30054 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 27, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

N.J.A.C. 7:27B–3.10. Procedures for the 

determination of volatile organic 

compounds in surface coating 

formulations 

N.J.A.C. 7:27B–3.11. Procedures for the 

determination of volatile organic 

compounds emitted from transfer 

operations using a flame ionization 

detector (FID) or non-dispersive infrared 

analyzer (NDIR) 

N.J.A.C. 7:27B–3.12. Procedures for the 

determination of volatile organic 

compounds in cutback and emulsified 

asphalts 

N.J.A.C. 7:27B–3.13. Procedures for the 

determination of leak tightness of 

gasoline delivery vessels 

N.J.A.C. 7:27B–3.14. Procedures for the direct 

detection of fugitive volatile organic 

compound leaks 

N.J.A.C. 7:27B–3.15. Procedures for the direct 

detection of fugitive volatile organic 

compound leaks from gasoline tank 

trucks and vapor collection systems 

using a combustible gas detector 

N.J.A.C. 7:27B–3.18. Test methods and 

sources incorporated by reference 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2018–13577 Filed 6–26–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 713 

[EPA–HQ–OPPT–2017–0421; FRL–9979–74] 

RIN 2070–AK22 

Mercury; Reporting Requirements for 

the TSCA Mercury Inventory 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: As required under section 

8(b)(10)(D) of the Toxic Substances 

Control Act (TSCA), EPA is finalizing 

reporting requirements for applicable 

persons to provide information to assist 

in the preparation of an ‘‘inventory of 

mercury supply, use, and trade in the 

United States,’’ where ‘‘mercury’’ is 

defined as ‘‘elemental mercury’’ and ‘‘a 

mercury compound.’’ The requirements 

apply to any person who manufactures 

(including imports) mercury or 

mercury-added products, or otherwise 

intentionally uses mercury in a 

manufacturing process. Based on the 

inventory of information collected, the 

Agency is directed to ‘‘identify any 

manufacturing processes or products 

that intentionally add mercury; and . . . 

recommend actions, including proposed 

revisions of Federal law or regulations, 

to achieve further reductions in mercury 

use.’’ At this time, EPA is not making 

such identifications or 

recommendations. 

DATES: This final rule is effective August 

27, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: The docket for this action, 

identified by docket identification (ID) 

number EPA–HQ–OPPT–2017–0421, is 

available at http://www.regulations.gov 

or at the Office of Pollution Prevention 

and Toxics Docket (OPPT Docket), 

Environmental Protection Agency 

Docket Center (EPA/DC), West William 

Jefferson Clinton Bldg., Rm. 3334, 1301 

Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. 

The 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 Public 

Reading Room is (202) 566–1744, and 

the telephone number for the OPPT 

Docket is (202) 566–0280. Please review 

the visitor instructions and additional 

information about the docket available 

at http://www.epa.gov/dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

For technical information contact: 

Thomas Groeneveld, National Program 

Chemicals Division, Office of Pollution 

Prevention and Toxics, Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460–0001; 

telephone number: (202) 566–1188; 

email address: groeneveld.thomas@

epa.gov. 

For general information contact: The 

TSCA-Hotline, ABVI-Goodwill, 422 

South Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 

14620; telephone number: (202) 554– 

1404; email address: TSCA-Hotline@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Executive Summary 

A. Does this action apply to me? 

You may be potentially affected by 

this action if you manufacture 

(including import) mercury or mercuryadded products, or if you otherwise 

intentionally use mercury in a 

manufacturing process. The following 

list of North American Industrial 

Classification System (NAICS) codes is 

not intended to be exhaustive, but rather 

provides a guide to help readers 

determine whether this document 

applies to them. Potentially affected 

entities may include the following: 

• Gold ore mining (NAICS code 

212221). 

• Lead ore and zinc ore mining 

(NAICS code 212231). 

• All other metal ore mining (NAICS 

code 212299). 

• Asphalt shingle and coating 

materials manufacturing (NAICS code 

324122). 

• Synthetic dye and pigment 

manufacturing (NAICS code 325130). 

• Other basic inorganic chemical 

manufacturing (NAICS code 325180). 

• All other basic organic chemical 

manufacturing (NAICS code 325199). 

• Plastics material and resin 

manufacturing (NAICS code 325211). 

• Pesticide and other agricultural 

chemical manufacturing (NAICS code 

325320). 

• Medicinal and botanical 

manufacturing (NAICS code 325411). 

• Pharmaceutical preparation 

manufacturing (NAICS code 325412). 

• Biological product (except 

diagnostic) manufacturing (NAICS code 

325414). 

• Paint and coating manufacturing 

(NAICS code 325510). 

• Adhesive manufacturing (NAICS 

code 325520). 

• Custom compounding of purchased 

resins (NAICS code 325991). 

• Photographic film, paper, plate, and 

chemical manufacturing (NAICS code 

325992). 

• All other miscellaneous chemical 

product and preparation manufacturing 

(NAICS code 325998). 

• Unlaminated plastics film and sheet 

(except packaging) manufacturing 

(NAICS code 326113). 

• Unlaminated plastics profile shape 

manufacturing (NAICS code 326121). 

• Urethane and other foam product 

(except polystyrene) manufacturing 

(NAICS code 326150). 

• All other plastics product 

manufacturing (NAICS code 326199). 

• Tire manufacturing (NAICS code 

326211). 

• All other rubber product 

manufacturing (NAICS code 326299). 

• Iron and steel mills and ferroalloy 

manufacturing (NAICS code 331110). 

• Rolled steel shape manufacturing 

(NAICS code 331221). 

• Alumina refining and primary 

aluminum production (NAICS code 

331313). 

• Secondary smelting and alloying of 

aluminum (NAICS code 331314). 

• Nonferrous metal (except 

aluminum) smelting and refining 

(NAICS code 331410). 

• Secondary smelting, refining, and 

alloying of nonferrous metal (except 

copper and aluminum) (NAICS code 

331492). 

• Iron foundries (NAICS code 

331511). 

• Steel foundries (except investment) 

(NAICS code 331513). 

• Fabricated structural metal 

manufacturing (NAICS code 332312). 

• Industrial valve manufacturing 

(NAICS code 332911). 

• Ammunition except small arms 

manufacturing (NAICS code 332993). 

• Small arms, ordnance, and 

ordnance accessories manufacturing 

(NAICS code 332994). 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 27, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 30055 

• All other miscellaneous fabricated 

metal product manufacturing (NAICS 

code 332999). 

• Food product machinery 

manufacturing (NAICS code 333294). 

• Office machinery manufacturing 

(NAICS code 333313). 

• Other commercial and service 

industry machinery manufacturing 

(NAICS code 333319). 

• Heating equipment (except warm 

air furnaces) manufacturing (NAICS 

code 333414). 

• Air-conditioning and warm air 

heating equipment and commercial and 

industrial refrigeration equipment 

manufacturing (NAICS code 333415). 

• Pump and pumping equipment 

manufacturing (NAICS code 333911). 

• Bare printed circuit board 

manufacturing (NAICS code 334412). 

• Semiconductor and related device 

manufacturing (NAICS code 334413). 

• Other electronic component 

manufacturing (NAICS code 334419). 

• Electromedical and 

electrotherapeutic apparatus 

manufacturing (NAICS code 334510). 

• Search, detection, navigation, 

guidance, aeronautical, and nautical 

system and instrument manufacturing 

(NAICS code 334511). 

• Automatic environmental control 

manufacturing for residential, 

commercial, and appliance use (NAICS 

code 334512). 

• Instruments and related products 

manufacturing for measuring, 

displaying, and controlling industrial 

process variables (NAICS code 334513). 

• Totalizing fluid meter and counting 

device manufacturing (NAICS code 

334514). 

• Instrument manufacturing for 

measuring and testing electricity and 

electrical signals (NAICS code 334515). 

• Analytical laboratory instrument 

manufacturing (NAICS code 334516). 

• Watch, clock, and part 

manufacturing (NAICS code 334518). 

• Other measuring and controlling 

device manufacturing (NAICS code 

334519). 

• Electric lamp bulb and part 

manufacturing (NAICS code 335110). 

• Commercial, industrial, and 

institutional electric lighting fixture 

manufacturing (NAICS code 335122). 

• Other lighting equipment 

manufacturing (NAICS code 335129). 

• Electric house wares and household 

fan manufacturing (NAICS code 

335211). 

• Household vacuum cleaner 

manufacturing (NAICS code 335212). 

• Household cooking appliance 

manufacturing (NAICS code 335221). 

• Household refrigerator and home 

freezer manufacturing (NAICS code 

335222). 

• Household laundry equipment 

manufacturing (NAICS code 335224). 

• Other major household appliance 

manufacturing (NAICS code 335228). 

• Switchgear and switchboard 

apparatus manufacturing (NAICS code 

335313). 

• Relay and industrial control 

manufacturing (NAICS code 335314). 

• Primary battery manufacturing 

(NAICS code 335912). 

• Current-carrying wiring device 

manufacturing (NAICS code 335931). 

• All other miscellaneous electrical 

equipment and component 

manufacturing (NAICS code 335999). 

• Automobile manufacturing (NAICS 

code 336111). 

• Light truck and utility vehicle 

manufacturing (NAICS code 336112). 

• Heavy duty truck manufacturing 

(NAICS code 336120). 

• Motor home manufacturing (NAICS 

code 336213). 

• Travel trailer and camper 

manufacturing (NAICS code 336214). 

• Other aircraft parts and auxiliary 

equipment manufacturing (NAICS code 

336413). 

• Boat building (NAICS code 336612). 

• Motorcycles and parts 

manufacturing (NAICS code 336991). 

• Surgical and medical instrument 

manufacturing (NAICS code 339112). 

• Costume jewelry and novelty 

manufacturing (NAICS code 339914). 

• Game, toy, and children’s vehicle 

manufacturing (NAICS code 339932). 

• Sign manufacturing (NAICS code 

339950). 

• Other chemical and allied products 

merchant wholesalers (NAICS code 

424690). 

• Research and development in the 

physical, engineering, and life sciences 

(except biotechnology) (NAICS code 

541712). 

• Hazardous waste treatment and 

disposal (NAICS code 562211). 

• Other nonhazardous waste 

treatment and disposal (NAICS code 

562219). 

• Materials recovery facilities (NAICS 

code 562920). 

• National security (NAICS code 

928110). 

B. What action is the Agency taking? 

EPA is issuing a final rule under 

TSCA section 8(b)(10) to require 

reporting to assist in the preparation of 

‘‘an inventory of mercury supply, use, 

and trade in the United States,’’ where 

‘‘mercury’’ is defined as ‘‘elemental 

mercury’’ and ‘‘a mercury compound.’’ 

Hereinafter ‘‘mercury’’ will refer to both 

elemental mercury and mercury 

compounds collectively, except where 

separately identified. This final rule 

requires reporting from any person who 

manufactures (including imports) 

mercury or mercury-added products, or 

otherwise intentionally uses mercury in 

a manufacturing process. EPA published 

its initial inventory report in the 

Federal Register on March 29, 2017 

(Ref. 1), which noted data gaps and 

limitations encountered by the Agency 

in its historic reliance on publicly 

available data on the mercury market in 

the United States. As stated in the initial 

inventory report, ‘‘[f]uture triennial 

inventories of mercury supply, use, and 

trade are expected to include data 

collected directly from persons who 

manufacture or import mercury or 

mercury-added products, or otherwise 

intentionally use mercury in a 

manufacturing process’’ (Ref. 1). These 

reporting requirements will help the 

Agency narrow such data gaps, prepare 

subsequent, triennial publications of the 

inventory, and execute the mandate to 

‘‘identify any manufacturing processes 

or products that intentionally add 

mercury; and . . . recommend actions, 

including proposed revisions of Federal 

law or regulations, to achieve further 

reductions in mercury use’’ (15 U.S.C. 

2607(b)(10)(C)). 

In addition, this information could be 

used by the U.S. Government to assist 

in its national reporting regarding its 

implementation of the Minamata 

Convention on Mercury (Minamata 

Convention), to which the United States 

is a Party (Ref. 2). The Minamata 

Convention is an international 

environmental agreement that has as its 

objective the protection of human health 

and the environment from 

anthropogenic emissions and releases of 

elemental mercury and mercury 

compounds. Article 21 of the 

Convention requires Parties to include 

in their national reports, among other 

information, information demonstrating 

that the Party has met the requirements 

of Article 3 on Mercury Supply Sources 

and Trade and of Article 5 on 

Manufacturing Processes in Which 

Mercury or Mercury Compounds Are 

Used. EPA intends to use the collected 

information from the mercury inventory 

to implement TSCA and assist in its 

national reporting for the Minamata 

Convention as well as to shape the 

Agency’s efforts to reduce the use of 

mercury in commerce. In so doing, the 

Agency will conduct a timely evaluation 

and refinement of these reporting 

requirements so that they are efficient 

and non-duplicative for reporters. 

EPA issued the proposed rule for this 

action in the Federal Register on 

October 26, 2017 with a December 26, 

2017 deadline for comments (Ref. 3); in 

response to two requests, the deadline 


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30056 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 27, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

was extended to January 11, 2018 (Ref. 

4). Based on comments received, the 

Agency modified the regulatory text to 

improve the logic and flow of sections, 

to clarify various terms and reporting 

requirements, and to eliminate several 

quantitative reporting requirements. 

Such issues are discussed in greater 

detail in Unit III. and the Response to 

Comments document for this rule (Ref. 

5). 

The reporting requirements for 

supply, use, and trade of mercury 

include activities that are established 

TSCA terms: Manufacture, import, 

distribution in commerce, storage, and 

export. The reporting requirements also 

apply to otherwise intentional use of 

mercury in a manufacturing process. 

Persons who manufacture (including 

import) mercury or mercury-added 

products, or otherwise intentionally use 

mercury in a manufacturing process, are 

required to report amounts of mercury 

in pounds (lbs.) used in such activities 

during a designated reporting year. 

Reporters also are required to identify 

specific mercury compounds, mercuryadded products, manufacturing 

processes, and how mercury is used in 

manufacturing processes, as applicable, 

from preselected lists. For certain 

activities, reporters are required to 

provide additional, contextual data (e.g., 

NAICS codes for mercury or mercuryadded products distributed in 

commerce). 

The finalized reporting requirements 

do not apply to: (1) Persons who do not 

first manufacture, import, or otherwise 

intentionally use mercury; (2) persons 

who only generate, handle, or manage 

mercury-containing waste; (3) persons 

who only manufacture mercury as an 

impurity; and (4) persons engaged in 

activities involving mercury not with 

the purpose of obtaining an immediate 

or eventual commercial advantage (see 

Unit III.D.2.). Within the category of 

persons who must report, there are 

certain persons who are not required to 

provide specific data elements. To avoid 

reporting that is unnecessary or 

duplicative, the Agency is finalizing 

certain exemptions for persons who 

already report for mercury and mercuryadded products to the TSCA section 8(a) 

Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule and 

the Interstate Mercury Education and 

Reduction Clearinghouse (IMERC) 

Mercury-added Products Database, 

respectively. Such reporters are not 

required to respond to certain data 

elements of the mercury reporting 

application that are comparable to data 

they also report in response to CDR and 

IMERC reporting requirements. 

C. Why is the Agency taking this action? 

EPA is issuing this final rule under 

TSCA section 8(b)(10) to require 

reporting to assist in the preparation of 

the statutorily-required inventory of 

mercury supply, use, and trade in the 

United States. As indicated in the initial 

inventory report (Ref. 1), this final rule 

will support future triennial 

publications of the mercury inventory 

by establishing reporting requirements 

and an electronic application and 

database to collect, store, and analyze 

information provided by applicable 

respondents. In administering this 

mercury inventory, the Agency will 

‘‘identify any manufacturing processes 

or products that intentionally add 

mercury; and . . . recommend actions, 

including proposed revisions of Federal 

law or regulations, to achieve further 

reductions in mercury use’’ (15 U.S.C. 

2607(b)(10)(C)). 

D. What is the Agency’s authority for 

taking this action? 

EPA is issuing this rule pursuant to 

TSCA section 8(b)(10)(D) to implement 

the direction at TSCA section 

8(b)(10)(B) that ‘‘[n]ot later than April 1, 

2017, and every 3 years thereafter, the 

Administrator shall carry out and 

publish in the Federal Register an 

inventory of mercury supply, use, and 

trade in the United States.’’ TSCA 

section 8(b)(10)(D) requires EPA to 

promulgate a final rule by June 22, 2018 

that establishes reporting requirements 

applicable to any person who 

manufactures mercury or mercuryadded products or otherwise 

intentionally uses mercury in a 

manufacturing process to assist in the 

preparation of the inventory. 

In addition, the Paperwork Reduction 

Act (PRA) requires Federal agencies to 

manage information resources to reduce 

information collection burdens on the 

public; increase program efficiency and 

effectiveness; and improve the integrity, 

quality, and utility of information to all 

users within and outside an agency, 

including capabilities for ensuring 

dissemination of public information, 

public access to Federal Government 

information, and protections for privacy 

and security (44 U.S.C. 3506). 

TSCA section 2 expresses the intent of 

Congress that EPA carry out TSCA in a 

reasonable and prudent manner and in 

consideration of the impacts that any 

action taken under TSCA may have on 

the environment, the economy, and 

society. EPA will manage and leverage 

its information resources, including 

information technology, and the Agency 

is requiring the use of electronic 

reporting to implement the mercury 

inventory reporting requirements of 

TSCA section 8(b)(10)(D) in a reasonable 

and prudent manner. 

E. What are the estimated incremental 

impacts of the final rule? 

EPA prepared an economic analysis of 

the potential impacts associated with 

this rulemaking (Ref. 6). The chief 

benefit of the final rule is the collection 

of detailed data on mercury, which will 

serve as a basis to recommend actions 

to further reduce mercury use in the 

United States, as required at TSCA 

section 8(b)(10)(C). Another benefit is 

the use of information collected under 

the final rule to help the United States 

implement its obligations under the 

Minamata Convention. While there are 

no quantified benefits for the final rule, 

the statutory mandate specifically calls 

for and authorizes a rule to support an 

inventory of mercury supply, use, and 

trade in the United States, to identify 

any manufacturing processes or 

products that intentionally add 

mercury, and to recommend actions to 

achieve further reductions in mercury 

use. As described in the Agency’s 

economic analysis, unquantified 

benefits include providing increased 

information on mercury and assisting in 

the reduction of mercury use (Ref. 6). To 

the extent that the information gathered 

through this rule is used to reduce 

mercury use, benefits to society may 

result from a reduction in exposure. 

TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF COSTS AND BENEFITS

Category Description 

Benefits ................................ The final rule will provide information on mercury and mercury-added products to which the Agency (and the public) does not currently have access. To the extent that the information gathered through this final rule is used to 

reduce mercury use, benefits to society may result from a reduction in risk. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 27, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 30057 

TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF COSTS AND BENEFITS—Continued 

Category Description 

Costs .................................... Estimated industry costs and burden total $5.83 million and 72,600 hours (for 750 respondents) for the first year 

of reporting, with an individual estimate of $7,800 and 97 hours. For future triennial reporting cycles, industry 

costs and burden will be $4.04 million and 50,200 hours, with an individual estimate of $5,400 and 67 hours. 

These estimates include compliance determination, rule familiarization, CBI substantiation, electronic reporting, 

and recordkeeping, in addition to completing reporting requirements. 

Effects on State, Local, and 

Tribal Governments.

Government entities are not expected to be subject to the rule’s requirements, which apply to entities that manufacture (including import) mercury or mercury-added products, or otherwise intentionally use mercury in a manufacturing process. The final rule does not have a significant intergovernmental mandate, significant or unique 

effect on small governments, or have Federalism implications. 

Small Entity Impacts ............ The final rule will impact 211 companies that meet the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) definitions for 

their respective NAICS classifications: Four small entities (1.85%) are expected to incur impacts of 1% percent 

or greater. No small entity assessed is expected to incur an impact of greater than 3%. Five companies could 

not be verified as small entities. Even if the entities whose status is ‘‘undetermined’’ were assumed to be impacted small entities, this would result in only nine entities (4.17%). Therefore, EPA certifies that this action will 

not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 

Environmental Justice and 

Protection of Children.

The information obtained from the reporting required by this final rule will be used to inform the Agency’s decision-making process regarding chemicals to which minority or low-income populations or children may be disproportionately exposed. This information will also assist the Agency and others in determining whether elemental mercury and mercury compounds addressed in this final rule present potential risks, allowing the Agency and others to take appropriate action to investigate and mitigate those risks. 

II. Background 

A. Recent Amendments to TSCA and 

the Initial Inventory 

The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical 

Safety for the 21st Century Act 

(Lautenberg Act) (Pub. L. 114–182, 130 

Stat. 448), enacted on June 22, 2016, 

implemented reforms to TSCA (15 

U.S.C. 2601 et seq.). Among other 

changes to TSCA, the Lautenberg Act 

amended TSCA section 8(b) to require 

EPA to establish: (1) An inventory of 

mercury supply, use, and trade in the 

United States; and (2) reporting 

requirements by rule applicable to any 

person who manufactures mercury or 

mercury-added products or otherwise 

intentionally uses mercury in a 

manufacturing process not later than 

June 22, 2018 (15 U.S.C. 2607(b)(10)). 

Information collected per the reporting 

requirements will be used to 

periodically update the mercury 

inventory; identify any manufacturing 

processes or products that intentionally 

add mercury; and recommend actions, 

including proposed revisions of federal 

law or regulations, to achieve further 

reductions in mercury use (15 U.S.C. 

2607(b)(10)(B) and (C)). The Lautenberg 

Act also added certain mercury 

compounds to the TSCA section 12(c) 

ban on export of elemental mercury and 

authorized EPA to ban the export of 

additional mercury compounds by rule. 

Additional information on the 

Lautenberg Act is available on EPA’s 

website at https://www.epa.gov/ 

assessing-and-managingchemicalsunder-tsca/frank-r-lautenbergchemical-safety-21st-century-act. 

Prior to developing its initial 

inventory, EPA reviewed federal and 

state reports and databases, among other 

sources, to assemble a collection of 

available information on mercury, 

mercury-added products, and 

manufacturing processes involving 

mercury (Ref. 1). In reviewing data 

obtained, the Agency found that its 

baseline of data lacked the specificity 

and level of detail required to develop 

a mercury inventory responsive to 

TSCA section 8(b)(10)(D) or to be useful 

to inform mercury use reduction efforts 

for both the public and private sectors 

(Ref. 1). In 2015, to develop its 

understanding of domestic mercury 

supply and trade, the Agency collected 

information on the quantity of mercury 

sold in the United States for the years 

2010 and 2013 from five companies 

identified as the primary recyclers and 

distributors of mercury in the United 

States (Ref. 7), which revealed a gap 

between available data on the amount of 

mercury within sold mercury-added 

products and the amount of bulk 

elemental mercury sold in the United 

States. Additional Agency research 

identified a data gap for the amount of 

mercury in exported mercury-added 

products. The Agency also is seeking to 

identify and differentiate between the 

amount of mercury in imported versus 

domestically manufactured mercuryadded products. EPA is committed to 

further addressing such data gaps and 

considers the national mercury 

inventory mandated by Congress to be 

an instrumental means to establish the 

requisite body of information to support 

achievement of that goal. 

B. Stakeholder Involvement 

In developing the proposed rule, the 

Agency coordinated with the Northeast 

Waste Management Officials’ 

Association, which administers the 

IMERC database, as directed by TSCA 

section 8(b)(10)(D)(ii). 

C. Public Comments 

During the public comment period 

(October 26, 2017 to January 11, 2018) 

for the proposed rule, EPA received 89 

comments. After careful review, the 

Agency determined that 27 of those 

comments were substantively or 

procedurally relevant to the proposed 

rule, while 55 comments were not 

applicable, germane, or responsive. EPA 

received six comments generally 

supportive of the proposed rule and one 

comment related to mercury use, but 

exceeded the Agency’s understanding of 

the statutory scope of ‘‘mercury supply, 

use, and trade in the United States.’’ All 

comments received are identified by 

docket identification (ID) number EPA– 

HQ–OPPT–2017–0421 and available at 

https://www.regulations.gov. Included 

in this docket is the Response to 

Comments document for this rule 

(Ref. 5). 

III. Provisions of This Final Rule 

This final rule provides for the 

collection of information that allows 

EPA to implement statutory 

requirements at TSCA section 

8(b)(10)(B), which directs that ‘‘[n]ot 

later than April 1, 2017, and every 3 

years thereafter, the Administrator shall 

carry out and publish in the Federal 

Register an inventory of mercury 

supply, use, and trade in the United 

States’’. Based on the inventory, the 

Agency is directed to ‘‘identify any 

manufacturing processes or products 

that intentionally add mercury; and . . . 


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30058 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 27, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

recommend actions, including proposed 

revisions of Federal law or regulations, 

to achieve further reductions in mercury 

use.’’ EPA’s rationale for fulfilling 

specific statutory provisions and terms, 

including summaries of public 

comments received and Agency 

responses and determinations for the 

final rule, are set forth by topic as 

follows. Some of these issues are 

discussed in greater detail in the 

Response to Comments document for 

this rule (Ref. 5), which is available at 

docket ID number EPA–HQ–OPPT– 

2017–0421 at https://

www.regulations.gov. 

A. Definition of Mercury 

TSCA section 8(b)(10)(A) states 

‘‘notwithstanding [TSCA] section 

3(2)(B), the term ‘mercury’ means . . . 

elemental mercury; and . . . a mercury 

compound.’’ As such, the definition for 

mercury at TSCA section 8(b)(10)(A) 

supersedes the exclusions for ‘‘chemical 

substances’’ described in TSCA section 

3(2)(B) that would otherwise apply to 

mercury, mercury-added products, or 

otherwise intentional uses of mercury in 

manufacturing processes. For example, 

any ‘‘drug, cosmetic, or device’’ as 

described in TSCA section 3(2)(B)(vi), 

should such items contain mercury, are 

not excluded from reporting under this 

final rule. 

The Agency proposed that where EPA 

distinguishes between elemental 

mercury and mercury compounds, 

elemental mercury be limited to 

elemental mercury as described by its 

Chemical Abstracts Service Registry 

Number (CASRN 7439–97–6) and 

mercury compounds be inclusive of all 

instances where elemental mercury or a 

mercury compound is reacted with 

another chemical substance. Examples 

of mercury compounds in the TSCA 

Chemical Substance Inventory are listed 

in Table 2. 

TABLE 2—LIST OF MERCURY COMPOUNDS

Chemical Abstracts 

Service Registry No. Mercury compound 

10045–94–0 ................... Nitric acid, mercury(2+) salt (2:1). 

100–57–2 ....................... Mercury, hydroxyphenyl-. 

10112–91–1 ................... Mercury chloride (Hg2Cl2). 

10124–48–8 ................... Mercury amide chloride (Hg(NH2)Cl). 

103–27–5 ....................... Mercury, phenyl(propanoato-.kappa.O)-. 

10415–75–5 ................... Nitric acid, mercury(1+) salt (1:1). 

104–60–9 ....................... Mercury, (9-octadecenoato-.kappa.O)phenyl-. 

1191–80–6 ..................... 9-Octadecenoic acid (9Z)-, mercury(2+) salt (2:1). 

12068–90–5 ................... Mercury telluride (HgTe). 

13170–76–8 ................... Hexanoic acid, 2-ethyl-, mercury(2+) salt (2:1). 

13302–00–6 ................... Mercury, (2-ethylhexanoato-.kappa.O)phenyl-. 

1335–31–5 ..................... Mercury cyanide oxide (Hg2(CN)2O). 

1344–48–5 ..................... Mercury sulfide (HgS). 

1345–09–1 ..................... Cadmium mercury sulfide. 

13876–85–2 ................... Mercurate(2-), tetraiodo-, copper(1+) (1:2), (T-4)-. 

138–85–2 ....................... Mercurate(1-), (4-carboxylatophenyl)hydroxy-, sodium (1:1). 

141–51–5 ....................... Mercury, iodo(iodomethyl)-. 

14783–59–6 ................... Mercury, bis[(2-phenyldiazenecarbothioic acid-.kappa.S) 2-phenylhydrazidato-.kappa.N2]-, (T-4)-. 

15385–58–7 ................... Mercury, dibromodi-, (Hg-Hg). 

15785–93–0 ................... Mercury, chloro[4-[(2,4-dinitrophenyl)amino]phenyl]-. 

15829–53–5 ................... Mercury oxide (Hg2O). 

1600–27–7 ..................... Acetic acid, mercury(2+) salt (2:1). 

1785–43–9 ..................... Mercury, chloro(ethanethiolato)-. 

19447–62–2 ................... Mercury, (acetato-.kappa.O)[4-[2-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]diazenyl]phenyl]-. 

20582–71–2 ................... Mercurate(2-), tetrachloro-, potassium (1:2), (T-4)-. 

20601–83–6 ................... Mercury selenide (HgSe). 

21908–53–2 ................... Mercury oxide (HgO). 

22450–90–4 ................... Mercury(1+), amminephenyl-, acetate (1:1). 

24579–90–6 ................... Mercury, chloro(2-hydroxy-5-nitrophenyl)-. 

24806–32–4 ................... Mercury, [.mu.-[2-dodecylbutanedioato(2-).kappa.O1:.kappa.O4]]diphenyldi-. 

26545–49–3 ................... Mercury, (neodecanoato-.kappa.O)phenyl-. 

27685–51–4 ................... Cobaltate(2-), tetrakis(thiocyanato-.kappa.N)-, mercury(2+) (1:1), (T-4)-. 

29870–72–2 ................... Cadmium mercury telluride ((Cd,Hg)Te). 

3294–57–3 ..................... Mercury, phenyl(trichloromethyl)-. 

33770–60–4 ................... Mercury, [3,6-dichloro-4,5-di(hydroxy-.kappa.O)-3,5cyclohexadiene-1,2-dionato(2-)]-. 

3570–80–7 ..................... Mercury, bis(acetato-.kappa.O)[.mu.-(3′,6′-dihydroxy-3oxospiro[isobenzofuran-1(3H),9′-[9H]xanthene]-2′,7′diyl)]di-. 

537–64–4 ....................... Mercury, bis(4-methylphenyl)-. 

539–43–5 ....................... Mercury, chloro(4-methylphenyl)-. 

54–64–8 ......................... Mercurate(1-), ethyl[2-(mercapto-.kappa.S)benzoato(2-).kappa.O]-, sodium (1:1). 

55–68–5 ......................... Mercury, (nitrato-.kappa.O)phenyl-. 

56724–82–4 ................... Mercury, phenyl[(2-phenyldiazenecarbothioic acid.kappa.S) 2-phenylhydrazidato-.kappa.N2]-. 

587–85–9 ....................... Mercury, diphenyl-. 

592–04–1 ....................... Mercury cyanide (Hg(CN)2). 

592–85–8 ....................... Thiocyanic acid, mercury(2+) salt (2:1). 

593–74–8 ....................... Mercury, dimethyl-. 

59–85–8 ......................... Mercurate(1-), (4-carboxylatophenyl)chloro-, hydrogen. 

623–07–4 ....................... Mercury, chloro(4-hydroxyphenyl)-. 

62–38–4 ......................... Mercury, (acetato-.kappa.O)phenyl-. 

62638–02–2 ................... Cyclohexanebutanoic acid, mercury(2+) salt (2:1). 

627–44–1 ....................... Mercury, diethyl-. 

6283–24–5 ..................... Mercury, (acetato-.kappa.O)(4-aminophenyl)-. 

628–86–4 ....................... Mercury, bis(fulminato-.kappa.C)-. 


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1Under section 6939f(g)(2) of the Resource 

Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) (42 U.S.C. 

6939f(g)(2)), U.S. Department of Energy is required 

to establish a facility by 2019 ‘‘for the purpose of 

long-term management and storage of elemental 

mercury generated within the United States.’’ Until 

that facility is operational, the elemental mercury 

can be stored at facilities with RCRA permits, or 

onsite at some mining operations that generate 

elemental mercury. In both cases, the facility is 

allowed to store elemental mercury waste (without 

regard to the RCRA prohibition on hazardous waste 

storage in lieu of treatment and disposal) until the 

planned DOE facility is operational and accepts 

elemental mercury for long-term management and 

storage. All facilities or companies storing waste in 

this manner, whether in the mining sector or not, 

are required to certify in writing to the DOE that 

they will store the mercury under certain 

conditions set forth in RCRA, including not selling 

the mercury. 

TABLE 2—LIST OF MERCURY COMPOUNDS—Continued 

Chemical Abstracts 

Service Registry No. Mercury compound 

629–35–6 ....................... Mercury, dibutyl-. 

63325–16–6 ................... Mercurate(2-), tetraiodo-, (T-4)-, hydrogen, compd. with 5-iodo-2-pyridinamine (1:2:2). 

63468–53–1 ................... Mercury, (acetato-.kappa.O)(2-hydroxy-5-nitrophenyl)-. 

63549–47–3 ................... Mercury, bis(acetato-.kappa.O)(benzenamine)-. 

68201–97–8 ................... Mercury, (acetato-.kappa.O)diamminephenyl-, (T-4)-. 

72379–35–2 ................... Mercurate(1-), triiodo-, hydrogen, compd. with 3-methyl2(3H)-benzothiazolimine (1:1:1). 

7439–97–6 ..................... Mercury. 

7487–94–7 ..................... Mercury chloride (HgCl2). 

7546–30–7 ..................... Mercury chloride (HgCl). 

7616–83–3 ..................... Perchloric acid, mercury(2+) salt (2:1). 

7774–29–0 ..................... Mercury iodide (HgI2). 

7783–33–7 ..................... Mercurate(2-), tetraiodo-, potassium (1:2), (T-4)-. 

7783–35–9 ..................... Sulfuric acid, mercury(2+) salt (1:1). 

7783–39–3 ..................... Mercury fluoride (HgF2). 

7789–47–1 ..................... Mercury bromide (HgBr2). 

90–03–9 ......................... Mercury, chloro(2-hydroxyphenyl)-. 

94070–93–6 ................... Mercury, [.mu.-[(oxydi-2,1-ethanediyl 1,2benzenedicarboxylato-.kappa.O2)(2-)]]diphenyldi-. 

The Agency received a comment 

requesting an explanation for the 

Agency decision to not adopt the 

definition for ‘‘mercury compound’’ 

used by the Minamata Convention (‘‘any 

substance consisting of atoms of 

mercury and one or more atoms of other 

chemical elements that can be separated 

into different components only by 

chemical reactions’’) (Ref. 8). Another 

commenter requested that the Agency 

clarify whether there is a concentration 

limit for classifying a material as 

elemental mercury and if EPA intends 

to require parties to report the 

manufacture or use of all mercury 

compounds, or only those that are listed 

on the TSCA Inventory (Ref. 9). 

Consistent with the discussion in the 

proposed rule, the Agency did not 

define specific terms for purposes of the 

mercury inventory in the regulatory 

text. Instead, the Agency considered and 

synthesized descriptions of applicable 

definitions found in TSCA and 

implementing regulations, as well as the 

Minamata Convention. To that end, EPA 

proposed that ‘‘elemental mercury be 

limited to elemental mercury (CASRN 

7439–97–6) and mercury compounds be 

inclusive of all instances where 

elemental mercury or a mercury 

compound is reacted with another 

chemical substance’’ (Ref. 3). In regard 

to the definition of ‘‘mercury 

compound’’ set forth in the Minamata 

Convention, EPA finds the language in 

the proposed rule to be clear and 

comparable to the definition under the 

Minamata Convention. EPA is therefore 

retaining its proposed characterization. 

EPA also provides an extensive, though 

not comprehensive, list of compounds 

for which reporting is required based on 

CASRN. EPA’s statutory obligations are 

to prepare the mercury inventory (15 

U.S.C. 2607(b)(10)(B)) and to develop 

identifications and recommendations to 

reduce the use of mercury (15 U.S.C. 

2607(b)(10)(C)); nonetheless, EPA 

believes the resulting reporting will 

assist the United States in implementing 

the Minamata Convention. 

In regard to establishing a 

concentration limit for elemental 

mercury, the statutory text at TSCA 

section 8(b)(10)(A)(i) uses the term 

‘‘elemental mercury’’ without 

qualification. Therefore, the Agency 

believes that it is appropriate to identify 

elemental mercury by use of its CASRN 

and without a concentration limit. 

B. Explanation of Supply, Use, and 

Trade 

1. Overview of the Proposed Scope. 

Pursuant to TSCA section 8(b)(10)(B), 

EPA interprets the scope of the mercury 

inventory to include activities within 

the domestic and global commodity 

mercury market that fall under ‘‘supply, 

use, and trade of mercury in the United 

States.’’ An inventory that adequately 

accounts for mercury in supply, use, 

and trade includes activities of persons 

who must report as described in TSCA 

section 8(b)(10)(D)(i): Manufacture, 

import, and otherwise intentionally use 

mercury in a manufacturing process. As 

such, the Agency proposed that persons 

required to report to the mercury 

inventory also include information on 

distribution in commerce, storage, and 

export to provide for the requisite 

inventory of mercury supply, use, and 

trade in the United States (Ref. 3). 

2. Comments Related to Terminology. 

The Agency received comments 

requesting clarification of the 

descriptions of various terms, including: 

Mercury handled as waste, including 

elemental mercury destined for longterm storage; otherwise intentionally 

use mercury in a manufacturing process; 

impurities present in a final product; 

commercial purposes; mercury-added 

products and components; and 

‘‘persons.’’ As described in Unit III.A., 

the Agency did not define specific terms 

for purposes of the mercury inventory in 

the regulatory text. Instead, the Agency 

considered and synthesized 

descriptions of applicable definitions 

found in TSCA and implementing 

regulations, as well as the Minamata 

Convention. 

• Mercury Handled as Waste, 

Including Elemental Mercury Destined 

for Long-Term Storage. EPA received 

comments on reporting of mercury by 

facilities that certify that their stored 

elemental mercury will not be sold,1

including instances where mercury is 

produced as a mining byproduct and is 

managed as a hazardous waste (Ref. 10; 

Ref. 11; Ref. 12). Other comments 

addressed imported mercury-containing 

materials or wastes from which mercury 

can be recovered. Commenters 

emphasized that any exemption should 


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only apply to mercury that is clearly not 

intended to be used for commercial 

purposes (Ref. 10; Ref. 11). 

EPA agrees with the commenters that 

elemental mercury waste, whether 

generated from mining or another 

process, that is being stored (or 

accumulated on-site and destined for 

storage) for eventual transfer to the DOE 

long-term mercury storage facility, 

should not be subject to the reporting 

requirements because it is waste, which 

is exempt from this rule in accordance 

with TSCA section 8(10)(D)(iii). If any 

person manufactures elemental 

mercury, including recovery from waste 

or as a byproduct from mining or any 

other activity, and has not made the 

decision to store it for transfer to the 

DOE storage facility or to otherwise 

handle it as waste, then that person 

must report that mercury. The Agency 

considers such mercury to be a 

commodity, not waste, and, therefore, 

part of the U.S. mercury supply. 

EPA partially agrees with the 

comment that any mercury available for 

sale or otherwise available for 

commercial use including incidentally 

produced mercury should be captured 

in the inventory. Mercury produced as 

a byproduct and sold or otherwise made 

available for commercial use, for 

example by mines, must be reported 

(unless managed as waste), even if it 

may be considered incidentally 

produced. However, mercury that is 

present after the production of a 

commodity (e.g., coal ash or cement), 

but serves no function in the final 

product, is not subject to reporting 

requirements set forth by this rule. 

EPA agrees with the same commenter 

that if mercury-containing materials or 

waste are imported into the United 

States and the mercury is then 

recovered from such materials/waste, 

then this mercury must be reported 

upon recovery unless the mercury is 

immediately managed as waste under 

RCRA. An importer of such material or 

waste would only report the mercury if 

it is the same entity that recovers the 

mercury. 

• Otherwise Intentionally Use 

Mercury in a Manufacturing Process. 

Commenters suggested that defining 

‘‘otherwise intentionally use mercury in 

a manufacturing process’’ in the 

regulatory text would clarify reporting 

requirements (Ref. 13) and requested 

that EPA limit ‘‘manufacturing process’’ 

to the actual chemistry performed 

during such a process (Ref. 14). 

In general, the Agency agrees with 

these comments. Notwithstanding 

differences in the statutory text (i.e., 

‘‘add’’ and ‘‘uses’’ in the context of how 

the mercury is used in a manufacturing 

process (see 15 U.S.C. 2607(b)(10)(C)(i) 

and (D)(i)), EPA believes that Congress 

meant to emphasize instances where 

persons intentionally introduce mercury 

into U.S. supply, use, and trade. As 

such, EPA agrees with commenters that, 

in the context of intentional use of 

mercury in a manufacturing process, it 

is the intentional use of elemental 

mercury or a mercury compound for a 

specific purpose (e.g., a catalyst, 

cathode, reactant, reagent, etc.) that 

triggers reporting requirements. The 

Agency also appreciates the suggestion 

of how it might qualify persons and 

activities subject to reporting 

requirements by adding ‘‘intentional’’ in 

applicable regulatory text. However, to 

the extent that terms in the regulatory 

text are drawn from 15 U.S.C. 2602 and 

2607(b)(10), the Agency prefers to align 

with the statutory terms as much as 

possible. EPA further clarified 

interpretations of these terms in this 

rule. Forthcoming support and outreach 

materials, which will be available on the 

EPA website six months prior to the 

reporting deadline, also will attempt to 

illustrate such terms and issues. 

• Impurities Present in a Final 

Product. The Agency received 

comments regarding inconsistencies 

related to if and how impurities would 

be reported by persons who 

intentionally use mercury in a 

manufacturing process. The commenters 

argue that EPA’s proposal to not require 

reporting of impurities for manufactured 

mercury and mercury-added products is 

inconsistent with the requirement to 

report impurities in end products that 

result from the intentional use of 

mercury in a manufacturing process 

(Ref. 8; Ref. 15). The commenters 

opined that reporting mercury present 

as an impurity (i.e., reporting 

unintentional presence) would be overly 

burdensome, unreasonable, and would 

not add any real value to the mercury 

inventory (Ref. 8; Ref. 15). 

In the proposed rule, the Agency 

described impurities in regard to 

whether ‘‘such chemical substances are 

intentionally generated and whether 

such substances are used for 

commercial purposes.’’ In order to 

clarify, EPA finds the definition of 

‘‘impurity’’ at 40 CFR 704.3 to be 

instructive: ‘‘chemical substance which 

is unintentionally present with another 

chemical substance.’’ Thus, after 

reconsideration, the Agency determined 

that to require reporting of amounts of 

mercury unintentionally present in a 

final product would contradict the logic 

set forth by the Agency regarding the 

intentional addition of mercury where 

mercury remains present in the final 

product for a particular purpose (Ref. 3). 

EPA believes the quantity of mercury 

used in the manufacturing process, how 

the mercury is used and for what 

purpose, to which NAICS code a final 

product is distributed, and to which 

country(ies) the final product is 

exported provide adequate information 

about manufacturing processes that 

involve the intentional use of mercury 

to support the supply, use, and trade 

national inventory. Thus, the 

unintentional quantity of mercury in 

final products that result from such 

processes is not required. Should the 

Agency need additional information 

regarding any mercury present as an 

impurity, it may seek such information 

from the reporter, as necessary. 

Therefore, the Agency is not requiring 

the reporting of impurities for the 

mercury inventory and revised the 

regulatory text accordingly. 

• Commercial Purposes. The Agency 

received a comment that requested 

clarity on the use of ‘‘commercial 

purpose,’’ particularly within the 

context of the proposed rule preamble, 

which discussed certain byproducts and 

impurities the Agency proposed 

excluding from reporting (Ref. 11). 

Another commenter suggested that 

EPA’s intentions would be clearer if it 

specified that to be reportable, the 

activities (e.g., manufacture, import, 

otherwise intentionally use mercury in 

a manufacturing process) must be for 

commercial purposes (Ref. 10). 

In the proposed rule, the Agency 

discussed its attempt to build on 

existing regulatory text applicable to 

TSCA section 8 reporting (Ref. 3). TSCA 

section 8(f) states ‘‘[f]or purposes of 

[TSCA section 8], the terms 

‘manufacture’ and ‘process’ mean 

manufacture or process for commercial 

purposes.’’ Thus, EPA reads ‘‘for 

commercial purposes’’ to apply to the 

TSCA section 8(b)(10)(D)(i) terms 

‘‘manufactures’’ (including imports) and 

‘‘otherwise intentionally uses mercury 

in a manufacturing process’’ (i.e., 

comparable to ‘‘process’’ as defined at 

TSCA section 3(13)). 

As used in 40 CFR 704.3, the terms 

defined with ‘‘for commercial purposes’’ 

incorporate ‘‘. . . with the purpose of 

obtaining an immediate or eventual 

commercial advantage . . .’’ for certain 

persons (e.g., manufacturers, importers, 

and processors). In the proposed rule, 

the Agency described its rationale for 

instances where mercury would not be 

reported by focusing on ‘‘whether such 

chemical substances are intentionally 

generated and whether [byproducts and 

impurities] are used for commercial 

purposes’’ (Ref. 3). In the proposed 

regulatory text, however, EPA used a 

structure that used both sets of terms in 


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the same sentence (e.g., ‘‘purpose of 

obtaining . . . commercial advantage’’ 

(must be reported) and ‘‘not used for 

commercial purposes’’ (not to be 

reported)). Based on comments 

received, the Agency amended the 

regulatory text to clarify this concept. 

The Agency determined that the terms 

‘‘with the purpose of obtaining an 

immediate or eventual commercial 

advantage’’ are more consistent with the 

statutory mandate at 15 U.S.C. 

2607(b)(10)(C)(i) to ‘‘identify any 

manufacturing processes or products 

that intentionally add mercury’’ 

(emphasis added). EPA believes such 

terms (e.g., ‘‘with the purpose of 

obtaining’’) more accurately align with 

the Agency’s emphasis on the intent of 

persons required to report as opposed to 

‘‘for commercial purposes.’’ In addition, 

the Agency interprets ‘‘commercial 

advantage’’ to extend to benefits beyond 

profits, such as not incurring additional 

operational costs by continuing to use 

mercury rather than use non-mercury 

substances or technologies. Thus, to be 

required to report to the mercury 

inventory, persons must intentionally 

engage in activities that introduce 

mercury into supply, use, and trade in 

the United States with the purpose of 

obtaining an immediate or eventual 

commercial advantage. This 

interpretation and revised descriptions 

of supply, use and trade activities are 

discussed further in Unit III.B.5. 

In the regulatory text of the final rule, 

therefore, the Agency omitted the use of 

‘‘commercial purposes’’ and clarified 

how ‘‘with the purpose of obtaining an 

immediate or eventual commercial 

advantage’’ applies to activities for 

which reporting is required, as well as 

persons who must report. 

• Mercury-added Products and 

Components. A commenter 

recommended that the Agency adopt the 

definition of the term ‘‘mercury-added 

product’’ as set forth in the Minamata 

Convention (Ref. 16), while another 

commenter requested that EPA clarify 

the distinction related to a ‘‘product that 

contains a component that is a mercuryadded product’’ (Ref. 17). Other 

commenters requested clarifications, 

such as: Whether certain uses of 

mercury qualified as a component that 

is a mercury-added product (Ref. 9; Ref. 

13; Ref. 17); how reporting requirements 

would apply to manufacturers who first 

incorporate mercury into a product 

versus subsequent manufacturers of 

products that contain the original 

mercury-added product (e.g., the 

manufacture or import of Thimerosal (a 

mercury-containing preservative) and 

the manufacture or import of a vaccine 

containing Thimerosal) (Ref. 13); 

distinguishing between mercurycontaining products involving chemical 

synthesis, alloy generating, blending 

and mixing operations versus articles 

with mercury-containing components 

(Ref. 9); and whether the proposed 

exemption for imported products that 

contain a component that is a mercuryadded product would apply to exported 

products (Ref. 18). 

In the proposed rule, EPA did not 

define ‘‘mercury-added product,’’ but 

provided examples of intentional 

addition of mercury to a product by 

persons who manufacture a mercuryadded product: ‘‘inserting mercury into 

a switch or battery, or mixing a mercury 

compound with other substances to 

formulate a topical antiseptic’’ (Ref. 3). 

In addition to the definition of 

‘‘mercury-added product’’ in Article 2 of 

the Minamata Convention (i.e., ‘‘a 

product or product component that 

contains mercury or a mercury 

compound that was intentionally 

added’’), EPA also considered IMERC’s 

definition, which is ‘‘any formulated or 

fabricated product that contains 

mercury, a mercury compound, or a 

component containing mercury, when 

the mercury is intentionally added to 

the product (or component) for any 

reason.’’ The Agency sees merit in both 

definitions, but believes the definition 

in the Minamata Convention is more 

consistent with EPA’s interpretation of 

the instruction at 15 U.S.C. 

2607(b)(10)(C)(i) to ‘‘identify any 

manufacturing processes or products 

that intentionally add mercury.’’ The 

Agency is of the view that the 

manufacture (other than import) of a 

mercury-added product is the 

‘‘intentional addition of mercury where 

mercury remains present in the final 

product for a particular purpose’’ (Ref. 

3). In other words, the intentional 

addition of mercury is the essential act 

by a manufacturer (other than importer) 

who makes a mercury-added product 

and, thus, triggers applicable reporting 

requirements. 

In regard to a ‘‘component,’’ EPA 

views this term as being similar to the 

definition of ‘‘article’’ in 40 CFR 704.3. 

The Agency views the inclusion of a 

mercury-added product that is a 

component within an assembled 

product differently from the act of 

intentionally inserting mercury (i.e., 

chemical substance) into the component 

itself. As a result, the Agency is not 

requiring information to be reported on 

the manufacture (including import) of 

assembled products that include a 

component that is a mercury-added 

product. The Agency’s rationale for 

reporting requirements applicable to 

products that contain a component that 

is a mercury-added product is provided 

in Unit III.D.1.b. 

The example of the manufacture and 

use of Thimerosal illustrates when 

something is or is not a component. EPA 

agrees that only the domestic 

manufacturer who intentionally adds 

mercury to a product, or an importer 

who imports a product where mercury 

(e.g., chemical substance) was inserted 

into the product, would report under 

this rule; subsequent manufacturers 

(including importers) of products that 

contain the original mercury-added 

product as a component would not 

report under this rule. Thimerosal is a 

mercury compound (e.g., listed under 

CASRN 54–64–8 on EPA’s TSCA 

Chemical Substance Inventory list), and 

is subject to reporting as a mercury 

compound or, if intentionally combined 

with other substances, is subject to 

reporting as a mercury-added product 

because the mercury compound is being 

intentionally added to the product. 

Therefore, Thimerosal is not a 

component. 

• Persons. One commenter requested 

that the Agency specify the basis for 

defining what ‘‘person’’ means in the 

context of who may be subject to 

reporting (Ref. 19). EPA finds the 

definition at 40 CFR 704.3 to be 

instructive, in which a ‘‘person’’ 

includes ‘‘any individual, firm, 

company, corporation, joint venture, 

partnership, sole proprietorship, 

association, or any other business entity; 

any State or political subdivision 

thereof; any municipality; any interstate 

body; and any department, agency, or 

instrumentality of the Federal 

Government.’’ 

3. Requests for Exemptions or 

Exclusions from Reporting. The Agency 

also received specific requests for 

exemptions from reporting to the 

mercury inventory, including: Specific 

industry sectors (Ref. 16; Ref. 20; Ref. 

21); specific activities (Ref. 22); use of 

tools and equipment (Ref. 14); 

distribution of products originating from 

others (Ref. 9); replacement parts (Ref. 

16; Ref. 17); recycled waste (Ref. 17); 

and products excluded from the 

Minamata Convention on Mercury (Ref. 

9). Given the level of specificity of such 

requests and explanation of Agency 

determinations, these discussions are 

set forth in the Response to Comments 

document for this rule (Ref. 5). 

4. Exports of Certain Mercury 

Compounds. In regard to certain exports 

of mercury, the Agency notes that the 

export of elemental mercury has been 

prohibited since January 1, 2013 (15 

U.S.C. 2611(c)(1)) and therefore the 

Agency is not requiring reporting on the 

export of elemental mercury from the 


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30062 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 27, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

United States. TSCA, as of January 1, 

2020, will also prohibit the export of 

certain mercury compounds: Mercury (I) 

chloride or calomel; mercury (II) oxide; 

mercury (II) sulfate; mercury (II) nitrate; 

and cinnabar or mercury sulphide (the 

statute uses the term ‘‘mercury 

sulphide’’ which is an alternative 

spelling of ‘‘mercury sulfide’’ as found 

in Table 2) (15 U.S.C. 2611(c)(7)). 

In the proposed rule, the Agency 

noted that the inventory would benefit 

from the recent totals of at least one 

cycle of reporting prior to the effective 

date of the prohibition for exporting 

mercury compounds subject to TSCA 

section 12(c)(7) to measure trends in 

supply, use, and trade and provide a 

baseline for comparison of the changes 

in the amounts of other mercury 

compounds exported after the 2020 

effective date (Ref. 3). The Agency 

received comments supporting the 

collection of such data: (1) To fulfill the 

express Congressional mandate to 

provide data on trade; (2) to determine 

the precise impact of the mercury 

compound export ban and associated 

trends, which would allow EPA to 

recommend whether the export ban 

should be further expanded to other 

compounds; and (3) to uphold 

obligations of the United States under 

the Minamata Convention (Ref. 11; Ref. 

12). Thus, the Agency requires one-time 

reporting for those five compounds. 

Conversely, reporting for exports of 

mercury compounds that are not 

prohibited from export by TSCA section 

12(c)(7) is required for every collection 

period. EPA previously determined that 

mercury-added products (including 

those containing elemental mercury or 

mercury compounds prohibited from 

export) generally are not prohibited 

from export and, therefore, are subject to 

the reporting requirements set forth in 

this rule. 

5. Revised Descriptions of Supply, Use 

and Trade Activities. Based on 

comments received and the discussion 

presented elsewhere in Unit III.D., EPA 

modified the specific descriptions of 

supply, use, and trade activities to more 

accurately reflect the language of TSCA 

section 8(f) and the Agency’s 

interpretation of the statutory mandate 

at TSCA section 8(b)(10)(C)(i). Thus, the 

Agency is requiring reporting of the 

following activities when intentionally 

undertaken to introduce mercury into 

supply, use, and trade in the United 

States with the purpose of obtaining an 

immediate or eventual commercial 

advantage: 

• Import of mercury; 

• Manufacture (other than import) of 

mercury; 

• Import of a mercury-added product; 

• Manufacture (other than import) of 

a mercury-added product; or 

• Intentional use of mercury in a 

manufacturing process. 

In addition, the following activities 

are part of supply, use, and trade of 

mercury: 

• Distribution in commerce, 

including domestic sale or transfer, of 

mercury; 

• Distribution in commerce, 

including domestic sale or transfer, of 

mercury-added products or products 

that result from the intentional use of 

mercury in a manufacturing process; 

• Storage of mercury; 

• Export of a mercury compound 

(unless specifically prohibited); or 

• Export of mercury-added products 

or products that result from the 

intentional use of mercury in a 

manufacturing process. 

As described in greater detail in Unit 

III.D., persons must first engage in the 

manufacture (including import) of 

mercury or mercury-added products or 

otherwise intentionally use mercury in 

a manufacturing process to be required 

to report to the mercury inventory. 

C. Coordination With Existing Reporting 

Programs 

TSCA section 8(b)(10)(D)(ii) directs 

the Agency to ‘‘coordinate the reporting 

. . . with the Interstate Mercury 

Education and Reduction 

Clearinghouse’’ to avoid duplication. 

Furthermore, TSCA section 8(a)(5)(a) 

states ‘‘[i]n carrying out [TSCA section 

8], the Administrator shall, to the extent 

feasible . . . not require reporting 

which is unnecessary or duplicative.’’ 

The Agency seeks to avoid collecting 

data on mercury that would duplicate 

information already reported to existing 

state and federal programs, and to 

coordinate with and complement those 

reporting programs as much as possible. 

While developing this rule (Ref. 3), EPA 

reviewed four data collection systems 

applicable to supply, use, and trade of 

mercury (including mercury-added 

products and mercury used in 

manufacturing processes): 

• The IMERC Mercury-added 

Products Database, an online reporting 

database managed by the Northeast 

Waste Management Officials’ 

Association (NEWMOA), which 

provides publicly available, national 

data on mercury used in products; 

• The TSCA section 8(a) Chemical 

Data Reporting rule, which collects 

manufacturing, processing, and use 

information on certain chemical 

substances manufactured (including 

imported) in the United States; 

• The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) 

program, which collects data on toxic 

chemical releases to air, water and land 

from industrial facilities and pollution 

prevention activities in the United 

States; and 

• The U.S. International Trade 

Commission Interactive Trade DataWeb 

(USITC DataWeb), which provides U.S. 

international trade statistics and U.S. 

tariff data to the public. 

After reviewing these reporting 

programs, EPA designed the reporting 

requirements in this rule to be least 

burdensome for reporters already 

familiar with IMERC, CDR, TRI, and 

USITC DataWeb protocols (Ref. 3). 

Therefore, the Agency is incorporating 

comparable reporting concepts and tools 

from each program, as well as not 

requiring reporting in certain instances 

to increase the efficacy while decreasing 

the burden to the greatest extent 

practicable for reporting to a national 

mercury inventory. 

1. Reporting Requirements for 

Existing CDR and IMERC Reporters. The 

Agency received several comments 

related to persons who submit mercuryrelated information to the Chemical 

Data Reporting database or the IMERC 

Mercury-added Products Database. In 

regard to reporting requirements 

applicable to both CDR and IMERC 

reporters, two commenters identified 

discrepancies (e.g., non-alignment of 

reporting year/frequency and efforts to 

prohibit duplicative reporting) in the 

Agency’s bifurcated reporting 

requirements for persons currently 

required to report to the IMERC 

Mercury-Added Products Database and 

under the CDR rule, and those who are 

not (Ref. 11; Ref. 12). Another 

commenter expressed concerns 

regarding the non-alignment of EPA and 

IMERC reporting years (Ref. 23). Some 

commenters argued that reporting such 

information to multiple systems would 

not be economically burdensome 

because the costs are relatively small 

and would not be duplicative because 

the reporting to different systems would 

occur in different years (Ref. 11; Ref. 

12). Of particular concern to one 

commenter was a possible negative 

impact on the accuracy of the mercury 

inventory and the EPA’s ability to make 

recommendations to reduce the use of 

mercury (Ref. 11). Conversely, two 

commenters supported the proposed 

approach to not require reporting from 

persons reporting comparable 

information to IMERC, although one 

commenter also supported alignment of 

the reporting years and requested that 

EPA codify a full exemption for 

manufacturers, including importers, that 

already report to IMERC (Ref. 17; Ref. 

24). Finally, the Agency received 

comments recommending that EPA 


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adopt IMERC’s submission deadline for 

reporting (April 1, 2020 and every three 

years thereafter) (Ref. 9; Ref. 18; Ref. 23; 

Ref. 24). Such issues are discussed in 

greater detail in the Response to 

Comments document for this rule (Ref. 

5). 

As discussed in the proposed rule, 

EPA cited TSCA section 8(a)(5)(A) as a 

basis for avoiding the collection of data 

that duplicated information already 

reported to the four data collection 

systems applicable to the supply, use, 

and trade of mercury: IMERC, CDR, TRI, 

and USITC DataWeb (Ref. 3). The 

Agency considered multiple, existing 

reporting systems that gather 

comparable data related to mercury 

pursuant to statutory text (15 U.S.C. 

2607(a)(5)(A)). EPA also considered 

provisions of TSCA section 8(a)(5) that 

direct the Agency to ‘‘minimize the cost 

of compliance with this section and the 

rules issued thereunder on small 

manufacturers and processors; and . . . 

apply any reporting obligations to those 

persons likely to have information 

relevant to the effective implementation 

of this subchapter’’ (15 U.S.C. 

2607(a)(5)(B) and (C)). In regard to 

comments arguing that requiring 

reporting for comparable data in two 

different systems is not duplicative if 

the reporting occurs in different years, 

the Agency maintains that this is a 

duplication of effort and EPA does not 

agree with the commenters’ argument 

that the addition or avoidance of burden 

is not significant if it is relatively small. 

The language at TSCA section 8(a)(5) 

directs the Agency avoid duplicative 

reporting and reduce burden ‘‘to the 

extent feasible.’’ Because EPA is able to 

obtain comparable data via EPA’s CDR 

program or in coordination with IMERC, 

the Agency finds not requiring the 

reporting of overlapping reporting to the 

mercury inventory to be a feasible 

approach. To the extent that data 

elements may not align per differences 

in reporting years and frequency, the 

Agency does not view such 

discrepancies to be prohibitive of its 

ability to carry out statutory obligations 

at TSCA sections 8(b)(10)(B) and (C). 

Based on comments received, the 

Agency is clarifying that a person who 

currently reports to CDR or IMERC is 

not categorically exempt from the 

mercury inventory reporting 

requirements set forth in this rule. 

Instead, the bifurcated reporting 

structure is designed to omit only those 

quantitative data elements already 

collected by CDR and IMERC to avoid 

duplication in the collection, 

calculation, verification, review, 

certification, reporting, and 

maintenance of records pursuant to 

TSCA section 8(a)(5). The Agency’s goal 

is to create a ‘‘comprehensive inventory 

such that existing data gaps would be 

eliminated, where feasible [and] . . . 

complement amounts of quantitative 

mercury data already collected by, but 

without overlapping with, reporting 

requirements,’’ as well as ‘‘decrease the 

burden of reporting to the greatest 

extent practicable’’ (Ref. 3). These goals 

are guided by statutory mandates not 

only in TSCA section 8(b)(10), but also 

in TSCA section 8(a)(5). Thus, while 

recognizing that there is a nonalignment of CDR and IMERC reporting 

years, the Agency believes 

supplementing data reported through 

this rule with data from CDR and 

IMERC creates a totality of available 

data that will provide an adequate basis 

to observe long-term trends in mercury 

supply, use, and trade. As such, the 

Agency determined that requiring 

reporting for comparable data to two 

systems would be duplicative even if 

the CDR and IMERC data represent 

information from different years. 

Therefore, requiring duplicative data to 

be reported from reporters who also 

report to CDR and IMERC would result 

in additional burden and is 

unnecessary. 

Finally, EPA understands the interest 

in aligning with IMERC’s submission 

deadline. However, the statutorily 

mandated publication date for the 

mercury inventory was April 1, 2017 

and every three years thereafter, which 

falls on IMERC’s data submission date. 

EPA has a legal responsibility to publish 

on or before the date set forth in TSCA 

section 8(b)(10)(B), which means that 

EPA must publish the inventory on or 

before the day IMERC reporters must 

submit data to IMERC. While mindful of 

incongruities in reporting frequency and 

years, EPA believes that the reporting 

schedule and achieve this goal to the 

greatest extent practicable. As a result, 

the reporting requirements, including 

efforts to incorporate data collected by 

CDR and IMERC while avoiding overlap 

among CDR and IMERC data elements, 

will enhance its ability to collect and 

publish robust data on mercury supply, 

use, and trade in the United States (15 

U.S.C. 2607(b)(10)(B)) and to ‘‘identify 

any manufacturing processes or 

products that intentionally add 

mercury; and . . . recommend actions, 

including proposed revisions of Federal 

law or regulations, to achieve further 

reductions in mercury use’’ (15 U.S.C. 

2607(b)(10)(C)). 

2. Reporting Requirements for 

Products Regulated by Other Federal 

Agencies. One commenter requested 

that EPA not require reporting for uses 

of mercury regulated by other federal 

agencies (e.g., pharmaceuticals) (Ref. 

13). The commenter cited drugs, as 

regulated by FDA, and animal vaccines, 

as regulated by the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA), and noted that 

FDA and USDA regulations already 

require reporting information regarding 

the use of mercury in these products 

and, therefore, should not be collected 

by EPA. 

The Agency disagrees. While these 

agencies may regulate mercury, they do 

not collect the data necessary to support 

the national inventory required by 

TSCA section 8(b)(10). As such, EPA 

does not view the reporting 

requirements to be duplicative of the 

requirements highlighted by the 

commenter and, therefore, is not 

exempting reporting of such uses of 

mercury. 

D. Persons and Information Subject to 

This Rulemaking 

TSCA section 8(b)(10)(D)(i) states 

‘‘any person who manufactures mercury 

or mercury-added products or otherwise 

intentionally uses mercury in a 

manufacturing process shall make 

periodic reports to the Administrator.’’ 

As explained in Unit III.B., EPA 

interprets the statutory text at TSCA 

sections 8(b)(10)(B), 8(b)(10)(D)(i), and 

8(b)(10)(D)(iii) as applying to intentional 

acts that introduce mercury into supply, 

use, and trade in the United States. EPA 

reads TSCA section 8(b)(10)(D)(i) to 

narrow potential reporters to persons 

who first manufacture mercury or 

mercury-added products or otherwise 

intentionally use mercury in a 

manufacturing process prior to other 

activities such as storage, distribution, 

and export. Descriptions of persons who 

must report under this rule and tables 

illustrating applicable reporting 

requirements are detailed in Unit III.D.1. 

1. Persons Who Must Report. In 

addition to persons described in the 

following subsections and tables, EPA 

will provide examples of persons who 

will and will not be required to report 

under this regulation in reporting 

instructions and other support 

materials. 

a. Persons Who Manufacture 

(Including Import) Mercury. As 

described in Unit III.C., the Agency 

sought to decrease the burden of 

reporting to the greatest extent 

practicable by, among other things, 

complementing without overlapping 

existing reporting requirements related 

to mercury and mercury-added 

products. As such, persons who 

manufacture (including import) in 

excess of 2,500 lbs. for elemental 

mercury or in excess of 25,000 lbs. for 

mercury compounds for a specific 


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reporting year are not required to report 

amounts manufactured (including 

imported) or exported that are already 

reported per the CDR rule. Such 

persons, however, are required to 

provide quantitative data on storage and 

distribution in commerce, as well as 

qualitative and contextual information 

related to all applicable data elements 

under the proposed rule (see Table 3. 

Information to Report—Mercury). In 

further efforts to decrease reporting 

burdens, the Agency will provide preselected lists of mercury compounds to 

streamline reporting requirements as 

much as possible. 

TABLE 3—INFORMATION TO REPORT—MERCURY

Persons who must report Applicable reporting requirements 

Persons who manufacture (including import) mercury in amounts greater than or equal to 2,500 lbs. for elemental mercury or greater than 

or equal to 25,000 lbs. for mercury compounds for a specific reporting year (i.e., current CDR reporters).

—Country(ies) of origin for imported mercury. 

—Country(ies) of destination for exported mercury. 

—Amount of mercury stored (lbs.). 

—Amount of mercury distributed in commerce (lbs.). 

—NAICS code(s) for mercury distributed in commerce. 

All other persons who manufacture (including import) mercury .............. —Amount of mercury manufactured (lbs.). 

—Amount of mercury imported (lbs.). 

—Country(ies) of origin for imported mercury. 

—Amount of mercury exported (lbs.), except mercury prohibited from 

export at 15 U.S.C. 2611(c)(1) and (7). 

—Country(ies) of destination for exported mercury. 

—Amount of mercury stored (lbs.). 

—Amount of mercury distributed in commerce (lbs.). 

—NAICS code(s) for mercury distributed in commerce. 

—As applicable, specific mercury compound(s) from preselected list. 

b. Persons Who Manufacture or 

Import Mercury-added Products. EPA 

proposed to require reporting for the 

manufacture (including import) of 

mercury-added products, except for: (1) 

Import of an assembled product that 

contains mercury solely within a 

component that is a mercury-added 

product; and (2) domestic manufacture 

of an assembled product unless the 

person first manufactures or imports the 

mercury-added product that can be used 

as a component. The Agency 

determined that this distinction was 

appropriate after reviewing the data 

reported to the IMERC Mercury-Added 

Products Database and comparing the 

companies that reported national sales 

data for individual mercury-added 

products (including components), as 

well as items that contain a component 

that is a mercury-added product (Ref. 

25). For example, the IMERC database 

lists a product name (e.g., flat panel 

display, projection TV, make and model 

of vehicle) and component (e.g., lamp, 

bulb). In the proposed rule, the Agency 

cited concerns that requiring reporting 

for assembled products where mercury 

is present solely within a previously 

manufactured component would result 

in double counting and thereby could 

negatively affect the reliability of future 

mercury inventory updates, as well as 

the potential to create undue burden for 

certain importers (Ref. 3). The Agency 

based this determination on its 

emphasis on the intentional insertion of 

mercury into a product as the 

introduction of mercury via a mercuryadded product into supply, use, and 

trade in the United States. For imported 

assembled products that contain a 

component that is a mercury-added 

product, the Agency also considered the 

degree to which certain importers 

would know the mercury content, if 

any, of the assembled products they 

import, as well as the additional 

breadth, and therefore burden, that 

including such imports at this time 

would entail. The Agency notes that its 

specific reporting requirements (see 

Unit III.D.4.b.) include mercury-added 

products that are likely to be used as 

components in assembled products. As 

discussed in this section, EPA’s 

combined general, specific, and 

contextual reporting requirements are 

designed not only to provide 

information that are expected to identify 

mercury-added products that are 

components within assembled products, 

but also to avoid unnecessary, 

duplicative, and burdensome reporting 

as much as feasible (15 U.S.C. 

2607(a)(5)). 

The Agency received comments 

related to instances where mercury is 

present in a product as a component 

that is a mercury-added product. Some 

commenters requested that the Agency 

require reporting for the manufacture 

(including import) of such products 

(Ref. 11; Ref. 12; Ref. 20; Ref. 23), while 

other commenters supported the 

proposed approach to not require such 

reporting (e.g., advanced manufacturing 

equipment that contains components 

that are mercury-added products and 

supply chains where the mercury-added 

product may be incorporated into 

several iterations of other components 

before being used in a final assembled 

product) (Ref. 9; Ref. 13; Ref. 17; Ref. 18; 

Ref. 26). Commenters requesting that the 

Agency require reporting for products 

that contain a component that is a 

mercury-added product believe that the 

proposed approach would 

underestimate mercury use in products 

and hamper EPA’s ability to fill data 

gaps and make further 

recommendations for mercury 

reductions. The commenters also argued 

that not requiring reporting for products 

that contain mercury-added components 

is neither authorized by nor consistent 

with the purpose of the statute and is 

inconsistent with IMERC and Minamata 

Convention definitions of ‘‘mercuryadded product.’’ Such issues are 

discussed in greater detail in the 

Response to Comments document for 

this rule (Ref. 5). 

The statutory text describes who must 

report to the mercury inventory: ‘‘any 

person who manufactures mercury or 

mercury-added products or otherwise 

intentionally uses mercury in a 

manufacturing process . . . at such time 

and including such information as the 

Administrator shall determine by rule’’ 

(15 U.S.C. 2607(b)(10)(D)(i)). In addition 

to the development of the inventory 

itself (15 U.S.C. 2607(b)(10)(B)), the 

Agency interprets the ultimate purpose 

of the inventory as identifying 

manufacturing processes or products 

that intentionally add mercury and 

recommending actions to achieve 

further reductions in mercury use (15 

U.S.C. 2607(b)(10)(C)). When 

developing this rule, the Agency 

considered statutory requirements 

applicable to all of TSCA section 8: 


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Prohibition of ‘‘unnecessary or 

duplicative’’ reporting (15 U.S.C. 

2607(a)(5)(A)) and minimization of the 

cost of compliance for small 

manufacturers and processors (15 U.S.C. 

2607(a)(5)(B)). Thus, EPA will carry out 

an inventory and require reporting 

consistent with the statute that avoids 

duplication of information already 

reported to existing state and federal 

programs and avoids unnecessary 

reporting burdens. 

TSCA section 8(b)(10)(C)(i) mandates 

that in carrying out the inventory, EPA 

must ‘‘identify any manufacturing 

processes or products that intentionally 

add mercury.’’ Some commenters 

suggested that the statute requires EPA 

to collect information on all products 

that contain mercury, including those 

that contain mercury only because they 

include a mercury-added product as a 

component. EPA interprets the statutory 

text to only require the identification of 

the types of products where mercury is 

intentionally added such that EPA 

would be able to make 

recommendations for reducing such use. 

Based on its review of the information 

available in the IMERC database (Ref. 

25), EPA believes that it will be able to 

identify the various types of mercuryadded products where mercury is 

intentionally added (e.g., mercuryadded lamps) without requiring the 

reporting on the manufacture of more 

complex products where mercury is 

contained within a component (e.g., 

vehicle containing mercury-added lamp 

in headlight). 

In identifying products where 

mercury is intentionally added, the 

Agency interprets the statute as giving it 

discretion over what information it may 

require to be reported, including from 

certain manufacturers and types of 

products. TSCA section 8(b)(10)(D)(i) 

requires periodic reports to assist in the 

preparation of the inventory ‘‘at such 

time and including such information as 

the Administrator shall determine by 

rule.’’ EPA has determined that 

fulfilling the mandate to identify 

products that intentionally add mercury 

and make recommendations to achieve 

reduction in mercury use does not 

require reporting for assembled 

products, as EPA is not convinced that 

all products that contain a component 

that is a mercury-added product should 

be viewed as ‘‘products that 

intentionally add mercury.’’ For 

example, a domestic automobile 

manufacturer may not know that a 

component of the car contains mercury 

and arguably, therefore, has not 

intentionally added mercury to the car 

for the purposes of TSCA section 

8(b)(10)(C)(i). Similarly, an automobile 

importer may not know that a 

component of the car contains mercury. 

Since the import is the manufacture for 

purposes of TSCA, the product arguably 

is not a product to which mercury has 

intentionally been added per TSCA 

section 8(b)(1)(C)(i) for this reason as 

well. 

The addition of a mercury-added 

product as a component to a more 

complex, assembled product does not 

change the nature or the quantity of 

mercury within the component, and, for 

a product assembled domestically, 

would result in the double counting of 

that specific quantity of mercury since 

EPA would receive reports both on the 

manufacture of the component and the 

manufacture of the assembled product. 

Even without receiving reports from 

manufacturers of assembled products, 

EPA can glean information about types 

of mercury-added products from the 

reports by manufacturers/importers of 

mercury-added products, which can be 

used as components. The information 

reported on NAICS codes by a person 

who manufactures (or imports) mercuryadded products that can be used as 

components (e.g., mercury-added lamp), 

can be used to help the Agency identify 

the types of domestically manufactured 

assembled products (e.g., light truck and 

utility vehicle manufacturing (NAICS 

code 336112)) likely to contain 

components that are mercury-added 

products. Thus, the full set of reporting 

requirements work together to account 

for and describe mercury supply, use, 

and trade in the United States, while 

avoiding unnecessary or duplicative 

reporting. 

With respect to imports, based on the 

Agency’s review of the information 

available in the IMERC database (Ref. 

25) and its rationale set forth in the 

preceding paragraph, EPA believes that 

the reporting requirements similarly 

will enable it to identify the types of 

mercury-added products imported into 

the United States (i.e., both mercuryadded products that can be used as 

components and those assembled 

products that contain a mercury-added 

component). Reporting is required for 

the import of mercury-added products 

that can be used as components in 

assembled products. This will give EPA 

a clearer understanding of the types of 

components that exist along with 

information on the quantity of mercury 

in those components. While reporting is 

not required on the import of assembled 

products that contain mercury-added 

components, the reporting requirements 

and data collected from manufacturers/ 

importers of mercury products that can 

be used as components are expected to 

help alleviate the uncertainties 

associated with the types of imported 

assembled products that may contain 

such components. For example, the 

Agency can use NAICS codes reported 

for domestically-manufactured 

assembled products to better understand 

the specific types of imported 

assembled products that may contain 

mercury within a component part. In 

this context, the reporting requirements 

can enhance the understanding of 

mercury supply, use, and trade in the 

United States while helping to minimize 

the cost of compliance for importers of 

assembled products. 

The baseline direction from Congress 

was to identify products that 

intentionally add mercury. EPA 

concludes this is best done, at this stage, 

by requiring reporting only from the 

manufacturers who initially insert 

mercury into products and importers of 

mercury-added products that may be 

used as components in assembled 

products, but not assembled products 

themselves. EPA is not requiring a 

reporter who manufactures (including 

imports) mercury components to 

identify whether or how the mercuryadded product is used as a component; 

instead, EPA intends to use NAICS 

codes to identify such uses. By design, 

the general reporting requirements first 

identify the total quantity of mercury in 

products manufactured (other than 

imported), distributed in commerce, or 

exported for a reporting year (i.e., 

prioritize reporting on the amounts of 

mercury in supply, use, and trade 

activities (see Unit III.B.5.)). Thereafter, 

specific and contextual reporting 

requirements (e.g., the category/subcategory of mercury-added products and 

NAICS code(s) for manufacturing 

categories, and countries of origin and 

destination for imports and exports) 

further illustrate how reported 

quantities of mercury move through 

supply, use, and trade. EPA believes 

this is appropriate because it can collect 

quantitative data from persons who 

report for domestic manufacture and 

import of mercury-added products that 

can be used as components, and use 

contextual (i.e., qualitative) reporting to 

better understand how those 

components are incorporated into 

assembled products. The Agency could, 

as appropriate, use such domestic 

quantitative data in concert with other 

available data on imported assembled 

products in a specific product category 

to draw comparisons and, should they 

be relevant, focus recommendations for 

reducing mercury for both domestic and 

foreign assembled products. Even if this 

approach is not able to directly account 

for amounts of mercury within the 


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mercury-added products that are 

components of assembled products, the 

Agency determined that its ability to 

identify categories—and potentially 

more specific types—of assembled 

products will allow it to satisfy 

mandates at TSCA sections 8(b)(10)(B) 

and (C). While a reporter would not be 

required to identify whether or how the 

mercury-added product is used as a 

component, the reporting requirements 

should provide ample information to 

shed light on the use of the mercury, to 

satisfy the mandate to identify products 

that intentionally add mercury, 

including components being 

manufactured domestically and 

imported, and allow EPA to 

‘‘recommend actions [. . .] to achieve 

further reductions in mercury use’’ 

including recommendations related to 

products containing mercury 

components (15 U.S.C. 

2607(b)(10)(C)(ii)). 

EPA is mindful that the global 

implementation of the Minamata 

Convention should result in a decrease 

in the manufacture, import, and export 

of many mercury-added products that 

are commonly used as components in 

products, discourage the use of such 

products as components, and generally 

increase the knowledge of 

manufacturers, importers, exporters, 

and consumers regarding the types of 

assembled products that contain 

components that are mercury-added 

products. EPA will evaluate whether 

this expected downward trend comes to 

fruition by monitoring trends in the 

importation of mercury components and 

its described approach to better 

understand the types of domesticallymanufactured and imported assembled 

products that may contain mercury in a 

component part. As necessary, the 

Agency will use such data to consider 

modifying reporting requirements or to 

recommend appropriate actions to 

reduce the use of mercury. 

As described in Unit III.C., persons 

who report to IMERC identify the 

amount of mercury sold in mercuryadded products that may be 

manufactured, distributed, or imported. 

The Agency considers the amount of 

mercury reported to IMERC as sold to be 

comparable to the amount of mercury to 

be reported under the rule as distributed 

in commerce. As such, EPA is not 

requiring persons who report to IMERC 

to report amounts of mercury 

distributed in commerce in mercuryadded products. However, those persons 

must report quantitative and qualitative 

information for other applicable data 

elements (e.g., manufacture, import, and 

export of mercury-added products). 

Such persons are also required to report 

contextual information applicable to 

amounts, if any, of mercury in mercuryadded products manufactured, 

imported, distributed in commerce, or 

exported (see Table 4. Information to 

Report—Mercury-Added Products). In 

further efforts to decrease reporting 

burdens, the Agency will provide preselected lists of mercury-added product 

categories to streamline reporting 

requirements as much as possible. 

TABLE 4—INFORMATION TO REPORT—MERCURY-ADDED PRODUCTS

Persons who must report Applicable reporting requirements 

Persons who manufacture (including import) mercury-added products, 

except a product that contains a component that is a mercury-added 

product, who currently report to IMERC.

—Amount of mercury in manufactured products (lbs.). 

—Amount of mercury in imported products (lbs.). 

—Country(ies) of origin for imported products. 

—Amount of mercury in exported products (lbs.). 

—Country(ies) of destination for exported products. 

—NAICS code(s) for products distributed in commerce. 

—As applicable, specific product category(ies) and subcategory(ies) 

from pre-selected list. 

All other persons who manufacture (including import) mercury-added 

products, except a product that contains a component that is a mercury-added product.

—Amount of mercury in manufactured products (lbs.). 

—Amount of mercury in imported products (lbs.). 

—Country(ies) of origin for imported products. 

—Amount of mercury in exported products (lbs.). 

—Country(ies) of destination for exported products. 

—Amount of mercury in products distributed in commerce (lbs.). 

—NAICS code(s) for products distributed in commerce. 

—As applicable, specific product category(ies) and subcategory(ies) 

from pre-selected list. 

c. Persons Who Otherwise 

Intentionally Use Mercury in a 

Manufacturing Process. As described in 

Unit III.B., TSCA section 8(b)(10)(D)(i) 

includes persons who intentionally use 

mercury in a manufacturing process 

amongst those who must report. The 

Agency believes that persons who 

otherwise intentionally use mercury in 

a manufacturing process may currently 

report to existing data collection 

programs in the United States, but 

because the reporting requirements for 

the mercury inventory differ from those 

programs, EPA does not view the 

reporting requirements to be duplicative 

or unnecessary. As such, the general, 

specific, and contextual reporting 

requirements are intended to provide a 

complete picture of uses for which little 

information is currently available (see 

Table 5. Information to Report— 

Otherwise Intentional Use of Mercury in 

a Manufacturing Process). As discussed 

in Unit III.D.1.b., the combination of 

general, specific, and contextual 

reporting requirements will assist the 

Agency to adequately ‘‘identify any 

processes . . . that intentionally add 

mercury’’ 15 U.S.C. 2607 8(b)(10)(C)(i). 

In further efforts to decrease reporting 

burdens, the Agency will provide preselected lists of manufacturing 

processes and attendant uses of mercury 

to streamline reporting requirements as 

much as possible. 


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TABLE 5—INFORMATION TO REPORT—OTHERWISE INTENTIONAL USE OF MERCURY IN A MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Persons who must report Applicable reporting requirements 

Persons who otherwise intentionally use mercury in a manufacturing 

process, other than the manufacture of a mercury compound or a 

mercury-added product.

—Amount of mercury intentionally used (lbs.) in pre-selected list of 

manufacturing processes. 

—Amount of mercury stored (lbs.). 

—Country(ies) of destination for exported final product(s). 

—NAICS code(s) for mercury in final product(s) distributed in commerce. 

—As applicable, specific manufacturing process from preselected list. 

—As applicable, specific use of mercury in manufacturing process from 

pre-selected list. 

2. Persons Not Required to Report. 

The Agency received various comments 

requesting clarification of persons who 

would not be required to report to the 

mercury inventory. 

i. Persons Who Do Not First 

Manufacture, Import, or Otherwise 

Intentionally Use Mercury. EPA 

determined that persons who only trade 

(e.g., brokering, selling wholesale, 

shipping, warehousing, repackaging, or 

retail sale), but do not manufacture or 

import mercury or mercury-added 

products, should not be subject to the 

proposed reporting requirements (Ref. 

3). Aside from its reading of TSCA 

section 8(b)(10)(D)(i), the Agency is 

concerned that requiring reporting from 

such entities risks: (1) Double counting 

of mercury as it moves through supply 

chains; and (2) undue burden or liability 

on entities that are not likely to be 

aware if or how mercury is present in 

products that they trade. Several 

commenters requested clarifications 

regarding this determination, including 

modifications to ensure that the 

exclusion will not result in transactions 

involving mercury that go unreported 

within the context of supply, use, and 

trade and to prevent duplicative 

reporting by focusing on products 

traded instead of the persons engaged in 

trade (Ref. 11; Ref. 12). Another 

commenter suggested that such an 

exemption should not apply to any 

persons that would be defined as a 

manufacturer, importer, or exporter 

(Ref. 12). 

EPA interprets the statutory text on 

who should report at 15 U.S.C. 

2607(b)(10)(D)(i) as applicable to 

‘‘intentional acts that introduce mercury 

into supply, use, and trade in the United 

States.’’ EPA specified in the proposed 

rule that this applies to ‘‘persons who 

first manufacture mercury or mercuryadded products or otherwise 

intentionally use mercury in a 

manufacturing process’’ (emphasis 

added) (Ref. 3). EPA recognizes that 

certain transactions (e.g., resale, 

incorporation of a purchased 

component that is a mercury-added 

product into equipment) may not be 

captured with this structure. However, 

the Agency believes that focusing on the 

initial introduction of mercury to the 

market prevents the possibility of 

double counting or undue burden (see 

15 U.S.C. 2607(a)(5)(A and B)) which 

could occur if entities that do not first 

introduce mercury to supply, use, and 

trade were required to report to the 

inventory. EPA revised the regulatory 

text in the final rule to improve clarity. 

ii. Persons Who Generate, Handle, or 

Manage Mercury-containing Waste. 

Persons ‘‘engaged in the generation, 

handling, or management of mercurycontaining waste, unless that person 

manufactures or recovers mercury in the 

management of that waste’’ are not 

required to report to the mercury 

inventory (15 U.S.C. 2607(b)(10)(D)(iii)). 

EPA interprets the statute here to mean 

for immediate or eventual commercial 

purposes (see also ‘‘Mercury Handled as 

Waste, Including Elemental Mercury 

Destined for Long-Term Storage’’ in 

Unit III.B.2). EPA will provide examples 

of such persons in reporting instructions 

and other support materials. 

iii. Persons Who Manufacture 

Mercury as an Impurity. Persons who 

manufacture (including import) mercury 

as an impurity are not required to report 

to the mercury inventory (see also 

‘‘Impurities Present in a Final Product’’ 

in Unit III.B.2.). EPA will provide 

examples of such persons in reporting 

instructions and other support 

materials. 

iv. Persons Engaged in Activities 

Involving Mercury Not with the Purpose 

of Obtaining an Immediate or Eventual 

Commercial Advantage. Persons who do 

not manufacture (including import) 

mercury or mercury-added products or 

otherwise intentionally use mercury in 

a manufacturing process with the 

purpose of obtaining an immediate or 

eventual commercial advantage are not 

required to report to the mercury 

inventory (see also ‘‘Commercial 

Purposes’’ in Unit III.B.2.). In addition, 

EPA will provide examples of such 

persons in reporting instructions and 

other support materials. 

v. Manufacture or Import of a Product 

that Contains a Component that is a 

Mercury-added Product. EPA maintains 

that requiring reporting on the use of a 

mercury-added product as a component 

in the manufacture (other than import) 

of another product for a person who did 

not first manufacture (other than 

import) the mercury-added product 

would constitute double counting. The 

Agency’s rationale is explained in detail 

in Unit III.D.1.b. To the extent that the 

Agency is not requiring persons who 

import products that contain a 

component that is a mercury-added 

product to report, the reporting 

requirements do not prevent the 

identification of such products. The 

decision to not require reporting on 

such products also will not prevent the 

Agency from making recommendations 

‘‘to achieve further reductions in 

mercury use’’ (15 U.S.C. 

2607(b)(10)(C)(ii)). In order to clarify 

and streamline reporting requirements 

related to products that contain a 

component that is a mercury-added 

product, the Agency modified the 

structure of the regulatory text in this 

final rule. In addition, EPA will provide 

examples of such persons in reporting 

instructions and other support 

materials. Those materials will be 

available on the EPA website six months 

prior to the reporting deadline. 

3. Reporting Units and Threshold. As 

discussed in Unit III.C., the Agency 

compared existing state and federal 

reporting databases applicable to the 

supply, use, and trade of mercury. EPA 

conducted this review in an attempt not 

only to eliminate duplicative reporting 

requirements, but also to incorporate 

applicable features of such programs, 

including the consideration of 

respective reporting thresholds. 

The statutory text at TSCA section 

8(b)(10) is silent on a reporting 

threshold; however, TSCA section 

8(b)(10)(C) directs the Agency to 

‘‘identify any manufacturing processes 

or products that intentionally add 


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mercury.’’ Based on: (1) The 

interpretation that the direction to 

‘‘identify any’’ applies to any amount of 

mercury in a manufacturing process or 

product; and (2) concerns related to the 

potential adverse effects on human 

health and the environment resulting 

from releases of mercury, EPA proposed 

to apply the reporting requirements to 

any person who manufactures 

(including imports) mercury or 

mercury-added products or otherwise 

intentionally uses mercury in a 

manufacturing process regardless of the 

amount of mercury at issue (Ref. 3). 

The Agency received comments in 

support of the proposal to not establish 

a de minimis threshold for reporting 

(Ref. 11; Ref. 12; Ref. 23), as well as 

comments suggesting EPA establish 

minimum units for which persons 

should report and a threshold under 

which persons should not report to the 

mercury inventory (Ref. 15; Ref. 21; Ref. 

24; Ref. 26; Ref. 27). Specific 

recommendations from commenters 

included: a minimum reportable value 

of 1 pound (Ref. 27), parts per million 

amounts for impurities (Ref. 15), and 

less than 1 kilogram for an annual total 

for certain activities (Ref. 28). 

Commenters also expressed concerns 

with the reasonableness and burden 

associated with being able to detect, as 

well as calculate annual totals, for trace 

amounts of mercury in certain products 

and processes (Ref. 15; Ref. 24). Finally, 

commenters recommended that 

reporting thresholds be established in 

SI/metric units due to prevalent market 

practices for identifying mercury 

content in products and for greater 

consistency with IMERC reporting 

requirements (Ref. 18; Ref. 23). 

EPA appreciates the suggestion to 

offer multiple/alternative units of 

measurement for reporting amounts of 

mercury. However, EPA believes that 

the pound (lb.) as a unit of measurement 

is the best choice based on it being a 

unit familiar to most potential reporters 

and consistent with the reporting 

provided by IMERC, CDR, and TRI. The 

reporting application is designed such 

that persons seeking to report amounts 

equal to or less than one pound during 

a reporting year would be directed to 

round amounts of mercury to ‘‘1 lb.’’ 

In regard to a reporting threshold, 

EPA understands that certain persons 

may use small amounts of mercury over 

the course of a reporting year, but 

believes that it is not appropriate to 

establish a de minimis threshold. As 

explained in the proposed rule (Ref. 3), 

this decision is based on a review of 

statutory text at 15 U.S.C. 

2607(b)(10)(C), which EPA interprets to 

require reporting for any amount of 

mercury. However, to address the 

concerns expressed, and as an 

alternative to a reporting threshold, EPA 

accepts the suggestions of commenters 

to offer a minimum unit. Any person 

that manufactures (including imports) 

mercury or mercury-added products or 

any person that otherwise intentionally 

uses mercury in a manufacturing 

process in an amount equal to or less 

than one pound during a reporting year 

would be directed to round amounts of 

mercury to ‘‘1 lb.’’ Because the Agency 

is not requiring reporting for impurities 

(see also ‘‘Impurities Present in a Final 

Product’’ in Unit III.B.2.), EPA believes 

the suggested parts per million unit of 

measurement associated with impurities 

is no longer applicable. In instances 

where persons subject to the reporting 

requirements may be using mercury in 

small amounts on a per unit basis, the 

Agency will provide additional 

examples in reporting instructions and 

support materials designed to assist 

reporters. Those materials will be 

available on the EPA website six months 

prior to the reporting deadline. 

4. Reporting Requirements. TSCA 

section 8(b)(10)(B) sets the general scope 

of the inventory as the ‘‘mercury supply, 

use, and trade in the United States.’’ 

EPA interprets the core elements to be 

covered in the mercury inventory to be 

the amount of mercury used in the 

activities within the mercury market 

described in Unit III.B. (i.e., 

manufacture, import, export, storage, 

distribution in commerce, and 

otherwise intentional use of mercury in 

a manufacturing process). EPA also 

determined that, for certain data 

elements, requiring reporting of more 

specific information would help to 

better contextualize reported quantities 

of mercury used in domestic and global 

supply, use, and trade. The general, 

specific, and contextual reporting 

requirements are described in this 

section. 

a. General Reporting Requirements. 

EPA considers ‘‘supply’’ to include 

manufacture and storage, ‘‘use’’ to 

include otherwise intentional use of 

mercury in a manufacturing process, 

and ‘‘trade’’ to include import, export, 

and distribution in commerce. The 

Agency determined that accounting for 

such activities is necessary to fulfill 

statutory mandates at TSCA sections 

8(b)(10)(B) and (C). Therefore, for 

persons required to report (as described 

in Unit III.D.), EPA is requiring 

reporting quantitative data for mercury, 

mercury-added products, and otherwise 

intentional use of mercury in a 

manufacturing process (as qualified 

from existing terms as discussed in Unit 

III.B.) as follows: 

i. Importers of mercury: Amount of 

mercury imported per year (lbs.); 

Amount of mercury stored per year 

(lbs.); Amount of mercury distributed in 

commerce per year (lbs.); Amount of 

mercury exported per year (lbs.). 

ii. Manufacturers (other than 

importers) of mercury: Amount of 

mercury manufactured (other than 

imported) per year (lbs.); Amount of 

mercury stored per year (lbs.); Amount 

of mercury distributed in commerce per 

year (lbs.). Amount of mercury exported 

per year (lbs.). 

iii. Importers of a mercury-added 

product: Amount of mercury in 

imported products per year (lbs.); 

Amount of mercury in products 

distributed in domestic commerce per 

year (lbs.); Amount of mercury in 

exported products per year (lbs.). 

iv. Manufacturers (other than 

importers) of a mercury-added product: 

Amount of mercury in manufactured 

(other than imported) products per year 

(lbs.); Amount of mercury in products 

distributed in commerce per year (lbs.); 

Amount of mercury in exported 

products per year (lbs.). 

v. Persons who intentionally use 

mercury in manufacturing processes: 

Amount of mercury used in a 

manufacturing process per year (lbs.); 

Amount of mercury stored per year 

(lbs.). 

EPA understands that certain persons 

may report for multiple activities 

associated with supply, use, and trade 

of mercury. For example, a person may 

import mercury and manufacture 

mercury-added products. As such, the 

Agency is designing the quantitative 

data elements for reporting 

requirements such that a person could 

report both as an ‘‘importer of mercury’’ 

and ‘‘manufacturer of mercury-added 

products,’’ but only report for the 

specific activity in which they engage. 

The Agency expects there may be 

certain persons engaged in the supply, 

use, and trade of mercury who might 

not be accounted for in the inventory, 

but EPA views this omission of 

prospective reporters as an opportunity 

to limit undue burden and avoid double 

counting. Thus, the Agency is limiting 

the persons who must report at TSCA 

section 8(b)(10)(D)(i) to only those 

persons described in Unit III.D. 

b. Specific Reporting Requirements. 

To better understand the categories of 

mercury-added products and otherwise 

intentional use of mercury in a 

manufacturing process, the Agency is 

requiring reporters to identify the 

specific categories and subcategories of 

products and functional uses for which 

quantitative data is reported. The 

Agency believes this is an appropriate 


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interpretation of the direction to 

‘‘identify any manufacturing processes 

or products that intentionally add 

mercury,’’ which, in turn, could inform 

how to ‘‘recommend actions, including 

proposed revisions of Federal law or 

regulations, to achieve further 

reductions in mercury use’’ (15 U.S.C. 

2607(b)(10)(C)). Persons required to 

report must provide the total amount of 

mercury used during the reporting year 

in pounds for general reporting 

activities associated with supply, use, 

and trade, rather than per category and 

subcategory. EPA based this decision on 

issues concerning burden and 

confidential business information that 

could be created by reporting 

quantitative information for increasingly 

specific categories and subcategories. 

i. Mercury-added products. Based on 

the current knowledge of mercuryadded products available in the 

marketplace, including skin products 

manufactured abroad and sold illegally 

in the United States (Ref. 29), EPA is 

finalizing the following list of categories 

and subcategories of mercury-added 

products: 

• Batteries: Button cell, silver; Button 

cell, zinc-air; Button cell, alkaline; 

Stacked button cell batteries; Manganese 

oxide; Silver oxide; Mercuric oxide, 

non-button cell; Button cell, mercuric 

oxide; Button cell, zinc carbon; Other 

(specify). 

• Dental amalgam. 

• Formulated products (includes uses 

in cosmetics, pesticides, and laboratory 

chemicals): Skin-lightening creams; 

Lotions; Soaps and sanitizers; Topical 

antiseptics; Bath oils and salts; 

Preservatives (e.g., for use in vaccines 

and eye-area cosmetics when no 

preservative alternatives are available); 

Pharmaceuticals (including prescription 

and over-the-counter drug products); 

Cleaning products (not registered as 

pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, 

Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act); 

Pesticides; Paints; Dyes; Reagents (e.g., 

catalysts, buffers, fixatives); Other 

(specify). 

• Lighting, lamps, bulbs: Linear 

fluorescent; Compact fluorescent; Utube and circular fluorescent; Cold 

cathode fluorescent; External electrode 

fluorescent; Mercury vapor; Metal 

halide; High pressure sodium; Mercury 

short arc; Neon; Other (specify). 

• Measuring instruments: Barometer; 

Fever thermometer; Flow meter; 

Hydrometer; Hygrometer/psychrometer; 

Manometer; Non-fever thermometer; 

Pyrometer; Sphygmomanometer; Other 

(specify). 

• Pump seals. 

• Switches, relays, sensors, valves: 

Tilt switch; Vibration switch; Float 

switch; Pressure switch; Temperature 

switch; Displacement relay; Wetted reed 

relay; Contact relay; Flame sensor; 

Thermostat; Other (specify). 

• Miscellaneous mercury-added 

products: Wheel weights; Wheel 

rotation balancers/stabilizers; Firearm 

recoil suppressors; Carburetor 

synchronizers; Joint support/shock 

absorption bands; Other (specify). 

ii. Intentional mercury use in 

manufacturing processes. EPA received 

comment on the proposed rule and has 

refined the following manufacturing 

processes for which mercury may be 

intentionally used: Chlorine production 

(e.g., mercury-cell chlor-alkali process); 

Acetaldehyde production; Sodium/ 

potassium methylate/ethylate 

production; Polyurethane/plastic 

production; Other (specify). Based on 

public comment, EPA has also refined 

the following list of uses of mercury in 

the manufacturing processes: Catalyst; 

Cathode; Reactant; Reagent; Other 

(specify). 

Two commenters proposed revisions 

to specific information to be collected 

applicable to the intentional use of 

mercury in a manufacturing process 

(Ref. 15; Ref. 28). One commenter noted 

that in a mercury cell electrolyzer, the 

mercury serves solely as the cathode in 

the electrolysis process which breaks 

down the sodium chloride molecule and 

recommended that EPA should 

therefore add the term ‘‘cathode’’ to the 

Table 4 list as one of the selections (Ref. 

15). Another commenter requested the 

removal of ‘‘[v]inyl chloride monomer 

production’’ as a specific manufacturing 

process because the vinyl chloride 

monomer (VCM) process is no longer 

used and is not expected to be used, by 

any manufacturer in the United States 

and that all VCM producers utilize 

ethylene, rather than acetylene, as the 

feedstock, which does not require any 

use of mercury (Ref. 28). 

The Agency appreciates and agrees 

with these comments. EPA amended the 

regulatory text for reporting 

requirements for specific data to add the 

term ‘‘Cathode’’ as an option to identify 

how mercury is used in manufacturing 

processes and to remove the term 

‘‘Vinyl chloride monomer production’’ 

from the options of categories of 

manufacturing processes for which 

mercury may be intentionally used. 

c. Contextual Reporting 

Requirements. Within certain sectors of 

the mercury market, the Agency 

determined that additional data 

requirements are important to provide 

context to the quantitative data 

reported. To fully understand the 

supply, use, and trade of mercury in the 

United States, EPA is finalizing the 

following reporting requirements: 

i. For imports of mercury or mercuryadded products: Country of origin. 

ii. For mercury or mercury-added 

products distributed in commerce: 

Identify the applicable purchasing or 

receiving industry sectors via NAICS 

codes. 

iii. For exported mercury or mercuryadded products: Destination country. 

The Agency determined that the 

combination of general, specific, and 

contextual reporting requirements 

provides for the body of information 

required to fulfill statutory mandates of 

TSCA sections 8(b)(10)(B) and (C). As 

much as possible, the Agency designed 

all requirements to be answered only 

where a reporter engages in the specific 

activity from the inclusive list of 

options. In fact, EPA believes that it is 

unlikely that the typical reporter would 

be engaged in and, as a result, be 

required to respond to all, or even 

many, of the reporting requirements. 

Aside from issue-specific discussions 

of reporting requirements presented 

elsewhere in Unit III.D., commenters 

generally supported the Agency’s 

proposed general, specific, and 

contextual reporting requirements, 

emphasized the utility requiring 

reporting of NAICS to help track 

mercury supply and use flows, and 

noted the consistency and 

comprehensiveness of EPA mercuryadded product categories and 

subcategories. The Agency appreciates 

this feedback from potentially affected 

persons. 

5. Consideration of Small Entities. 

Based on EPA’s economic analysis of 

this final rule (Ref. 6), approximately 40 

percent of the respondents will be small 

entities. However, small businesses are 

not exempt from reporting requirements 

because, unlike the exemption for small 

manufacturers and processors provided 

under TSCA sections 8(a)(1)(A) and (B), 

reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements associated with TSCA 

section 8(b) are applicable to all affected 

entities. EPA requested public comment 

on what kinds of information would be 

particularly important to address for 

small entities (e.g., outreach and 

webinars for small businesses to 

introduce the online reporting 

environment and application, explain 

requirements, and offer Q&A and other 

support) (Ref. 3). 

The Agency received a comment 

related to the EPA’s estimation of costs 

and burdens for the proposed rule (Ref. 

27), which expressed concerns that 

initial estimates may be low given the 

scope of products, processes, and other 

information that EPA proposed to 


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require (Ref. 27). EPA prepared the 

economic analysis using the best 

available methods, consistent with 

EPA’s Guidelines for Preparing 

Economic Analyses (see https://

www.epa.gov/environmentaleconomics/guidelines-preparingeconomic-analyses). While individual 

reporters may experience costs either 

higher or lower than those estimated in 

the analysis, the Agency believes that 

the average costs for the categories of 

reporters described are well 

represented. 

The Agency also received a comment 

related to the potential burden to small 

businesses (Ref. 30), which expressed 

concerns about how the estimated 

initial and subsequent annual costs may 

impose a major burden for a small 

manufacturer, particularly when added 

to other regulatory costs. EPA intends to 

minimize the burden on all 

respondents, including small entities, as 

much as possible. The Agency will 

develop reporting instructions tailored 

to small entities who will be required to 

comply with the reporting requirements. 

EPA expects to conduct outreach and 

webinars for small businesses to 

introduce the reporting database, 

explain requirements, and offer Q&A 

and other support. Those materials will 

be available on the EPA website six 

months prior to the reporting deadline. 

Under TSCA section 26(d), EPA also 

provides specialized assistance to 

respondents, particularly to small 

entities, including technical and other 

non-financial assistance to 

manufacturers (including importers) 

and processors of chemical substances. 

EPA’s TSCA Hotline assists small 

businesses complying with TSCA rules 

and provides various materials such as 

copies of Federal Register notices, 

advisories, and other information upon 

request. Contact information for the 

TSCA Hotline is listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 

E. Frequency of Inventory Publication 

TSCA section 8(b)(10)(B) sets the date 

for publication of initial and 

subsequent, triennial iterations of the 

mercury inventory to commence on 

April 1, 2017. Therefore, EPA expects to 

publish the first mercury inventory 

supported by the finalized reporting 

requirements by April 1, 2020 and every 

three years thereafter. 

F. Frequency of Data Collection and 

Reporting Deadline 

TSCA section 8(b)(10)(D) provides the 

authority to promulgate this rule to 

assist in the preparation of the triennial 

inventory publication, but TSCA offers 

no guidance on the frequency of 

collection or reporting deadline. To 

minimize reporting obligations, the 

Agency compared the respective 

collection frequencies and reporting 

deadlines for IMERC, the CDR rule, and 

the TRI program to when EPA is 

required to publish the mercury 

inventory. TSCA section 8(b)(10)(B) sets 

a publication date for the mercury 

inventory that falls on the reporting 

deadline for IMERC: April 1 in a 

triennial cycle starting in April 2017. 

Data collected under the CDR rule is 

submitted to the Agency on a 

quadrennial cycle; the next reporting 

cycle will occur from 2016–2019, with 

a reporting deadline of September 2020. 

The TRI program collects and publishes 

data on an annual cycle with a reporting 

deadline of July 1 of each year. 

Based on such considerations, the 

Agency determined that coinciding with 

the triennial IMERC frequency of 

collection is appropriate given the 

mercury inventory publication schedule 

is also triennial. The Agency is setting 

the mercury inventory reporting 

deadline to coincide with the TRI 

program deadline to align with a date 

with which certain, potential reporters 

might already be familiar. Therefore, 

EPA is establishing a July 1st reporting 

deadline for 2019 and every three years 

thereafter. Data submitted should cover 

only the calendar year preceding the 

year in which the reporting deadline 

occurs (e.g., data for calendar year 

January 1 to December 31, 2018 are 

reported on or before July 1, 2019). 

G. Recordkeeping 

Consistent with the triennial reporting 

and publication cycle for the mercury 

inventory, EPA is requiring that each 

person who is subject to the reporting 

requirements must retain records that 

document any information reported to 

EPA. Records relevant to a reporting 

year must be retained for a period of 3 

years beginning on the last day of the 

reporting year. Submitters are 

encouraged to retain their records longer 

than 3 years to ensure that past records 

are available as a reference when new 

submissions are being generated. 

H. Reporting Requirements and 

Confidential Business Information 

Reporters to the information 

collection of this rule may claim that 

their submitted information is CBI per 

statutory provisions for CBI under TSCA 

section 14. 

The Agency received several 

comments concerning CBI, including 

suggestions to allow reporting in ranges 

and not demarcating specific amounts of 

mercury in exports going to specific 

countries (Ref. 27), as well as limiting 

reporting to a total amount of mercury 

used in a year (as opposed to specific 

amounts in import, export, manufacture, 

and other activities) (Ref. 15; Ref. 24; 

Ref. 28) to obviate the potential for 

persons to elect to claim data as CBI. 

Commenters were particularly 

concerned where reporting by a few or 

only a single facility engaged in a 

particular manufacturing process could 

allow competitors to calculate 

proprietary information. Other 

commenters requested an allowance for 

trade associations to collectively submit 

information on behalf of their members, 

which expressed a preference for 

collective reporting to protect against 

the release of proprietary sales data and 

other CBI (Ref. 9; Ref. 18). 

EPA’s mercury reporting application 

will allow multiple roles in creating, 

certifying, and submitting data. 

However, to maintain the alignment of 

general, specific, and contextual 

reporting requirements, EPA requires 

that separate reports be filed for each 

person/company (i.e., not submitted in 

aggregate if an agent assists multiple 

persons/companies to develop its 

report). In addition, the reporting 

application is designed as a tool for data 

collection only and will accept CBI 

claims submitted in accordance with 

TSCA section 14. Unlike information 

provided to IMERC, CDR, and TRI, the 

data received in support of the mercury 

inventory will not be publicly accessible 

in an online database. EPA intends to 

use these data to fulfill the statutory 

requirements to publish an inventory 

(15 U.S.C. 2607(b)(10)(B)) and make 

required identifications and 

recommendations related to mercury 

use (15 U.S.C. 2607(b)(10)(C)). EPA does 

not foresee receiving and handling such 

information as CBI as a potential 

hindrance to Agency processes. As 

necessary, EPA will follow established 

publication policies to aggregate data for 

public release and will not compromise 

confidential business information. 

I. Electronic Reporting 

As set forth in the proposed rule, the 

Agency determined that mandatory 

electronic reporting would: (1) 

Streamline the reporting process and 

reduce the administrative costs 

associated with information submission 

and recordkeeping; (2) eliminate paperbased submissions as part of broader 

government efforts to move to modern, 

electronic methods of information 

gathering; (3) allow for more efficient 

data transmittal and a reduction in 

errors with the built-in validation 

procedures; and (4) reduce the reporting 

burden for submitters by reducing the 

cost and time required to review. EPA 


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is requiring electronic reporting of the 

mercury inventory data, using an 

Agency-provided, web-based reporting 

software to submit mercury inventory 

reports through the internet to EPA’s 

Central Data Exchange (CDX). CDX 

provides the capability for submitters to 

access their data through the use of web 

services. For more information about 

CDX, go to http://epa.gov/cdx. 

The Agency received comments 

related to the proposal to require 

electronic reporting, which suggested 

that EPA should be prepared to provide 

additional assistance to companies that 

may be challenged by an electronic 

reporting system (Ref. 11; Ref. 23). The 

Agency appreciates these comments and 

will develop reporting instructions and 

support materials to assist with 

reporting to the mercury inventory. 

Those materials will be available on the 

EPA website six months prior to the 

reporting deadline. In addition, the EPA 

CDX maintains a helpdesk contract to 

provide support for CDX users. 

IV. References 

The following is a listing of the 

documents that are specifically 

referenced in this document. The docket 

includes these documents and other 

information considered by EPA, 

including documents that are referenced 

within the documents that are included 

in the docket, even if the referenced 

document is not physically located in 

the docket. For assistance in locating 

these other documents, please consult 

the technical person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 

1. EPA. Mercury; Initial Inventory Report of 

Supply, Use, and Trade. (82 FR 15522; 

March 29, 2017). 

2. UNEP. Minamata Convention on Mercury. 

(No date). Available at http://

www.mercuryconvention.org. [Accessed 

August 4, 2017]. 

3. EPA. Mercury; Reporting Requirements for 

Toxic Substances Control Act Mercury 

Inventory—Proposed Rule. (82 FR 49564; 

October 26, 2017). 

4. EPA. Reporting Requirements for the 

TSCA Mercury Inventory: Mercury— 

Proposed Rule; Extension of Comment 

Period. (82 FR 60168; December 17, 

2017). 

5. EPA. Mercury; Reporting Requirements for 

Toxic Substances Control Act Mercury 

Inventory—Response to Comments. June 

20, 2018. 

6. EPA. Economic Analysis for the Reporting 

Requirements for the TSCA Mercury 

Inventory. June 20, 2018. 

7. EPA. Subpoena and Information Request. 

March 20, 2015. Available at https://

www.epa.gov/mercury/2015-subpoenaand-information-request-epamercuryrecyclers. 

8. Comment submitted by Kathleen M. 

Roberts, Executive Director, North 

American Metals Council. 

9. Comment submitted by Lawrence E. 

Culleen, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer 

LLP for the Chemical Users Coalition. 

10. Comment submitted by Peter Webster, 

General Counsel U.S., Barrick Gold 

North America, Inc. 

11. Comment submitted by David Lennett, 

Senior Attorney, Natural Resources 

Defense Council. 

12. Comment submitted by Carolyn Hanson, 

Acting Executive Director, 

Environmental Council of the States. 

13. Comment submitted by Stephen 

Tarnowski, Office of Corporate Staff 

Counsel, Merck & Co, Inc. 

14. Comment submitted by Ross Eisenberg, 

Vice President, Energy and Resources 

Policy, National Association of 

Manufacturers. 

15. Comment submitted by Kenneth G. 

Akins, Director, Environmental, 

Westlake Chemical Corporation. 

16. Comment submitted by Charles Franklin, 

Vice President and Counsel, Government 

Affairs, Portland Cement Association. 

17. Comment submitted by Amandine 

Muskus, Manager, Environment & 

Energy Association of Global 

Automakers, Inc.; Stacy Tatman, Director 

of Environmental Affairs, Alliance of 

Automobile Manufacturers. 

18. Comment submitted by Chris Cleet, QEP, 

Senior Director of Environment and 

Sustainability, Information Technology 

Industry Council; Katie Reilly, Senior 

Manager, Environmental and 

Sustainability Policy, Consumer 

Technology Association; Kyle Pistor, 

Vice President, Government Relations, 

National Electrical Manufacturers 

Association. 

19. Anonymous public comment (EPA–HQ– 

OPPT–2017–0421–0062). 

20. Comment submitted by Phillip K. Bell, 

President, Steel Manufacturers 

Association. 

21. Comment submitted by David Hickey, 

Vice President, Advocacy, International 

Sign Association. 

22. Comment submitted by Michele P. 

Wilson, Environmental Compliance, 

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC. 

23. Comment submitted by Chuck Schwer, 

Vermont Department of Environmental, 

Conservation, Chairperson, and Tom 

Metzner, Connecticut Department of 

Energy and Environmental Protection, 

Chairperson, Interstate Mercury 

Education and Reduction Clearinghouse. 

24. Comment submitted by Theodore B. 

Lynn, Ph.D., Director of Research, Dexsil 

Corporation. 

25. NEWMOA. Mercury-Added Products 

Database. (No date). Available at http:// 

www.newmoa.org/prevention/mercury/ 

imerc/notification/. [Accessed August 4, 

2017]. 

26. Comment submitted by David Isaacs, 

Semiconductor Industry Association. 

27. Comment submitted by James C. Lee, 

Senior Compliance Analyst, Hach 

Company. 

28. Comment submitted by Richard Krock, 

Vice President, Regulatory and Technical 

Affairs, Vinyl Institute. 

29. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

Mercury Poisoning Linked to Skin 

Products. (July 26, 2016). Available at 

https://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/ 

consumerupdates/ucm294849.htm. 

[Accessed October 3, 2017]. 

30. Anonymous public comment (EPA–HQ– 

OPPT–2017–0421–0038). 

31. EPA. Collection of Information for 

Mercury Inventory Reporting Rule; EPA 

ICR No. 2567.02; OMB Control No.: 

2070–0207. June 20, 2018. 

V. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Additional information about these 

statutes and Executive Orders can be 

found at http://www2.epa.gov/lawsregulations/laws-and-executive-orders. 

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory 

Planning and Review and Executive 

Order 13563: Improving Regulation and 

Regulatory Review 

This action is a significant regulatory 

action that was submitted to the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review under Executive Orders 12866 

(58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 

13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011). 

Any changes made in response to OMB 

recommendations have been 

documented in the docket for this 

action. 

B. Executive Order 13771: Reducing 

Regulations and Controlling Regulatory 

Costs 

This action is subject to the 

requirements for regulatory actions 

specified in Executive Order 13771 (82 

FR 9339, February 3, 2017). EPA 

prepared an analysis of the estimated 

costs and benefits associated with this 

action. This analysis, ‘‘Economic 

Analysis for the Reporting Requirements 

for the TSCA Mercury Inventory’’ 

(Economic Analysis, Ref. 6), is available 

in the docket and is summarized in Unit 

I.E. 

C. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

The information collection activities 

in this rule have been submitted for 

approval to OMB under the PRA, 44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq. The Information 

Collection Request (ICR) document that 

the EPA prepared has been assigned 

EPA ICR number 2567.02 and OMB 

Control No. 2070–0207 (Ref. 31). You 

can find a copy of the ICR in the docket 

for this rule, and it is briefly 

summarized here. 

The reporting requirements identified 

in the final rule would provide EPA 

with information necessary to prepare 

and periodically update an inventory of 

mercury supply, use, and trade in the 

United States, as required by TSCA 

section 8(b)(10)(D). These reporting 

requirements would help the Agency to 

prepare subsequent, triennial 


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publications of the inventory, as well as 

to carry out the requirement of TSCA 

section 8(b)(10)(C) to identify any 

manufacturing processes or products 

that intentionally add mercury and 

recommend actions, including proposed 

revisions of Federal law or regulations, 

to achieve further reductions in mercury 

use. EPA intends to use information 

collected under the rule to assist in 

efforts to reduce the use of mercury in 

products and processes and to facilitate 

reporting on implementation of the 

Minamata Convention by the United 

States. Respondents may claim some of 

the information reported to EPA under 

the final rule as CBI under TSCA section 

14. TSCA section 14(c) requires a 

supporting statement and certification 

for confidentiality claims asserted after 

June 22, 2016. 

EPA estimated total burden and costs 

to industry associated with the 

information collection activities in the 

final rule over the first three years after 

its promulgation (Ref. 6). For the 750 

companies anticipated to be subject to 

the reporting requirements, the average 

per respondent burden hours for Year 1 

(of a triennial cycle for submitting 

information) was estimated to be 96.76 

hours (Ref. 6). Years 2 and 3 are not data 

collection years, so there is no cost 

associated with the rule during these 

years (Ref. 6). Therefore, the average for 

total burden hours per the three-year 

reporting cycle is 32.25 hours per year 

(Ref. 6). 

Respondents/affected entities: 

Manufacturers, importers, and 

processors of mercury. 

Respondent’s obligation to respond: 

Mandatory (15 U.S.C. 2607(b)(10)(D)). 

Estimated number of respondents: 

750. 

Frequency of response: Triennially. 

Total estimated annual burden: 

24,189 hours (averaged over 3 years). 

Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.3(b). 

Total estimated annual cost: 

$1,942,190 (averaged over 3 years), 

includes $0 annualized capital or 

operation and maintenance costs. 

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 the EPA’s regulations in 40 

CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9. Submit 

your comments on the Agency’s need 

for this information, the accuracy of the 

provided burden estimates and any 

suggested methods for minimizing 

respondent burden to the EPA using the 

docket identified at the beginning of this 

rule. You may also send your ICRrelated comments to OMB’s Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs via 

email to oira_submissions@

omb.eop.gov, Attention: Desk Officer for 

the EPA. Since OMB is required to make 

a decision concerning the ICR between 

30 and 60 days after receipt, OMB must 

receive comments no later than July 27, 

2018. 

D. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

Pursuant to section 605(b) of the RFA, 

5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., I certify that this 

action will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities under the RFA. 

The small entities subject to the 

requirements of this action include 

those that manufacture, including 

import, mercury or mercury-added 

products (manufacturers), or otherwise 

intentionally use mercury in a 

manufacturing process (processors). To 

identify the number of firms that are 

subject to the rule and considered small 

under SBA size standards, EPA 

compared the appropriate SBA size 

definition to the company’s revenue or 

number of employees, as identified 

using Dun and Bradstreet or other 

market research websites. Of the 506 

parent companies that are subject to the 

rule, 211 companies (42 percent) meet 

the SBA small business definitions for 

their respective NAICS classifications. 

The small entity analysis estimated 

that no parent company would incur an 

impact of 3 percent or greater, and 4 

parent companies (1.85 percent of total 

entities) would incur an impact of 1 to 

3 percent. Details of this analysis are 

included in the accompanying 

Economic Analysis for this rule (Ref. 6). 

E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

(UMRA) 

This action does not contain an 

unfunded mandate of $100 million or 

more as described in UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 

1531 through 1538, and does not 

significantly or uniquely affect small 

governments. As such, the requirements 

of sections 202, 203, 204, or 205 of 

UMRA do not apply to this action. 

F. Executive Order 13132: Federalism 

This action does not have federalism 

implications, as specified in Executive 

Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999). It will not have substantial direct 

effects on the States, on the relationship 

between the national government and 

the States, or on the distribution of 

power and responsibilities among the 

various levels of government. 

G. Executive Order 13175: Consultation 

and Coordination With Indian Tribal 

Governments 

This action does not have tribal 

implications as specified in Executive 

Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 

2000). It will not have any effect on 

tribal governments, on the relationship 

between the Federal government and 

the Indian tribes, or on the distribution 

of power and responsibilities between 

the Federal government and Indian 

tribes, as specified in the Order. Thus, 

E.O. 13175 does not apply to this action. 

H. Executive Order 13045: Protection of 

Children From Environmental Health 

Risks and Safety Risks 

EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 

(62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997) as 

applying only to those regulatory 

actions that concern environmental 

health or safety risks that EPA has 

reason to believe may 

disproportionately affect children, per 

the definition of ‘‘covered regulatory 

action’’ in section 2–202 of the 

Executive Order. This action is not 

subject to Executive Order 13045 

because it does not concern an 

environmental health risk or safety risk, 

nor is this action economically 

significant as the impact of this action 

will be less than $100 million. 

I. Executive Order 13211: Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use 

This final rule is not subject to 

Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, 

May 22, 2001) because it is not expected 

to affect energy supply, distribution, or 

use. 

J. National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act (NTTAA) 

Since this action does not involve any 

technical standards, section 12(d) of 

NTTAA, 15 U.S.C. 272 note, does not 

apply to this section. 

K. Executive Order 12898: Federal 

Actions To Address Environmental 

Justice in Minority Populations and 

Low-Income Populations 

This action is not subject to Executive 

Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 

1994) because it does not establish an 

environmental health or safety standard. 

This action establishes an information 

requirement and does not affect the 

level of protection provided to human 

health or the environment. 

VI. Congressional Review Act (CRA) 

This action is subject to the CRA, 5 

U.S.C. 801 et seq., and EPA will submit 

a rule report to each House of the 

Congress and to the Comptroller General 

of the United States. This action is not 

a ‘‘major rule’’ as defined by 5 U.S.C. 

804(2). 


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List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 713 

Environmental protection, Exports, 

Imports, Manufacturing, Mercury, Trade 

practices. 

Dated: June 21, 2018. 

E. Scott Pruitt, 

Administrator. 

Therefore, 40 CFR chapter I, 

subchapter R, is amended by adding a 

new part 713 to read as follows: 

PART 713—REPORTING 

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE TSCA 

INVENTORY OF MERCURY SUPPLY, 

USE, AND TRADE 

Sec. 

713.1 Purpose, scope, and compliance. 

713.5 Mercury for which information must 

be reported. 

713.7 Persons who must report. 

713.9 General requirements for which 

information must be reported. 

713.11 Specific requirements for which 

information must be reported. 

713.13 Contextual requirements for which 

information must be reported. 

713.15 Reporting information to EPA. 

713.17 When to report. 

713.19 Recordkeeping requirements. 

713.21 Electronic filing. 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2607(b)(10)(D). 

§ 713.1 Purpose, scope, and compliance. 

(a) This part specifies reporting and 

recordkeeping procedures under section 

8(b)(10) of the Toxic Substances Control 

Act (TSCA) (15 U.S.C. 2607(b)(10)) for 

certain manufacturers (including 

importers) and processers of mercury as 

defined in section 8(b)(10)(A) to include 

elemental mercury and mercury 

compounds. Hereinafter ‘‘mercury’’ will 

refer to both elemental mercury and 

mercury compounds collectively, except 

where separately identified. Section 

8(b)(10)(D) of TSCA authorizes the EPA 

Administrator to require reporting from 

any person who manufactures mercury 

or mercury-added products or otherwise 

intentionally uses mercury in a 

manufacturing process to carry out and 

publish in the Federal Register an 

inventory of mercury supply, use, and 

trade in the United States. In 

administering this mercury inventory, 

EPA is directed to identify any 

manufacturing processes or products 

that intentionally add mercury and to 

recommend actions, including proposed 

revisions of Federal law or regulations, 

to achieve further reductions in mercury 

use. EPA intends to use the collected 

information to implement TSCA and 

shape the Agency’s efforts to 

recommend actions, both voluntary and 

regulatory, to reduce the use of mercury 

in commerce. In so doing, the Agency 

will conduct timely evaluation and 

refinement of these reporting 

requirements so that they are efficient 

and non-duplicative for reporters. 

(b) This part applies to the activities 

associated with the periodic publication 

of information on mercury supply, use, 

and trade in the United States. Except 

as described at § 713.7, the reporting 

requirements for mercury supply, use, 

and trade apply to the following 

activities: 

(1) Activities undertaken with the 

purpose of obtaining an immediate or 

eventual commercial advantage: 

(i) Import of mercury; 

(ii) Manufacture (other than import) of 

mercury; 

(iii) Import of a mercury-added 

product; 

(iv) Manufacture (other than import) 

of a mercury-added product; and 

(v) Intentional use of mercury in a 

manufacturing process. 

(2) Activities undertaken in 

relationship to those activities described 

in paragraph (b)(1) of this section: 

(i) Distribution in commerce, 

including domestic sale or transfer, of 

mercury; 

(ii) Distribution in commerce, 

including domestic sale or transfer, of a 

mercury-added product; 

(iii) Storage of mercury (including 

import); 

(iv) Export of a mercury compound 

(unless specifically prohibited); and 

(v) Export of a mercury-added 

product. 

(c) Section 15(3) of TSCA makes it 

unlawful for any person to fail or refuse 

to submit information required under 

this part. In addition, TSCA section 

15(3) makes it unlawful for any person 

to fail to: Establish or maintain records, 

or permit access to records required by 

this part. Section 16 of TSCA provides 

that any person who violates a provision 

of TSCA section 15 is liable to the 

United States for a civil penalty and 

may be criminally prosecuted. Pursuant 

to TSCA section 17, the Federal 

Government may seek judicial relief to 

compel submission of TSCA section 8 

information and to otherwise restrain 

any violation of TSCA section 15. 

(d) Each person who reports under 

this part must certify the accuracy and 

maintain records of the information 

reported under this part and, in 

accordance with TSCA, permit access 

to, and the copying of, such records by 

EPA officials. 

§ 713.5 Mercury for which information 

must be reported. 

(a) Elemental mercury (Chemical 

Abstracts Service Registry Number 

7439–97–6); or 

(b) A mercury compound, including 

but not limited to the mercury 

compounds listed in Table 1 of this part 

by Chemical Abstracts Service Registry 

Number: 

TABLE 1—MERCURY COMPOUNDS

Chemical Abstracts 

Service Registry No. Mercury compound 

10045–94–0 ................... Nitric acid, mercury(2+) salt (2:1). 

100–57–2 ....................... Mercury, hydroxyphenyl-. 

10112–91–1 ................... Mercury chloride (Hg2Cl2). 

10124–48–8 ................... Mercury amide chloride (Hg(NH2)Cl). 

103–27–5 ....................... Mercury, phenyl(propanoato-.kappa.O)-. 

10415–75–5 ................... Nitric acid, mercury(1+) salt (1:1). 

104–60–9 ....................... Mercury, (9-octadecenoato-.kappa.O)phenyl-. 

1191–80–6 ..................... 9-Octadecenoic acid (9Z)-, mercury(2+) salt (2:1). 

12068–90–5 ................... Mercury telluride (HgTe). 

13170–76–8 ................... Hexanoic acid, 2-ethyl-, mercury(2+) salt (2:1). 

13302–00–6 ................... Mercury, (2-ethylhexanoato-.kappa.O)phenyl-. 

1335–31–5 ..................... Mercury cyanide oxide (Hg2(CN)2O). 

1344–48–5 ..................... Mercury sulfide (HgS). 

1345–09–1 ..................... Cadmium mercury sulfide. 

13876–85–2 ................... Mercurate(2-), tetraiodo-, copper(1+) (1:2), (T-4)-. 

138–85–2 ....................... Mercurate(1-), (4-carboxylatophenyl)hydroxy-, sodium (1:1). 

141–51–5 ....................... Mercury, iodo(iodomethyl)-. 


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TABLE 1—MERCURY COMPOUNDS—Continued 

Chemical Abstracts 

Service Registry No. Mercury compound 

14783–59–6 ................... Mercury, bis[(2-phenyldiazenecarbothioic acid-.kappa.S) 2-phenylhydrazidato-.kappa.N2]-, (T-4)-. 

15385–58–7 ................... Mercury, dibromodi-, (Hg-Hg). 

15785–93–0 ................... Mercury, chloro[4-[(2,4-dinitrophenyl)amino]phenyl]-. 

15829–53–5 ................... Mercury oxide (Hg2O). 

1600–27–7 ..................... Acetic acid, mercury(2+) salt (2:1). 

1785–43–9 ..................... Mercury, chloro(ethanethiolato)-. 

19447–62–2 ................... Mercury, (acetato-.kappa.O)[4-[2-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]diazenyl]phenyl]-. 

20582–71–2 ................... Mercurate(2-), tetrachloro-, potassium (1:2), (T-4)-. 

20601–83–6 ................... Mercury selenide (HgSe). 

21908–53–2 ................... Mercury oxide (HgO). 

22450–90–4 ................... Mercury(1+), amminephenyl-, acetate (1:1). 

24579–90–6 ................... Mercury, chloro(2-hydroxy-5-nitrophenyl)-. 

24806–32–4 ................... Mercury, [.mu.-[2-dodecylbutanedioato(2-).kappa.O1:.kappa.O4]]diphenyldi-. 

26545–49–3 ................... Mercury, (neodecanoato-.kappa.O)phenyl-. 

27685–51–4 ................... Cobaltate(2-), tetrakis(thiocyanato-.kappa.N)-, mercury(2+) (1:1), (T-4)-. 

29870–72–2 ................... Cadmium mercury telluride ((Cd,Hg)Te). 

3294–57–3 ..................... Mercury, phenyl(trichloromethyl)-. 

33770–60–4 ................... Mercury, [3,6-dichloro-4,5-di(hydroxy-.kappa.O)-3,5cyclohexadiene-1,2-dionato(2-)]-. 

3570–80–7 ..................... Mercury, bis(acetato-.kappa.O)[.mu.-(3’,6’-dihydroxy-3oxospiro[isobenzofuran-1(3H),9’-[9H]xanthene]-2’,7’diyl)]di-. 

537–64–4 ....................... Mercury, bis(4-methylphenyl)-. 

539–43–5 ....................... Mercury, chloro(4-methylphenyl)-. 

54–64–8 ......................... Mercurate(1-), ethyl[2-(mercapto-.kappa.S)benzoato(2-).kappa.O]-, sodium (1:1). 

55–68–5 ......................... Mercury, (nitrato-.kappa.O)phenyl-. 

56724–82–4 ................... Mercury, phenyl[(2-phenyldiazenecarbothioic acid.kappa.S) 2-phenylhydrazidato-.kappa.N2]-. 

587–85–9 ....................... Mercury, diphenyl-. 

592–04–1 ....................... Mercury cyanide (Hg(CN)2). 

592–85–8 ....................... Thiocyanic acid, mercury(2+) salt (2:1). 

593–74–8 ....................... Mercury, dimethyl-. 

59–85–8 ......................... Mercurate(1-), (4-carboxylatophenyl)chloro-, hydrogen. 

623–07–4 ....................... Mercury, chloro(4-hydroxyphenyl)-. 

62–38–4 ......................... Mercury, (acetato-.kappa.O)phenyl-. 

62638–02–2 ................... Cyclohexanebutanoic acid, mercury(2+) salt (2:1). 

627–44–1 ....................... Mercury, diethyl-. 

6283–24–5 ..................... Mercury, (acetato-.kappa.O)(4-aminophenyl)-. 

628–86–4 ....................... Mercury, bis(fulminato-.kappa.C)-. 

629–35–6 ....................... Mercury, dibutyl-. 

63325–16–6 ................... Mercurate(2-), tetraiodo-, (T-4)-, hydrogen, compd. with 5-iodo-2-pyridinamine (1:2:2). 

63468–53–1 ................... Mercury, (acetato-.kappa.O)(2-hydroxy-5-nitrophenyl)-. 

63549–47–3 ................... Mercury, bis(acetato-.kappa.O)(benzenamine)-. 

68201–97–8 ................... Mercury, (acetato-.kappa.O)diamminephenyl-, (T-4)-. 

72379–35–2 ................... Mercurate(1-), triiodo-, hydrogen, compd. with 3-methyl2(3H)-benzothiazolimine (1:1:1). 

7439–97–6 ..................... Mercury. 

7487–94–7 ..................... Mercury chloride (HgCl2). 

7546–30–7 ..................... Mercury chloride (HgCl). 

7616–83–3 ..................... Perchloric acid, mercury(2+) salt (2:1). 

7774–29–0 ..................... Mercury iodide (HgI2). 

7783–33–7 ..................... Mercurate(2-), tetraiodo-, potassium (1:2), (T-4)-. 

7783–35–9 ..................... Sulfuric acid, mercury(2+) salt (1:1). 

7783–39–3 ..................... Mercury fluoride (HgF2). 

7789–47–1 ..................... Mercury bromide (HgBr2). 

90–03–9 ......................... Mercury, chloro(2-hydroxyphenyl)-. 

94070–93–6 ................... Mercury, [.mu.-[(oxydi-2,1-ethanediyl 1,2benzenedicarboxylato-.kappa.O2)(2-)]]diphenyldi-. 

§ 713.7 Persons who must report. 

(a) Any person who manufactures 

(including imports) mercury, except: 

(1) A person who does not 

manufacture (including import) mercury 

with the purpose of obtaining an 

immediate or eventual commercial 

advantage; 

(2) A person who manufactures 

(including imports) mercury only as an 

impurity; or 

(3) A person engaged only in the 

generation, handling, or management of 

mercury-containing waste, including 

recovered mercury that is discarded or 

elemental mercury that is managed for 

long-term storage and management 

under section 6939f(g)(2) of the 

Resource Conservation and Recovery 

Act; 

(b) Any person who manufactures 

(including imports) a mercury-added 

product, except: 

(1) A person who does not 

manufacture (including import) a 

mercury-added product with the 

purpose of obtaining an immediate or 

eventual commercial advantage; 

(2) A person engaged only in the 

import of a product that contains a 

component that is a mercury-added 

product; or 

(3) A person engaged only in the 

manufacture (other than import) of a 

product that contains a component that 

is a mercury-added product who did not 

first manufacture (including import) the 

component that is a mercury-added 

product; and 

(c) Any person who otherwise 

intentionally uses mercury in a 

manufacturing process, except a person 


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who does not intentionally use mercury 

in a manufacturing process with the 

purpose of obtaining an immediate or 

eventual commercial advantage. 

§ 713.9 General requirements for which 

information must be reported. 

Except as described at § 713.7: 

(a) Persons who manufacture 

(including import) mercury in amounts 

greater than or equal to 2,500 pounds 

(lbs.) for elemental mercury or greater 

than or equal to 25,000 lbs. for mercury 

compounds for a specific reporting year 

must report, as applicable: 

(1) Amount of mercury stored (lbs.); 

and 

(2) Amount of mercury distributed in 

commerce (lbs.). 

(b) All other persons who 

manufacture (including import) mercury 

must report, as applicable: 

(1) Amount of mercury manufactured 

(other than imported) (lbs.); 

(2) Amount of mercury imported 

(lbs.); 

(3) Amount of mercury exported 

(lbs.), except mercury prohibited from 

export at 15 U.S.C. 2611(c)(1) and (7); 

(4) Amount of mercury stored (lbs.); 

and 

(5) Amount of mercury distributed in 

commerce (lbs.). 

(c) Persons who report sales of 

mercury-added products to the 

Interstate Mercury Education and 

Reduction Clearinghouse (IMERC) must 

report, as applicable: 

(1) Amount of mercury in 

manufactured (other than imported) 

products (lbs.); 

(2) Amount of mercury in imported 

products (lbs.); and 

(3) Amount of mercury in exported 

products (lbs.). 

(d) All other persons who 

manufacture (including import) 

mercury-added products must report, as 

applicable: 

(1) Amount of mercury in 

manufactured (other than imported) 

products (lbs.); 

(2) Amount of mercury in imported 

products (lbs.); 

(3) Amount of mercury in exported 

products (lbs.); and 

(4) Amount of mercury in products 

distributed in commerce (lbs.). 

(e) Persons who otherwise 

intentionally use mercury in a 

manufacturing process must report, as 

applicable: 

(1) Amount of mercury otherwise 

intentionally used (lbs.) in a 

manufacturing process; and 

(2) Amount of mercury stored (lbs.). 

§ 713.11 Specific requirements for which 

information must be reported. 

Except as described at § 713.7: 

(a) Any person who manufactures 

(including imports) mercury must 

specify, as applicable, the specific 

mercury compound(s) from a preselected list (as listed in Table 1 of this 

part). 

(b) Any person who manufactures 

(including imports) a mercury-added 

product must specify as applicable, the 

specific category(ies) and 

subcategory(ies) from a pre-selected list, 

as listed in Table 2 of this part: 

TABLE 2—CATEGORIES AND SUBCATEGORIES OF MERCURY-ADDED PRODUCTS

Category Subcategory 

Batteries .................................................................................................... —Button cell, silver. 

—Button cell, zinc-air. 

—Button cell, alkaline. 

—Stacked button cell batteries. 

—Manganese oxide. 

—Silver oxide. 

—Mercuric oxide, non-button cell. 

—Button cell, mercuric oxide. 

—Button cell, zinc carbon. 

—Other (specify). 

Dental amalgam ....................................................................................... [No subcategories]. 

Formulated products (includes uses in cosmetics, pesticides, and laboratory chemicals).—Skin-lightening creams. 

—Lotions. 

—Soaps and sanitizers. 

—Bath oils and salts. 

—Topical antiseptics. 

—Preservatives (e.g., for use in vaccines and eye-area cosmetics 

when no preservative alternatives are available). 

—Pharmaceuticals (including prescription and over-the-counter drug 

products). 

—Cleaning products (not registered as pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act). 

—Pesticides. 

—Paints. 

—Dyes. 

—Reagents (e.g., catalysts, buffers, fixatives). 

—Other (specify). 

Lighting, lamps, bulbs ............................................................................... —Linear fluorescent. 

—Compact fluorescent. 

—U-tube and circular fluorescent. 

—Cold cathode fluorescent. 

—External electrode fluorescent. 

—Mercury vapor. 

—Metal halide. 

—High pressure sodium. 

—Mercury short arc. 

—Neon. 

—Other (specify). 


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30076 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 27, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

TABLE 2—CATEGORIES AND SUBCATEGORIES OF MERCURY-ADDED PRODUCTS—Continued 

Category Subcategory 

Measuring instruments ............................................................................. —Barometer. 

—Fever thermometer. 

—Flow meter. 

—Hydrometer. 

—Hygrometer/psychrometer. 

—Manometer. 

—Non-fever thermometer. 

—Pyrometer. 

—Sphygmomanometer. 

—Other (specify). 

Pump seals ............................................................................................... [No subcategories]. 

Switches, relays, sensors, valves ............................................................ —Tilt switch. 

—Vibration switch. 

—Float switch. 

—Pressure switch. 

—Temperature switch. 

—Displacement relay. 

—Wetted reed relay. 

—Contact relay. 

—Flame sensor. 

—Thermostat. 

—Other (specify). 

Miscellaneous/novelty mercury-added products ...................................... —Wheel weights. 

—Wheel rotation balancers/stabilizers. 

—Firearm recoil suppressors. 

—Carburetor synchronizers. 

—Joint support/shock absorption bands. 

—Other (specify). 

(c) Any person who otherwise 

intentionally uses mercury in a 

manufacturing process, other than the 

manufacture of a mercury compound or 

a mercury-added product, must identify, 

as applicable: 

(1) The specific manufacturing 

process for which mercury is otherwise 

intentionally used from a pre-selected 

list, as listed in Table 3 of this part: 

TABLE 3—MANUFACTURING PROCESS

FOR WHICH MERCURY IS OTHERWISE INTENTIONALLY USED

Chlorine production (e.g., mercury-cell chloralkali process). 

Acetaldehyde production. 

Sodium/potassium methylate/ethylate production. 

Polyurethane/plastic production. 

Other (specify). 

(2) The specific use of mercury in a 

manufacturing process from a preselected list, as listed in Table 4 of this 

part: 

TABLE 4—SPECIFIC USE OF MERCURY

IN A MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Catalyst. 

Cathode. 

Reactant. 

Reagent. 

Other (specify). 

§ 713.13 Contextual requirements for 

which information must be reported. 

Except as described at § 713.7: 

(a) Persons who manufacture 

(including import) mercury in amounts 

greater than or equal to 2,500 lbs. for 

elemental mercury or greater than or 

equal to 25,000 lbs. for mercury 

compounds for a specific reporting year 

must report, as applicable: 

(1) Country(ies) of origin for imported 

mercury; 

(2) Country(ies) of destination for 

exported mercury; and 

(3) NAICS code(s) for mercury 

distributed in commerce. 

(b) All other persons who 

manufacture (including import) mercury 

must report, as applicable: 

(1) Country(ies) of origin for imported 

mercury; 

(2) Country(ies) of destination for 

exported mercury; and 

(3) NAICS code(s) for mercury 

distributed in commerce. 

(c) Persons who report sales of 

mercury-added products to IMERC must 

report, as applicable: 

(1) Country(ies) of origin for imported 

products; 

(2) Country(ies) of destination for 

exported products; and 

(3) NAICS code(s) for products 

distributed in commerce. 

(d) All other persons who 

manufacture (including import) 

mercury-added products must report, as 

applicable: 

(1) Country(ies) of origin for imported 

products; 

(2) Country(ies) of destination for 

exported products; and 

(3) NAICS code(s) for products 

distributed in commerce. 

(e) Persons who otherwise 

intentionally use mercury in a 

manufacturing process, other than the 

manufacture of a mercury compound or 

a mercury-added product, must report, 

as applicable: 

(1) Country(ies) of destination for 

exported final product(s); and 

(2) NAICS code(s) for mercury in final 

product(s) distributed in commerce. 

§ 713.15 Reporting information to EPA. 

Any person who must report under 

this part must report for the submission 

period described at § 713.17: 

(a) Quantities of mercury in pounds 

per applicable activity listed under the 

general requirements for which 

information must be reported described 

at § 713.9; 

(b) Specific requirements for which 

information must be reported described 

at § 713.11; 

(c) Contextual requirements for which 

information must be reported described 

at § 713.13; and 

(d) According to the procedures 

described at § 713.21. 

§ 713.17 When to report. 

(a) Any person who must report under 

this part must report for the reporting 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 27, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 30077 

year described as follows. A reporting 

year is the year during which mercury 

activity, required to be reported by this 

rule, has occurred. The 2018 reporting 

year is from January 1, 2018 to 

December 31, 2018. Subsequent 

reporting years are from January 1 to 

December 31 at 3-year intervals, 

beginning in 2021. 

(b) All information reported for an 

applicable reporting year must be 

submitted on or before the first day of 

July following the reporting year. The 

submission deadline for the 2018 

reporting year is July 1, 2019. 

Subsequent submission deadlines are on 

or before the first day of July following 

the reporting year, in 3-year intervals, 

beginning in 2022. 

(c) The data from the 2018 reporting 

year will be used for the 2020 mercury 

inventory, the data from the 2021 

reporting year will be used for the 2023 

mercury inventory, and so forth at threeyear intervals. 

§ 713.19 Recordkeeping requirements. 

Each person who is subject to the 

reporting requirements of this part must 

retain records that document any 

information reported to EPA. Records 

relevant to a reporting year must be 

retained for a period of 3 years 

beginning on the last day of the 

reporting year. Submitters are 

encouraged to retain their records longer 

than 3 years to ensure that past records 

are available as a reference when new 

submissions are being generated. 

§ 713.21 Electronic filing. 

(a) You must use the Mercury 

Electronic Reporting (MER) application 

to complete and submit required 

information as set forth in § 713.17. 

Submissions may only be made as set 

forth in this section. 

(b) Submissions must be sent 

electronically to EPA via CDX. 

(c) Access MER and instructions, as 

follows: 

(1) By website. Access MER via the 

CDX homepage at https://cdx.epa.gov/ 

and follow the appropriate links. 

(2) By phone or email. Contact the 

EPA TSCA Hotline at (202) 554–1404 or 

TSCA-Hotline@epa.gov. 

[FR Doc. 2018–13834 Filed 6–26–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

41 CFR Parts 300–3 and 301–11, 

Appendices B and D to Chapter 301, 

and Parts 302–9 and 302–11 

[FTR Amendment 2018–01; FTR Case 2018– 

301; Docket No. 2018–0007, Sequence 1] 

RIN 3090–AJ99 

Federal Travel Regulation (FTR); 

Removal of the Meals and Incidental 

Expenses (M&IE) Deduction Table, 

Allocation of M&IE Rates To Be Used 

in Making Deductions From the M&IE 

Allowance, and the Glossary of 

Acronyms 

AGENCY: Office of Government-wide 

Policy, U.S. General Services 

Administration (GSA). 

ACTION: Direct final rule. 

SUMMARY: GSA is amending the Federal 

Travel Regulation (FTR), to remove the 

meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) 

deduction table, Allocation of M&IE 

Rates To Be Used in Making Deductions 

From the M&IE Allowance, and the 

Glossary of Acronyms. 

DATES: This rule is effective August 13, 

2018 without further action, unless 

adverse comments are received by July 

27, 2018. GSA will consider whether 

these comments are significant enough 

to publish a timely withdrawal in the 

Federal Register informing the public 

that this direct final rule will not take 

effect. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments in 

response to FTR Case 2018–301 by any 

of the following methods: 

• Regulations.gov: http://

www.regulations.gov. Submit comments 

via the Federal eRulemaking portal by 

entering ‘‘FTR Case 2018–301’’, under 

the heading ‘‘Enter Keyword or ID’’ and 

select ‘‘Search’’. Select the link ‘‘Submit 

a Comment’’ that corresponds with 

‘‘FTR Case 2018–301’’ and follow the 

instructions provided at the ‘‘Comment 

Now’’ screen. Please include your name, 

company name (if any), and ‘‘FTR Case 

2018–301’’ on your attached document. 

• Mail: General Services 

Administration, Regulatory Secretariat 

(MVCB), ATTN: Ms. Lois Mandell, 1800 

F Street NW, Washington, DC 20405. 

Instructions: Please submit comments 

only and cite FTR Case 2018–301 in all 

correspondence related to this case. All 

comments received will be posted 

without change to http://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal and/or business confidential 

information provided. To confirm 

receipt of your comment(s), please 

check www.regulations.gov 

approximately two to three days after 

submission to verify posting (except 

allow 30 days for posting of comments 

submitted by mail). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

clarification of content, contact Ms. Jill 

Denning, Program Analyst, Office of 

Government-wide Policy, at 202–208– 

7642 or jill.denning@gsa.gov. Contact 

the Regulatory Secretariat Division 

(MVCB), 1800 F Street NW, Washington, 

DC 20405, 202–501–4755, for 

information pertaining to status or 

publication schedules. Please cite FTR 

case 2018–301. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Public Participation 

GSA is publishing this direct final 

rule without a prior proposed rule as 

this is a noncontroversial action, and 

GSA anticipates no significant adverse 

comments. A significant adverse 

comment is defined as one where the 

comment explains why the rule would 

be inappropriate, including challenges 

to the rule’s underlying premise or 

approach, or would be ineffective or 

unacceptable without a change. In 

determining whether a significant 

adverse comment is sufficient to 

terminate a direct final rulemaking, GSA 

will consider whether the comment 

raises an issue serious enough to 

warrant a substantive response in a 

notice-and-comment process. GSA notes 

that comments that are frivolous, 

insubstantial, or outside the scope of the 

rule would not be considered adverse 

under this procedure. A comment 

recommending a rule change in addition 

to the rule would not be considered a 

significant adverse comment, unless the 

comment states why the rule would be 

ineffective without the additional 

change. In addition, if a significant 

adverse comment applies to part of a 

rule and that part can be severed from 

the remainder of the rule (e.g., where a 

rule deletes several unrelated 

regulations), GSA may adopt as final 

those parts of the rule that are not the 

subject of a significant adverse 

comment. For further information about 

commenting on this rule, please see the 

ADDRESSES section of this document. 

B. Background 

As part of a comprehensive review of 

the FTR, GSA is removing the M&IE 

deduction table from appendix B to 

chapter 301, Allocation of M&IE Rates 

To Be Used in Making Deductions From 

the M&IE Allowance; and all of 

appendix D to chapter 301, Glossary of 

Acronyms. The table in appendix B is 

publicly available on the internet at 

https://www.gsa.gov/mie thus its 


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