On July 13, 2012, the United States Environmental Protection Agency promulgated a rule requiring new and revised data elements for Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) Tier I and Tier II inventory reports.  The changes required by this rule become effective on Jan. 1, 2014, and apply to Tier I and Tier II inventory reports submitted after that date.

EPCRA section 312 and its implementing regulations in 40 CFR Part 370 require that facilities at which certain hazardous chemicals are present above certain amounts prepare inventory reports related to those hazardous chemicals.  These Tier I and Tier II inventory reports are provided to local emergency planning committees, state emergency response commissions, and local fire departments to help prepare state and local emergency response plans.

The soon-to-be-effective rule requires that the following mandatory data elements be included in Tier I and Tier II inventory reports:

1. latitude and longitude of the facility;

2. ID numbers for the facility assigned under the Toxic Release Inventory and the Risk Management programs;

3. whether the location where hazardous chemicals are stored at the facility is manned or unmanned;

4. contact information for the facility’s emergency coordinator;

5. contact information for the individual responsible for completing the facility’s Tier I and II forms;

6. email addresses for the facility’s owner or operator and the facility’s emergency contact(s);

7. whether the facility is subject to EPCRA Section 302 and/or Clean Air Act Section 112(r);

8. maximum number of occupants that may be present at the facility at any one time; and

9. any additional state or local reporting requirements.

In addition, the rule revised the following data elements:

1. for Tier II inventories, there are now separate data fields for reporting pure chemicals versus mixtures in the chemical reporting section;

2. the table of range codes and amounts for reporting the maximum amount and average daily amount of hazardous chemicals present at the site has been narrowed; and

3. for Tier II forms, the new forms delete codes for reporting storage types and conditions, and instead require facilities to provide a description of storage types and conditions.

Finally, the new rule added the following optional data elements, which facilities may choose to include in their submitted reports:

1. facility phone number;

2. parent company contact information; and

3. hazardous chemicals present at the facility in amounts below reporting thresholds.

Companies should keep these revised reporting requirements in mind when they are collecting facility information for their 2014 Tier I or Tier II inventory reporting.