AWPA Wireline - FEBRUARY 2005

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued some proposed changes to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting requirements. The Agency believes that it has identified a number of potential burden reducing options. These changes fall into two broad categories:

1. Changes or modifications to the reporting forms and processes (including modifications to the forms and improvements in the TRI-ME software) which will streamline reporting without significantly affecting the information collected; and

2. Substantial changes that may affect which facilities are required to report and at what level of detail.

EPA has decided to address the two categories of changes through separate rulemakings, one of which is this proposed action. This proposal focuses on options for streamlining reporting associated with TRI's Forms A and R. The proposed changes would eliminate some redundant or seldom-used data elements from these forms, and modify others that can be shortened, simplified, or otherwise improved to reduce the time and costs required to complete and submit annual TRI reports. The proposal also includes the elimination of reporting for data elements available through other EPA data sources. The Agency expects to complete this rulemaking in time for the 2006 reporting year.

The second rulemaking, to be proposed later in 2005, will examine more significant reporting changes with greater potential impact on reducing reporting burdens. The options include increasing reporting thresholds for small businesses, or for classes of chemicals or facilities; expanding eligibility for Form A; introducing a "no significant change" option for chemical reports that have not changed significantly relative to a baseline reporting year; and expanding the use of range codes in section 8 of Form R.

Among the changes proposed in this rulemaking are the following:

. Removal of Latitude/Longitude Reporting Requirement: These coordinates and program identification numbers are reported through other EPA program systems, and therefore the data provided to TRI are generally redundant.

. Removal of Reporting Requirements for EPA Permit and Program Identification Numbers: The EPA is proposing to automatically load the TRI database with EPA program identification numbers as an alternative to requesting the information from TRI reporters. The identification numbers include the numbers assigned to facilities under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the permit identification numbers under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), and permit numbers issued by EPA or a state to facilities with underground injection wells.

. Removal of Reporting Requirement for Determining the Percentage of the Total Quantity of Toxic Chemicals Contributed by Stormwater: This data element applies to discharges to receiving streams and water bodies. It requires facilities that have monitoring data regarding the amount of EPCRA section 313 chemicals that are released in stormwater runoff to indicate the percentage of the total quantity of the EPCRA section 313 chemicals that are discharged in stormwater. When Form R was first created, the Agency had issued few NPDES permits that regulated stormwater and those were generally only for very significant contributors of contaminated stormwater. Now, approximately 100,000 industrial facilities have stormwater permits, with half or so required to monitor and report pollutant-specific data. As such, EPA and authorized states now gather stormwater specific monitoring data that was not being collected in 1987.

. Modifications to the Reporting Requirement for On-Site Waste Treatment Methods and Efficiency: The Agency proposes to simplify Column B of section 7A - "Waste Treatment Methods Sequence" - by reducing the number of codes available for reporting. Currently there are 64 codes that can be reported in column B to describe the various waste treatment methods applied to EPCRA section 313 chemicals treated on-site.

The Agency is proposing to replace these codes with the newly-revised list of 18 hazardous waste treatment codes currently used in EPA's biennial Hazardous Waste Report.

Further, to help simplify reporting in section 7A of the Form R, EPA is proposing to eliminate section 7A, column C - "Range of Influent Concentration." Currently, completion of column C requires facilities to enter a numerical code indicating the concentration range of the EPCRA section 313 chemical as it enters the treatment step. The second option that EPA is considering is to make reporting under column C optional for covered facilities.

Under EPCRA section 313, facilities are required to submit an estimate of the treatment efficiency typically achieved by the waste treatment or disposal methods employed for each waste stream. Currently facilities must enter an exact percentage in this column of the form. EPA is proposing to allow facilities to report their treatment efficiency as a range instead of an exact percentage.