Are You Subject to TSCA Chemical Reporting Regulations?

Update:  The EPA has extended the TSCA reporting period for chemical data. The new period is June 1 to November 30, 2020.

The reporting period for chemical data under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is fast approaching. Is your company required to report?

If you import chemical ingredients or manufacture chemicals domestically, you may be subject to TSCA Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) requirements. That’s the short answer.

Here’s the long answer to help clarify what can seem a confusing process:

What is TSCA?

TSCA was originally enacted in 1976, is administered by the EPA, and was designed to assess and regulate new commercial chemicals before they enter the commercial market.  TSCA allows EPA to restrict chemicals that pose unreasonable risk to health or the environment and has included focus on mercury, PCBs, asbestos, radon and lead.

TSCA regulations includes a requirement for periodic reporting of chemical data known as Chemical Data Reporting or CDR.  The CDR rule requires manufacturers (which includes importers) to report to the EPA once every four years.  The next CDR submission period begins June 1, 2020 and closes November 30, 2020.

What are the 2020 CDR requirements?

Manufacturers (including importers) are required to report if they exceed certain production volume thresholds, generally 25,000 pounds or more of a chemical in a calendar year.  Manufacturers that exceed the annual threshold in any calendar year during this reporting period (2016-2019), will need to report production volume information for each of the reporting calendar years 2016-2019.

In general, chemical substances that are listed on the TSCA Inventory and manufactured (including imported) may be subject to CDR.  CDR reports are filed using the EPA CDX system which is the same system which supports Toxic Release Inventory Reporting.

Who needs to file a CDR?

Unfortunately, the four-year reporting cycle CDR process can be confusing.  Prior to making any TSCA CDR determination, businesses should consider several questions to determine if they are required to report for a chemical substance.

• Is the chemical subject to the TSCA rule?
• Are they the manufacturer (or importer) who may be required to report?
• Did they trigger the production (or importation) volume threshold during the any of the reporting period calendar years (2016-2019)?
• If yes to the above, what information must be reported?

Companies that import chemical ingredients or manufacture chemicals domestically should review their potential 2020 CDR reporting obligations.

Typically, the majority of US-based manufacturers are not subject to TSCA CDR reporting requirements.  However, the increase in global supply chain practices will result in many more companies falling under this reporting requirement.  The importation of aerospace alloys is one common example of an activity that can trigger CDR reporting.

We have seen examples of US-based manufactures who are part of a non-US-based parent corporation.  The parent corporation ships a chemical ingredient to their US based manufacturing location for production use.  In other cases, the US manufacturer imports a chemical from a separate non-US-based company.  Either of these cases can trigger CDR reporting. The US-based firm should make a formal determination as to the need for CDR reporting and also determine who is going to make the filing.  The non-resident corporation can make the report but will need to provide the US site address which is receiving the material.

What’s our best advice?

We recommend reviewing potential CDR reporting requirements early, well in advance of the start of the June 1, 2020 start of the reporting cycle.  EnSafe can assist in making a formal determination related to the need to report.  For those who do need to file, EnSafe can assist in preparation and submittal of the CDR.

If you have questions on this requirement or would like more information, contact EnSafe’s TSCA Service Area Lead, Adam Weissman, at aweissman@ensafe.com.