The Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)

1. The Toxic Release Inventory(TRI) Jim Walsh Georgia Tech Economic Development Institute 404.210.5550 jim.walsh@edi.gatech.edu November 2001

2. Presentation Outline • What is the TRI? • Who must file reports for the TRI? • Form R vs Form A • Common TRI Reportables • Estimating Releases • Filing & Fees • TRI Enforcement • What’s New for 2001

3. The Bhopal Incident • December 3, 1984 • pesticide plant (Sevin) • massive release of methyl isocyanate • 3,800+ dead and 11,000 disabled • worst industrial accident in history Union Carbide India Limited Bhopal

4. What is the TRI? • provides public with information on routine & accidental releases of certain toxic chemicals • began in 1986 as Superfund re-authorization • Congress prompted to act by Bhopal tragedy • Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) • a.k.a. Section 313 of Title III – Community Right to Know, of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA Title III)

5. Who Must File TRI Reports? Facility must meet three criteria in order to be required to submit reports: • have 10 or more employees (part-time included at 2000 hours/employee) • be included under SIC codes 20xx through 39xx (all Federal facilities are also included) • manufacture, process, or otherwise use any listed toxic chemical in quantities greater than the established thresholds for a given year

6. The EPCRA Chemicals Section 313 TRI Chemicals (App. 630)* CERCLA Hazardous Substances (739) 228 79 21 59 EHSs (356) * Excluded Chemical Categories and chemicals subjective to Administrative Stay

7. EPCRA Chemicals The “Title III List of Lists” is the key to EPCRA and is available from: • http://www.epa.gov/ceppo/pubs/title3.pdf • EPA hotline at 1-800-535-0202 (hotline is operated by contractor; provides “shield” from EPA inquiries)

8. Notable Chemical Exemptions Certain common industrial chemicals are presently exempt from TRI reporting: • acetone • sodium hydroxide • ammonium sulfate • sulfuric and hydrochloric acids (non-aerosol) • isopropyl alcohol (unless from strong acid manufacturing facility)

9. TRI Reporting Thresholds The reporting threshold is tripped if your facility: • manufactures or processes ….. more than 25,000 lbs of certain chemicals or compounds OR • otherwise uses ….. more than 10,000 lbs of certain chemicals or compounds

10. Determining Applicability Is your facility SIC 20xx-39xx or a Federal facility? No Yes No No report this year Do you have 10 or more full-time employees? No Yes Do you manufacture, process, or otherwise use any listed chemical or chemical category? No report this year No Yes Do you trip the thresholds? Do you manufacture, process or otherwise use more than 1,000,000 lbs Yes No Does Form R Section 8.1-8.7 exceed 500 lbs? No Yes Yes Submit Form R Submit Form A

11. Form R vs Form A • analogous to IRS Form 1040 vs Form 1040EZ • Form R must be used if the total amount in Sections 8.1 thru 8.7 exceeds 500 lbs • Form A can be used if the total amount in Sections 8.1 thru 8.7 is less than 500 lbs • unless more than one million lbs is manufactured, processed, or otherwise used • PAC, PBT, mercury and mercury compounds

12. Form A Exclusion • Less than 500 lbs reported in Sections: 8.1 – Quantity Released 8.2 – On- Site Energy Recovery 8.3 – Off-Site Energy Recovery 8.4 – On-Site Recycling 8.5 – Off-Site Recycling 8.6 – Treated On-Site 8.7 – Treated Off-Site

13. Manufacture EPCRA defines “manufacture” as: • to produce chemicals for • sale • distribution • on-site use • coincidentally manufacture as a byproduct or impurity • deminimis exemption does not apply • or import

14. Process EPCRA defines “process” as: • distributed in commerce • stays or is intended to stay with product • used as a reactant • used as a formulation component • incorporated as an article component • repackaged • created as an impurity

15. Otherwise Use EPCRA defines “otherwise use” as: • does not stay with product • used in chemical processing • solvents • used as a manufacturing aid • refrigerant • ancillary • waste water treatment chemicals

16. Reporting Exemptions Facility-Related Exemptions • Laboratory • manufactured, processed, or otherwise used in laboratory activities by technically qualified persons • Property Owner • own real estate with covered facility Use-Related Exemptions • used as a structural component of the facility • used in janitorial or grounds maintenance work • personal use by employees or other persons • maintenance of facility motor vehicles • contained in intake water or air

17. The Article Exemption Quantities of listed toxics contained in an article do not have to be factored into threshold or release determinations: • an article is formed to a specific shape • has an end-use dependent on shape • does not release a TRI chemical or chemical category under normal processing • less than 0.5 lbs of release per year • original shape still definable • ingot melting, wire drawing, welding rods and wire, and solder are NOT exempt

18. Machining of Articles drilling, cutting, or other machining probably negates the article exemption

19. Releases via Machining Many common engineering materials contain TRI reportables. For instance, stainless steels usually contain the following TRI chemicals: • manganese (Mn) • chromium (Cr) • nickel (Ni) • lead (Pb) • others MAY be deminimis exempt

20. Estimating Releases • Estimating Releases and Waste Treatment Efficiencies for the Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Form • EPA 560/4-88-002, Call NTIS at 703-605-6000 • Has SOCMI Factors, Cost $54.50, PB88210380 • Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors AP-42, Fifth Edition, Volume I: Stationary Point and Area Sources • http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/ap42.html

21. Common Reportables:Painting Operations • many solvents used in painting, such as toluene, xylene, and methyl ethyl ketone are TRI reportables as otherwise used • solid paint that remains on product is processed • what you use is often what you lose

22. Painting Process Often Complex Organic Coating Chemicals and Chemical Compounds Air Emissions Air Emissions Air Emissions Spray Application or Electrodepostion of Organic Coatings Workpiece Surface Prep Curing Zone Flash-Off Zone Coated Workpiece Cleaning and Treatment Chemicals Clean Out Wastes from Oven and Product Carrier Wastewater Wastewater Slurry Slurry Container Residues Container Residues

23. Painting Factors to Consider • surface preparation can result in substantial solvent and/or particulate releases (abrasive blasting) • transfer efficiency of different types of spray guns has tremendous impact on amount of overspray (conventional vs HVLP vs electrostatic) • booth filter efficiency plays a lesser role • residue quantities in drums for different chemicals and removal methods

24. Estimating Releases from Abrasive Surface Preparation • Bag House Performance • 95% efficient, 25 replacements/year, 5 bags/replacement, 50 lb weight gain/bag, dust 1.1% chromium, bags to landfill • Off-Site Disposal • 25 x 5 x 50 x 1.1% = 69 lbs • Air Emissions • 25 x 5 x 50 x (.05/.95) x 1.1% = 3.6 lbs

25. Common Reportables:Ammonia Refrigeration Systems • Anhydrous ammonia is otherwise used in a refrigeration system • If more than 10,000 lbs is added, TRI report must be filed • new system can trip the threshold

26. Common Reportables:Chlorine for Water Treatment • chlorine is otherwise used in water and wastewater treatment • if more than 10,000 lbs is used, TRI report must be filed • chlorine in water is NOT released • only fugitive air emissions are reported

27. Common Reportables:Aqueous Ammonia & Nitrates • Nitrate compounds and aqueous ammonia are coincidentally manufactured as wastewater byproducts • threshold is 25,000 lbs • concentrations are less than 10,000 mg/l • deminimis exemption does not apply when manufactured as byproduct

28. Nitrification/Denitrification

29. Common Reportables:Aqueous Ammonia • aqueous ammonia is manufactured as a byproduct by biological wastewater treatment systems which convert protein (TON) into ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) • the highest concentration is immediately after an anaerobic treatment system • the data from laboratory analysis is reported as N and must be multiplied by 1.2 • 10% of the aqueous ammonia is used for threshold and release calculations

30. Common Reportables:Nitrate Compounds • nitrate compounds are manufactured as a byproduct by aerobic wastewater treatment systems which oxidize nitrogen compounds • deminimis does not apply • the threshold is computed by assuming the nitrate compound is NaNO3 • if nitrate nitrogen (N03-N) is reported as N, the amount must be multiplied by 6.1 • the release is only the amount of NO3 in the final effluent

31. Common Reportables:Mineral Acids and Bases • no release if pH is 6 to 9 • 100% wastewater treatment efficiency • typical chemicals excluded • sulfuric acid • phosphoric acid • typical chemicals NOT excluded • acetic acid

32. Aerosol forms Sulfuric Acid • threshold • 25,000 lbs • manufactured as a by-product by combustion of fuel oil and coal • deminimis does not apply • although natural gas contains trace amounts of sulfur, it is not likely that an aerosol form of sulfuric acid will be manufactured

33. Mercury & Mercury Compounds • threshold is 10 lbs • deminimis exemption does not apply • Form A cannot be used • fluorescent light tubes • generally qualify for article exemption • can be crushed when no longer in use

34. Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (PACs) • 21 chemicals in PAC category • benzo(a)anthracene • benzo(a)pyrene • dibenzo(a,l)pyrene • threshold is 100 lbs for all chemicals in PAC category • deminimis does not apply • Form A cannot be used

35. chemical aldrin methoxychlor chlorodane benzo(g,h,i) perylene polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) Transformers may be article exempt dioxin and dioxin Like Compounds – 17 total deminimis does not apply Form A cannot be used threshold 100 lbs 100 10 10 10 0.1 gram Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxic (PBT) Chemicals

36. Combustion System Releases • PBTs • benzo(g,h,I)perylene • PCBs (used oil) • dioxin • PACs • Mercury • lead • sulfuric acid • other TRI chemicals • otherwise used are subject to deminimis • manufactured are not subject to deminimis

37. Natural Gas Thresholds • manufacture • benzo(g,h,i)perylene – 8.33 trillion SCF • PACs – 115.1 trillion SCF • benzene – 11.9 trillion SCF • formaldehyde – 333.33 trillion SCF • naphthalene – 40.98 trillion SCF • otherwise use • vanadium – 4.35 trillion SCF

38. No. 2 Fuel Oil Thresholds • manufacture • dioxin – 8.3 million gal • sulfuric acid – 20.4 million gal • mercury compounds – 3.6 million gal • otherwise use • PACs – 1.4 million gal • benzo(g,h,I)perylene – 28.6 million gal • vanadium – 952.4 million gal • mercury – 3.6 million gal

39. No. 6 Fuel Oil Thresholds • manufacture • PAC – 6.1 billion gal • benzo(g,h,I)perylene – 4.4 billion gal (two different factors) • dioxin – 8.3 million gal • sulfuric acid (5% sulfur) – 5.1 million gal • mercury compounds – 135.1 million gal • formaldehyde – 0.8 million gal • otherwise use • PAC – 5,079 gal • benzo(g,h,I)perylene – 47,170 gal • Vanadium – 17.1 million gal • mercury – 135.9 million gal

40. Coal Thresholds • manufacture • zinc compounds – 1,801 tons • all others greater than 19 thousand tons • otherwise use • zinc – 893 tons • all others greater than 20 thousand tons

41. How to File • Form R/A must be sent to both EPA and state environmental agency • electronic filing is strongly encouraged; Georgia EPD prefers this format • ATRS 2000 software available free from: http://www.epa.gov/tri/atrs/ • reports are due July 1 for previous calendar year, along with applicable fees

42. TRI Reporting Fees • less than 500 lbs of release $0 • 500-1,000 lbs of release $500 • 1,000-10,000 lbs of release $1,000 • more than 10,000 lbs of release $1,500 • fees are for any one report • due July 1

43. Filing for Previous Years • if facility determines it should have been submitting Form R or A in past years • submitting data for past 5 years is recommended • EPCRA provides for enforcement 5 years into past • EPA Region IV known to enforce 3 years back • penalties or fines vary per situation: • unofficial policy is to not levy fines as long as facility has submitted reports voluntarily • fines are likely if EPA finds the discrepancy • $50,000 per chemical per year is typical (get legal help!) • fine reductions up to 90% are possible via Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP)…. this is not an EMS!

44. Information Sources The TRI section of the U.S. EPA website (http://www.epa.gov/tri) is a treasure trove of information on EPCRA and TRI: • general information • FAQs and guidance documents • reporting forms and instructions • TRI Explorer software for accessing TRI data (It is a good idea to review your posted facility data for errors; transcription errors abound) http://www.epa.gov/enviro/index_java.html http://www.epa.gov/enviro/index_java.html

45. TRI Enforcement • a.k.a. “Beware of Your Grandparents” • EPA/AARP agreement • several enforcement actions in Georgia • $50,000 fine per chemical per year typical proposed penalty • legal help may be necessary

46. New for 2001 • transportation SICs may be added • lead (Pb) threshold lowered to 100 lbs for reporting year 2001 • Exception for stainless, brass, and bronze • Lead acid batteries qualify for article exemption • coal ash used in cement is “processed”