Document ID: EPA-HQ-TRI-2005-0073-4989
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2006-12-22T05:00Z

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

	 The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), also
known as Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act
of 1986 (SARA), created a broad range of emergency response planning and
reporting requirements for manufacturers, processors, and users of toxic
chemicals in the United States.  Under section 313 of EPCRA, certain
facilities are required to submit annual reports to the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to States on their release(s),
transfer(s), and waste management activities for certain toxic chemicals
if they are manufactured, processed, or otherwise used above thresholds
amounts.  In addition, the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) of 1990
requires these same facilities to report prevention, recycling, and
other waste management information for these same chemicals.  EPA
maintains the data collected under EPCRA section 313 and the PPA in a
database known as the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI).1

	Since the inception of the TRI Program, EPA has implemented measures to
reduce the reporting burden on the regulated universe of facilities, and
make TRI reporting as user friendly as possible.  These measures include
compliance assistance activities, such as industry-specific guidance and
annual training workshops.  EPA also reduced the time spent completing
the required TRI forms by developing the Toxics Release Inventory–Made
Easy (TRI-ME) software and adding the Form A certification.  In July
2005, EPA finalized the TRI Reporting Forms Modification Rule (70 FR
3991, July 12, 2005) that included general options for reducing the
time, cost, and complexity of the reporting requirements imposed on
facilities.  (EPA refers to this rulemaking as the “Phase 1” burden
reduction rulemaking.)

	EPA is adding options for streamlining TRI reporting.  The purpose of
this rule is to provide additional burden reduction options without
significantly compromising the quality of toxic chemical release data
and of other waste management information.  This additional set of
burden reduction options will be referred to hereafter as the “Phase
2” burden reduction rulemaking.

ES.1	CHANGES TO THE TRI REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

	As described above, EPA has implemented a number of burden reduction
measures. To build upon these efforts, EPA conducted a TRI Stakeholder
Dialogue between Fall 2002 and early 2004.  During this dialogue,
improvements to the TRI reporting process were identified and a number
of burden reduction options associated with TRI reporting were explored.
 After reviewing these improvements and reporting options, EPA has
decided to divide the burden reduction effort into phases: Phase 1)
relatively simple modifications to the reporting forms and Phase 2) new
and expanded eligibility for Form A. This economic analysis reflects the
costs and impacts of the Phase 2 burden reduction rulemaking.  EPA is
adopting the following two options that it believes may reduce reporting
burden for TRI facilities: 

New Eligibility for Form A: PBT Chemicals -- allows a facility reporting
on PBT chemicals, except dioxin and dioxin-like compounds, with zero
disposal or other releases to use Form A, provided they meet the
1,000,000 pound alternate reporting threshold and have 500 pounds or
less of total other waste management quantities.  (Sections 8.2 – 8.8)

Expanded Eligibility for Form A: Non-PBT Chemicals -- allows a facility
reporting on Non-PBT chemicals with an annual reportable amount (ARA)
(Sections 8.1 – 8.8) of 5,000 lbs or less and 2,000 lbs or less of
disposal or other releases to use Form A, provided they meet the
1,000,000 pound alternate reporting threshold. 

The definition of ARA has changed from the proposed rule.  In the
proposal, ARA was defined as Sections 8.1 to 8.8 for PBTs, and as
Sections 8.1 to 8.7 for non-PBTs.  Under the final rule, Section 8.8 has
been added to the definition of non-PBTs, so that the definitions are
consistent for all chemicals.  In addition, in consideration of the
value of TRI information that would otherwise be lost, the Agency
modified the proposal to restrict releases (as reported in Sections 5
and 6, Section 8.1 and Section 8.8) under the non-PBT option to 2,000
lbs.

ES.2	ESTIMATED REPORTING ACTIVITY

	The rule will affect only those forms (and the facilities that file
them) that meet the criteria associated with each option. EPA is
finalizing a combination of the two options.  These options do not
overlap as one applies only to non-PBT chemicals while the other applies
only to PBT chemicals. Note that there may be new facilities filing to
TRI for the first time that may experience burden reduction due to the
rule.  Without information on their reportable chemicals and amounts,
however, it is not possible to determine the option for which they would
qualify and they are thus not accounted for in this analysis.  Table
ES-1 summarizes the number of affected facilities and forms when the
options are combined.

In addition, as a result of the changes in the definition of the ARA
described above, a limited number of facilities currently eligible to
report non-PBT chemicals using the Form A may lose eligibility under the
final rule.  The forms that may lose eligibility are those for which
total production related waste reported is less than or equal to 500
pounds, but for which total production related and non-production
related waste is greater than 5,000 pounds or total production related
and non-production related disposal and other releases are greater than
2,000 pounds.  A discussion of the forms that may no longer be eligible
to report using a Form A and associated burden and impacts is presented
in Chapter Six.

TABLE ES-1

UNIVERSE OF AFFECTED FACILITIES AND FORMS 

BY OPTION

	New Eligibility for Form A: PBT Chemicals Option	Expanded Eligibility
for Form A: Non-PBT Chemicals Optiona	Combined Options

Total Number of Affected Facilities	1,796	5,317	6,670

Total Number of Affected Forms	2,360	9,501	11,861

a The number of affected non-PBT forms in this analysis does not include
the non-PBT Form Rs that are currently likely eligible for Form A based
on an ARA (currently defined as the sum of Sections 8.1-8.7) of less
than or equal to 500 pounds.

Note: In this analysis, all TRI data are summed at the facility-chemical
level. 

Source: Frozen RY2004 TRI data.

ES.3	BURDEN AND COST SAVINGS POTENTIALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE RULE

As shown in Table ES-2 the total potential national burden savings
estimated for the combined options is 123,404 hours for TRI reporters
submitting first and subsequent year reports.  First year TRI reporters
have greater form calculation and completion burden than subsequent year
TRI reporters because of a variety of factors including the absence of
prior year calculations and lack of familiarity with chemical use and
management at the reporting facility.  Approximately 96 percent of all
TRI reports are subsequent year reports.   Table ES-2 also shows an
estimated total national cost savings of $5,925,208 in the first and
subsequent years when the options are combined.  EPA notes that
approximately 50 percent of non-PBT chemical reports that currently
appear to qualify for Form A under the 500 lb Annual Reportable Amount
(ARA) threshold are still reported on Form R.  These may be facilities
that exceed the 1,000,000 alternate manufacture, processing or otherwise
use threshold, or they may choose to report on Form R for some other
reason (e.g., minimal burden reduction from use of Form A, desire to be
seen as “good environmental stewards”).  EPA assumes that,
similarly, not all newly eligible facilities under today’s rule will
choose to use Form A, and that the actual burden reduction and impacts
of the rule will thus be less than the potential estimates presented
below. 



TABLE ES-2

ANNUAL BURDEN AND COST SAVINGS

	New Eligibility for Form A:

PBT Chemicals Option	Expanded Eligibility for Form A: 

Non-PBT Chemicals Optiona	Combined Options

Number of Affected Facilities	1,796	5,317	6,670

Number of Affected Forms	2,360	9,501	11,861

Average Annual Burden Savings in the First and Subsequent Years of the
Rule (Hours)

Form Completion - non-PBT chemicals	N/A	67,922	67,922

Form Completion - PBT chemicals	31,760	N/A	31,760

Recordkeeping/Mailing 	4,720	19,002	23,722

Total	36,480	86,924	123,404

Average Annual Cost Savings in the First and Subsequent Years of the
Rule

Form Completion - non-PBT chemicals	N/A	$3,335,628	$3,335,628

Form Completion - PBT chemicals	$1,560,140	N/A	$1,560,140

Recordkeeping/Mailing 	$204,829	$824,611	$1,029,440

Total	$1,764,969	$4,160,239	$5,925,208

a The number of affected facilities and  forms in this analysis does not
include the non-PBT Form Rs that are currently likely eligible for Form
A based on an ARA of less than or equal to 500 pounds.

The number of facilities cannot be summed across form types because some
facilities filed both PBT and non-PBT forms.

Source: Frozen RY2004 TRI data and Wage Rates from the U.S. Department
of Labor (see Chapter 2).

ES.4	BENEFITS OF THE RULE                         

	EPA believes that the changes addressed in this rulemaking will reduce
reporting burden and save resources for regulated entities without
significantly compromising the usefulness of TRI information to the
public.  Estimated savings are reported above.   In addition, the rule
will provide incentives to reduce or eliminate releases (especially for
PBT chemicals) and encourage source reduction.  While EPA believes this
benefit could be significant, EPA is not able to quantitatively estimate
the volume of releases that would be eliminated, or other waste
management activities replaced by source reduction, due to lack of data.
 

ES.5  IMPACTS OF THE RULE ON REPORTING 

Under the New Eligibility for Form A: PBT Chemicals Option, only reports
with zero pounds disposed or otherwise released would be eligible for
Form A reporting.  Therefore, no data would no longer be reported on
disposal or other releases.  Information would not be reported, however,
regarding the use(s) of the chemical (i.e., was the chemical
manufactured, processed, or otherwise used), the maximum amount of the
chemical on site at any time during the calendar year, and the
production ratio.  Examples of additional information that would not be
reported on Form R includes information on recycling small amounts of
lead and lead compounds and mercury and mercury compounds and
information on recycling, energy recovery, or treatment of PACs,
including benzo(g,h,i)perylene, and other organic chemicals.  For this
information, however, the Form A provides a range (zero to 500 lbs)
estimate of the ARA.  In total, less than 0.01 percent of total
production related waste and 0.01 percent total non-production related
waste (Table ES-3) would no longer be reported on Form R as a result of
this option, even if all eligible facilities used Form A.  Since it is
unlikely that this will happen, the actual impacts will likely be even
smaller.  In addition, Table ES-4 shows that for the majority of
chemicals (95%) less than 10% of their total production related waste
may no longer be reported on Form R.  For 91% of chemicals, less than
10% of their total non-production related waste may no longer be
reported on Form R. 

TABLE ES-3

PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL RELEASES AND OTHER WASTE MANAGEMENT POUNDS NOT
REPORTED DUE TO NEW AND EXPANDED FORM A ELIGIBILITY

	Total Releases Not Reported	Total Production Related Waste Not Reported
Total Non-Production Related Waste Not Reported

	Lbs 	Percentage	Lbs 	Percentage	Lbs	Percentage

New Eligibility for Form A: PBT Chemicals Option	0	0.00%	83,129	0.01%
283	0.01%

Expanded Eligibility for Form A: Non-PBT Chemicals Option	5,713,104
0.14%	16,052,663	0.06%	83,832	0.48%

	The Expanded Eligibility for Form A: Non-PBT Chemicals Option extends
the existing alternate reporting threshold from 500 pounds to 5,000
pounds, including quantities reported to Section 8.8 (non-production
related waste) for reports with less than or equal to 2,000 pounds of
on- and off-site disposal and other releases. For forms qualifying under
this option, specific release and other waste management information
will no longer be reported on Form R as well as information regarding
the use(s) of the chemical (i.e. was the chemical manufactured,
processed, or otherwise used), the maximum amount of the chemical on
site at any time during the calendar year, and the production ratio. To
evaluate the extent of data that may no longer be reported on Form R,
EPA examined the volume of total releases, total production related
waste, total non-production related waste and total combined production
and non-production related waste that are currently reported on Form Rs
that would qualify for this option.   In total, approximately 0.14% of
total releases, 0.06% of total production related waste and 0.48% of
total non-production related waste may no longer be reported on Form R
(Table ES-3).  At the chemical-specific level, Table ES-5 shows that for
the majority of chemicals (82%), less than 10% of their total releases
may no longer be reported on Form R.  For 5% of chemicals, between 50%
and 99% of their releases pounds may no longer be reported on Form R and
for 6% of chemicals, 100% of their release pounds may no longer be
reported on Form R.  Table ES-5 shows similar results for total
production related waste. Specifically, for 91% of chemicals, less than
10% of their total production related waste may no longer be reported on
Form R.  For 6% of chemicals, 100% of their total production related
waste pounds may no longer be reported on Form R.  For 95% of chemicals,
less than 10% of their total non-production related waste may no longer
be reported on Form R.  For 1% of chemicals, 100% of their total
non-production related waste pounds may no longer be reported on Form R.
 Those chemicals for which a large share of releases and/or production
related waste may not be reported on Form R are those with relatively
few Form Rs and/or relatively small quantities per form (see Table A-3
in Appendix A for chemicals where 100% of total releases may not be
reported).  EPA again emphasizes that Form A serves as a range report of
0 to 2,000 lbs for the release information and 0 to 5,000 lbs for the
total waste management information no longer reported on Form R.  This
range is wider than for PBT chemicals because of the broader eligibility
requirements.  

	Extending the alternate reporting threshold will also affect the
distribution of TRI reporting at the community level.  EPA evaluated the
impact of this option on local communities using a postal zip code
analysis. As shown in Table ES-6, under the final rule, 47% of all zip
codes with Form R reports would have at least one Form R eligible for
Form A reporting and 6% of zip codes would have all current Form Rs
eligible for Form A reporting.  As can also be seen from the table,
those zip codes where all Form Rs would be eligible tend to have only a
small number of Form Rs to start.

TABLE ES-4

PERCENT OF CHEMICALS WITHIN VARIOUS RANGES OF RELEASES AND OTHER WASTE
MANAGEMENT THAT WOULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR FORM A REPORTING 

(PBT OPTION)

Percent of Pounds Eligible for Form A Reporting	Total Releases

(Sections 5&6)	Total Production Related Waste

(Sections 8.1-8.7)	Non-Production Related Waste

(Section 8.8)	Total Waste

(Sections 8.1-8.8)

100% of pounds	0%	0%	0%	0%

99 - 50% of pounds	0%	0%	0%	0%

49 - 10% of pounds	0%	5%	9%	5%

9 - >0% of pounds	0%	65%	45%	65%

0% of pounds	100%	30%	45%	30%

Note:  Percentages above do not always add to 100% due to rounding.

TABLE ES-5

PERCENT OF CHEMICALS WITHIN VARIOUS RANGES OF RELEASES AND OTHER WASTE
MANAGEMENT THAT WOULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR FORM A REPORTING 

(NON-PBT OPTION)

Percent of Pounds Eligible for Form A Reporting	Total Releases

(Sections 5&6)	Total Production Related Waste

(Sections 8.1-8.7)	Non-Production Related Waste

(Section 8.8)	Total Waste

(Sections 8.1-8.8)

100% of pounds	6%	6%	1%	6%

99 - 50% of pounds	5%	0%	2%	0%

49 - 10% of pounds	8%	3%	3%	3%

9 - >0% of pounds	44%	56%	12%	56%

0% of pounds	38%	35%	83%	35%

Note:  Percentages above do not always add to 100% due to rounding.

TABLE ES-6

ZIP CODES ELIGIBLE FOR FORM A REPORTING  

(PBT AND NON-PBT OPTIONS)

 	Number of Zip Codes	Percent of Total Zip Codes Containing Form Rs
Average Number of Form Rs per Zip Code

Zip codes with at least one Form R newly eligible for Form A	4,246	47.4%
13.55

Zip codes with all Form Rs newly eligible for Form A	557	6.2%	2.04

Note: Based on the RY2004 Frozen TRI data, there are 8,961 five-digit
zip codes with TRI Form R data.

Source: Frozen RY2004 TRI data.

ES.6  REDUCED FORM A ELIGIBILITY FOR NON-PBTS

In response to comments on the proposed rule, the definition of the ARA
(e.g. the eligibility criteria for use of Form A) for both PBTs and
non-PBTs is now defined as the sum of Sections 8.1-8.8, as opposed to
Sections 8.1-8.7 as it is currently defined for non-PBTs.  As a result
of this change, a limited number of facilities previously eligible to
use Form A for non-PBT chemicals will lose eligibility under the final
rule and would, therefore, experience an increase in reporting burden. 
Forms that may lose eligibility are those for which total production
related waste is less than or equal to 500 pounds, but for which total
production related and non-production related waste is greater than
5,000 pounds or total production related and non-production related
disposal and other releases are greater than 2,000 pounds.  The exact
number of newly ineligible Form As and affected facilities cannot be
calculated because waste management and one-time release quantities are
unknown for current Form A users.  However, a reasonable estimate can be
made if it is assumed that the approximately 10,000 Form Rs that appear
to be eligible for Form A at the 500-pound ARA are representative of the
approximately 11,000 Form As currently filed under the 500-pound ARA.  

EPA estimated that approximately 95 Form As filed by 63 facilities will
be newly ineligible as a result of the final rule.  Table ES-7 shows the
national burden and cost estimates for first and subsequent year
reporters associated with newly ineligible Form As.  The table shows an
estimated total potential burden increase of 869 hours and total cost
increase of $41,598 as a result of the rule.   

TABLE ES-7

ANNUAL BURDEN AND COSTS

	New Ineligibility for Form A: Non-PBT Chemicals Option

Number of Affected Facilities	63

Number of Affected Forms	95

Average Annual Burden Increase in the First and Subsequent Years of the
Rule (Hours)

Form Completion - non-PBT chemicals	679

Recordkeeping/Mailing 	190

Total	869

Average Annual Burden Cost Increase in the First and Subsequent Years of
the Rule

Form Completion - non-PBT chemicals	$33,353

Recordkeeping/Mailing 	$8,245

Total	$41,598

Source: Frozen RY2004 TRI data and Wage Rates from the U.S. Department
of Labor (see Chapter 2).

To evaluate the potential data gain, EPA examined the volume of total
production related waste and total non-production related waste that
would be newly reported under the rule.  Since Form A does not provide
specific waste management quantities, pounds associated with Form As
that may become newly ineligible as a result of today’s rule were
extrapolated using data from Form Rs that appear to be eligible for Form
A at the 500-pound ARA. In total, EPA estimates that less than 0.00003%
of total production related waste would be newly reported as a result of
new ineligibility for Form A under the non-PBT option.  However, there
would be an estimated 20% increase in total non-production related waste
newly reported.

TABLE ES-8

POUNDS AND PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL PRODUCTION RELATED AND NON-PRODUCTION
RELATED WASTE POUNDS NEWLY REPORTED

	Total Production Related Waste Newly Reported	Total Non-Production
Related Waste Newly Reported

	Lbs 	Percentage	Lbs 	Percentage

New Ineligibility for Form A: Non-PBT Chemicals Option	8,276	0.00003%
3,514,380	20.3%

Source: Frozen RY2004 TRI data

	1   The term EPCRA section 313 properly refers to only the statutory
requirements, while the term TRI properly refers to the database where
the information collected under section 313 and under section 6607 of
the PPA is stored.  However, the terms have often been used
interchangeably by the public to refer to the statute, the regulatory
requirements, the reporting form, the database, and EPA's program to
manage the data.  In deference to common usage, the terms EPCRA section
313 and TRI are sometimes used interchangeably in this report where
doing so will make the report simpler and easier to read.  

 Non-PBTs are already qualified to certify on a Form A in lieu of
completing a Form R if they meet applicable criteria.

ES-  PAGE  1 

***September 22, 2006***