternate Threshold for Low Annual Reportable Amounts; 

Toxic Chemical Release Reporting; 

Response to OMB Terms of Clearance Notice

OMB Control Number: 2070-0143, OMB Expiration Date: 01/31/2003

Background

On January 18, 2001, OMB approved EPA ICR 1704-05, OMB Control Number 

2070-0143, for two years with terms related to burden reduction to be responded to at the

time of submission of the ICR renewal. This submission constitutes EPA’s response to

OMB’s terms of clearance for EPA ICR 1704-05, Alternate Threshold for Low Annual

Reportable Amounts, and is being submitted to OMB as an attachment to its request for

OMB approval of EPA ICR 

1704-06, Alternate Threshold for Low Annual Reportable Amounts, due to expire on

January 31, 2003.

For this ICR renewal (1704.06, OMB Control No. 2070-0143), EPA estimates that

the total average annual burden hour estimate for the Form A Certification Statement is 13.7

hours for a facility submitting a single certification statement under the Emergency Planning

and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) section 313. The estimate of total burden for

reporting using the Form A Certification Statement is 145,534 burden hours. This year’s

estimate represents a substantial reduction in burden, over 500,000, than what is currently in

OMB’s inventory for alternate threshold reporting, 644,761 burden hours. As described in

detail in Section 6 of the Supporting Statement for the EPA ICR 1704.06 renewal, this

reduction in the burden estimate for the Form A Certification Statement is a result of

adjustments to estimates of number of responses, changes to unit reporting burden estimates,

and an adjustment for use of TRI-ME (TRI Made-Easy reporting software). TRI-ME is an

intelligent reporting software program that is expected to significantly decrease the reporting

burden by walking filers through the reporting process, eliminating much of the analysis

required to make compliance determinations and calculate release quantities. Burden

reduction with TRI-ME is estimated to be 15-20% for all TRI reporters.

Use and Potential Use of the Form A Certification Statement

Tables 1 through 4 present information on Form A Certification Statement usage

over time and in reporting year 2000. Table 1 presents facilities’ usage of the Form A

Certification Statement from reporting year 1995, the first year that alternate threshold

reporting was in effect, to 2000, the last reporting year for which data have been submitted. 

Form A Certification Statement usage increased somewhat from 1995 to 1997, and has

remained relatively constant since 1997. 
F-3

Table 1: Actual Form A Usage Over Time

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Percent of All Forms 8.8% 10.2% 14.6% 15.5% 15.1% 14.4%

Percent of All Facilities 14.0% 15.9% 23.3% 24.1% 23.6% 23.2%

Note: As of 2000, PBT chemicals with lower thresholds could not be reported on Form A. Excluding reports

on PBT chemicals, Form As comprised 15.6% of all forms in 2000.

Table 2 describes current utilization of the Form A Certification Statement.

Expanding Form A Certification Statement eligibility by raising established thresholds seems

premature given that the Form A Certification Statement is underutilized by reporting

facilities at current threshold levels. Table 3 describes actual and potential Form A

Certification Statement reporting in terms of the number of chemicals affected. Table 4

describes Form A Certification Statement usage at the facility level. 

Table 2: Reporting Year 2000 Use and Potential Use of the Form A Certification Statement

Number of

Chemicals

Reported on

Form A

Percent of Total

Forms

Number of

Facilities

Percent of All

Facilities

Submitted 13,209 14.4 5,451 23.2

Submitted plus

Potential Form As

23,976 26.2 10,736 45.7

Notes:

1. "Number of Facilities" refers to the number of facilities that submitted at least 1 Form A Certification

Statement.

2. "Potential Form As" are Form Rs that have a total of current year section 8.1 through 8.7 of 500 lbs. or

less.

 

Table 3: Number of Chemicals Affected

Number of chemicals eligible

for

100% Form A conversion 

Total number of chemicals

reported on Form A

Actual 24 32

Potential 50 72

Table 4: Information Affected at the Facility Level
F-4

Facilities submitting at least 1

Form A Certification Statement

Facilities Submitting Only Form A

Certification Statements (no Form R

reports)

Actual 5,451 2,942

Potential 10,736 4,677

In addition to emphasizing its availability during TRI training sessions, EPA has

considered at length several other options for reducing burden in TRI reporting using the

Form A Certification Statement. Each option considered and its feasability are discussed

below.

Alternate year reporting

This option assumes that EPA would modify the TRI reporting frequency to a two

year reporting cycle (i.e., facilities would only report TRI data every other year). Although

biennial reporting appears on the surface to provide a significant avenue for reducing burden

for TRI reporters, statutory findings and the process required to achieve the modification do

not support it. First, to meet statutory requirements on modifying the reporting frequency,

EPA must first notify Congress and then wait to initiate the rulemaking to propose the

modification for at least 12 months. In addition, EPA must find: 

(A) ...that the modification is consistent with the provisions of subsection (h) of [section 313]

based on -

 (i) experience from previously submitted toxic chemical release forms, 

 (ii) determinations made under paragraph (3).]

Paragraph (3), in turn, provides that EPA must determine

 (A) The extent to which information relating to the proposed modification provided on the

toxic chemical release forms has been used by the Administrator or other agencies of the

Federal government, States, local governments, health professionals and the public.

 (B) The extent to which information is (i) readily available to potential users from other

sources, such as State reporting programs, and (ii) provided to the Administrator under

another Federal law or through as State program.

 (C) The extent to which the modification would impose additional and unreasonable

burdens on facilities subject to the reporting requirements under this section.

EPA is concerned about the availability of information that would allow the Agency to make

the requisite findings under paragraph 3(B); for example, EPA has received only 1 year of

data from facilities reporting at the lower lead thresholds, and the Agency believes that

information reported annually to the TRI program is not "readily available" from any existing
F-5

source. In addition, other EPA and State databases simply cannot substitute for the

multimedia data that is reported under EPCRA Section 313 or the Pollution Prevention Act

of 1990 (PPA). The other existing EPA databases encompass much more limited chemical

information and do not substitute for TRI data in terms of frequency of reporting, and the

ease of use and access that the TRI program provides to the public. In addition, the potential

burden reduction of this option would be limited by the need for facilities to re-familiarize

themselves with reporting procedures in alternate years. Although re-familiarization would

probably be somewhat less burdensome than first-year reporting, this would substantially

reduce potential burden reduction. Finally, EPA requested comment on a similar option

during the PBT rulemaking. See, 64 Fed. Reg. 688, 718-719 (January 5, 1999). The

majority of commenters expressed concern that such an option would introduce confusion

for the regulated community and data users and would not significantly reduce burden. 

Further, they expressed concern that it could discourage facilities from establishing common

standard procedures for data collection. Commenters also expressed concern that it would

result in data gaps, undermining data consistency and tracking. Many commenters believed

that time-series reporting is a fundamental attribute of TRI.

Streamlined certification of "no significant change" in alternate years.

This option would allow facilities to certify that their releases and other waste

management quantities reported for the current reporting year have not changed significantly

from the previous reporting year. 

This option would not represent a significant burden reduction because facilities must

first calculate their releases and other waste management quantities in order to determine that

they have not significantly changed. In addition, EPA would need to determine whether this

option is equivalent to a modification in reporting frequency and how such arguments would

be addressed (see discussion in Alternate year reporting section above). It would also need

to be decided whether this option essentially grants a de minimis exemption in total

quantities, and, if so, whether total quantity can be justified under the plain language of the

statute and whether other regulatory exemptions need to be modified to take this into

account. 

Expanding Form A Certification Statement Eligibility

Under EPCRA section 313(f)(2), EPA may revise thresholds only to the extent that

the revised threshold obtains reporting on a substantial majority of total releases of the

chemical at all facilities subject to EPCRA section 313. For purposes of determining what

constitutes a "substantial majority of total releases," EPA interprets the language in section

313(f)(2), "facilities subject to the requirements of [section 313]," to refer to those facilities

that fall within the category of facilities described by sections 313(a) and (b)Bi.e., the facilities

currently reporting. Subsection (a) lays out the general requirement that "the owner or

operator of facilities subject to the requirements of this section shall" file a report under
F-6

EPCRA section 313. Subsection (b) then defines the facilities subject to the requirements of

this section: 

[t]he requirements of this section shall apply to owners and operators of facilities that

have 10 or more full-time employees and that are in Standard Industrial Classification

Codes 20-39,... and that manufactured, processed, or otherwise used a toxic chemical

listed under subsection (c) of this section in excess of the quantity of that toxic

chemical established under subsection (f) of this section during the calendar year for

which a toxic chemical release form is required under this section.

Thus, in revising the reporting thresholds, EPA must ensure that under the new thresholds a

substantial majority of releases currently being reported will continue to be reported. The

Agency has no information, at this stage, to indicate that it will be able to meet this standard

were it to increase the Form A thresholds.

Further, it is important for the public to know detailed information about even small

quantities of toxic chemicals in waste from facilities that handle high volumes of listed toxic

chemicals. Efficient toxic chemical management practices of these facilities provide an

example to other facilities of these practices. Also, if such facilities continue to be required

to use the Form R, the chances of facilities that manage large volumes of listed toxic

chemicals inappropriately would be reduced.

 Exclude Recycling and Energy Recovery Quantities and Increase the Level of

the Production-Related Waste Threshold from the Current 500 lbs. to 1000,

2000, or 5000 lbs. 

If certain waste management practices are excluded from the waste threshold

calculation, greater amounts of toxic chemicals in waste will no longer be reported, and

members of the public who use TRI information to identify opportunities for increasing such

beneficial uses, as well as initiatives that support reduction measures, could lose valuable

information about what facilities are doing in these areas and how much material is still being

managed as waste. 

In addition, Section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (PPA) specifically

requires facilities that must comply with section 313 of EPCRA to provide source reduction

and recycling data. PPA section 6607(b)(2) requires reporting of "[t]he amount of the

chemical from the facility which is recycled (at the facility or elsewhere) during such calendar

year, the percentage change from the previous year, and the process of recycling used." 

Congress passed the PPA to collect additional data as a means to measure industry’s

progress in reducing waste. Section 6602(a)(4) of the PPA states that "Source reduction is

fundamentally different and more desirable than waste management and pollution control. 

The Environmental Protection Agency needs to address the historical lack of attention to

source reduction." Excluding volumes associated with waste management activities such as
F-7

recycling and energy recovery from the waste threshold calculation may undermine source

reduction and conflict with national policy established by the PPA.

In 1998, the National Environmental Trust (NET), examined a proposal from the

National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT) Toxics

Data Reporting (TDR) Committee to increase the annual reportable waste amount criterion

from 500 pounds to 5,000 pounds. The TDR Committee thought that the loss of TRI data

would be too great, and did not support making any changes to the current level of the waste

criterion. The committee supported attempts to encourage more complete use of the Form A

under current eligibility requirements.

The next two tables, Table 5 and 6, present impacts from changing the basis of the

threshold determination and increasing the levels of the production-related waste reportable

amount. These analyses are based on data received for TRI reporting year 2000. Table 5

presents the estimated impacts in terms of data lost compared to cost savings under different

scenarios when the production-related waste reportable amount is increased from the current

level of 500 lbs. to 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 lbs. The first scenario presented is an increase in

the current level of production-related waste to 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 lbs. using Form R

items 8.1 through 8.7 (the current basis for the reportable amount determination. The second

scenario presented changes the categories of toxic chemical in waste included in the waste

reportable amount calculation (excludes quantities recycled and quantities used for energy

recovery - items 8.2 through 8.5 from the waste reportable amount calculation).

Table 6 presents the estimated potential impacts on reporting facilities from the same

options presented in Table 5.
F-8

Table 5: Estimated Impacts of Various Options (based on 2000 data)

(1) (2) (3) Chemicals on Form A Only (4) (5)

Option Level (lbs)

ProductionRelated

Waste

(8.1.thru 8.7) 

Pounds not

reported on

Form R

Releases (8.1

+ 8.8)

Pounds not

reported on

Form R

Reduction

in 

Number of 

Form Rs No. of 

Chemicals

No. of 

Form Rs

Quantity

(8.1-8.7)

Annua

Cost

Savin

(millio

Current Basis 

(8.1 thru 8.7)

500-Full Use 1,330,741 2,389,233 10,767 50 72 4,639 $

1000 3,875,826 4,081,703 14,251 56 87 9,211 $2000 9,552,002 7,422,484 18,137 64 108 28,790 $5000 28,568,903 17,414,133 23,873 77 161 89,302 $

No Recycling or

Energy Recovery

 (8.1 + 8.6 + 8.7)

500 1,435,168,715 5,473,561 20,368 55 81 185,370 $

1000 1,847,956,425 8,576,614 24,748 64 111 439,094 $2000 2,249,751,138 13,693,001 29,179 71 141 468,080 $5000 3,284,827,530 28,164,572 34,936 84 213 6,429,245 $

Notes:1. Total Production-Related Waste (sum 8.1 through 8.7) for reporting year 2000 is 37,814,548,752 pounds (PBTs were excluded from this total).2. Total "Releases" including releases from non-production related activities (sum 8.1 plus 8.8) for reporting year 2000 is 7,186

 (PBTs were excluded from this total)3. Total forms received for reporting year 2000 was 91,513. Total forms minus PBT reporting was 84,612.4. Chemicals for which all submissions may be limited to Form As (total listed toxic chemicals are approximately 650, total che

 reported in 2000 was 511. 5. Based on an average cost of $841 per Form R and $596 per Form A. This includes calculations, report completion, recordke and submission.
F-9

Table 6: Estimated Impacts of Various Options on Reporting Facilities (based on 2000 data)

Scenario Level

(lbs)

Number of

Form Rs

Lost

Number of Facilities Potentially Affected

At least 1

 Form A

Percent of

total 

Facilities

All Reports on Form 

A (No Form R)

Percent of Total

Facilities

Current 

Basis

(8.1 thru

8.7)

500- full use 10,767 10,736 45.7 4,677 19.9

1000 14,251 12,124 51.6 5,276 22.5

2000 18,137 13,438 57.2 6,024 25.7

5000 23,873 15,312 65.2 7,360 31.3

No Recycling

or

Energy

Recovery

(8.1+8.6+8.7) 

500 20,368 14,795 63.0 7,262 30.9

1000 24,748 16,178 68.9 8,175 34.8

2000 29,179 17,345 73.9 9,165 39.0

5000 34,936 18,794 80.0 10,670 45.4

 Adjusting Activity Threshold Amounts for the Form A Certification Statement

EPA established the threshold amounts for the Form A Certification Statement in the

Alternate Threshold Final Rule of November 30, 1994. The current "alternate threshold" is 

1 million pounds of the chemical that is manufactured, processed or otherwise used at the

facility. A facility that does not exceed 500 pounds of total production-related waste for a

given listed toxic chemical may apply the alternate threshold of 1 million pounds to that listed

toxic chemical. At the time of the alternate threshold final rule, the 1 million pound threshold

was selected by EPA because it was determined that the 1 million pound threshold would

exclude few facilities that met the 500 pound total production-related waste criterion. The

following statements taken from that final rule support the establishment of the alternate

threshold for manufacture, process and otherwise use of one million pounds and annual

reportable amounts of five hundred pounds:

"Through this rule, EPA’s intent was to provide a reporting modification that delivers

some degree of regulatory relief while continuing to capture relevant data. The 1 million

pound alternate threshold represents an attempt to balance these two concerns."

"EPA has established the alternate threshold for manufacture, process and otherwise

use of 1 million pounds in order to provide those facilities with annual reportable amounts

not exceeding 500 pounds per chemical with a lower burden reporting option, while

preserving more detailed data for facilities that manufacture, process, or otherwise use larger

volumes of chemicals. A 1 million pound alternate threshold for amounts manufactured or
F-10

processed, with annual reportable amounts not exceeding 500 pounds, represents an

efficiency of 99.95 percent and EPA believes this level is likely to include the vast majority of

facilities meeting the category. EPA also believes that establishing the alternate threshold at

1 million pounds is an effective means to retain more detailed information where exceedingly

large volumes of toxic chemicals are managed."

Although raising the alternate threshold would increase the number of facilities that

use Form A Certification Statement, thereby reducing their recordkeeping and reporting

requirements, EPA believes it is unlikely that a significant proportion of facilities are

currently prevented from using the Form A Certification Statement for this reason. Also,

under EPCRA section 313(f)(2), EPA may revise thresholds only to the extent that the

revised threshold obtains reporting on a substantial majority of total releases of the chemical

at all facilities subject to EPCRA section 313. 

It is important for the public to know detailed information about even small waste

quantities from facilities that handle such high volumes of listed toxic chemicals. Efficient

toxic chemical management practices of these facilities could provide an example to other

facilities of these practices. Also, if such facilities continue to be required to use the Form R,

the chances of facilities that manage large volumes of listed toxic chemical inappropriately

using the Form A Certification Statement would be reduced. 

Conclusions

If the Form A Certification Statement was fully utilized, an additional annual cost

savings of $2.6 million could be realized. However, increasing the production-related waste

quantity or excluding certain production-waste categories would lead to significant losses of

data in terms of releases and production-related waste that would not be reported. EPA does

not believe that the additional cost savings justify these losses in data to the public. Further,

by increasing the production-related waste criterion or by excluding certain types of waste

management quantities, EPA does not believe it can meet the requirements of EPCRA

section 313(f)(2). EPA believes that TRI-ME and other methods that reduce reporting

burden without eliminating data are approaches that deserve further investigation and

investment. Over the period of the ICR renewal, TRI-ME is anticipated to reduce the burden

of Form R and Form A reporting by approximately $12 million and 283,631 hours. This

reduction in burden and cost is much more substantial than that offered by expanding

eligibility for Form A, and does not lead to additional loss of data.