Toxics Release Inventory Burden Reduction Final Rule, 76932-76945 [E6-21958]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 246 (Friday, December 22, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 76932-76945]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-21958]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 372

[TRI-2005-0073; FRL-8260-4]
RIN 2025-AA14


Toxics Release Inventory Burden Reduction Final Rule

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is revising the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting 
requirements to reduce burden while continuing to provide valuable 
information to the public, and promote recycling and treatment as 
alternatives to disposal and other releases. TRI reporting is required 
by section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know 
Act (EPCRA) and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA). 
This rule expands non-Persistent Bioaccumulative and Toxic (non-PBT) 
chemical eligibility for Form A by raising the eligibility threshold to 
5,000 pounds of total annual waste management (i.e., releases, 
recycling, energy recovery, and treatment for destruction) provided 
total annual releases of the non-PBT chemical comprise no more than 
2,000 pounds of the 5,000-pound total waste management limit. This rule 
also allows, for the first time, limited use of Form A for PBT 
chemicals when total annual releases of a PBT chemical are zero and the 
total annual amount of the PBT chemical recycled, combusted for energy, 
and treated for destruction does not exceed 500 pounds. This rule, 
however, retains the current exclusion of dioxin and dioxin-like 
compounds from Form A eligibility. By structuring Form A eligibility 
for both PBT chemicals and non-PBT chemicals in a way that favors 
recycling and treatment over disposal and other releases, today's rule 
encourages facilities to reduce their releases and ensures that 
valuable information will continue to be provided to the public 
pursuant to the purposes of section 313 of EPCRA and section 6607 of 
PPA. Further, to guard against situations where large non-production 
related amounts are not reported on Form R and to provide greater 
consistency between PBT chemical and non-PBT chemical Form A 
eligibility, this rule redefines the non-PBT Form A eligibility 
threshold to include non-production related amounts reported in Section 
8.8 of Form R.

DATES: This rule is effective on January 22, 2007. The first reports 
with the revised reporting requirements will be due on or before July 
1, 2007, for reporting year (i.e., calendar year) 2006.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID 
No. TRI-2005-0073. All documents in the docket are listed in the docket 
index at https://www.regulations.gov. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, i.e., confidential business 
information (CBI) or other information, the disclosure of which is 
restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available 
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are 
available either electronically at www.regulations.gov or in hard copy 
at the OEI Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., 
NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The 
telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the 
telephone number for the OEI Docket is (202) 566-1752. Note: The EPA 
Docket Center suffered damage due to flooding during the last week of 
June 2006. The Docket Center is continuing to operate. However, during 
the cleanup, there will be temporary changes to Docket Center telephone 
numbers, addresses, and hours of operation for people who wish to visit 
the Public Reading Room to view documents. Consult EPA's Federal 
Register notice at 71 FR 38147 (July 5, 2006) or the EPA Web site at 
https://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm for current information on 
docket status, locations and telephone numbers.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For more specific information or 
technical questions relating to this rule, contact Marc Edmonds, Toxics 
Release Inventory Program Division, Office of Information Analysis and 
Access (2844T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-566-0758; fax 
number: 202-566-0741; e-mail: edmonds.marc@epa.gov; or Larry Reisman, 
Toxics Release Inventory Program Division, Office of Information 
Analysis and Access (2844T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-
566-0751; fax number: 202-566-0741; e-mail: reisman.larry@epa.gov. The 
press point of contact for this rule is Suzanne Ackerman, Office of 
Public Affairs, 202-564-7819. For general inquiries relating to the 
Toxics Release Inventory or more information on EPCRA section 313, 
contact the TRI Information Center; toll free: 1-800-424-9346, in 
Virginia and Alaska: 703-412-9810, toll free TDD: 1-800-553-7672, or 
TDD DC area local: 703-412-3323.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does This Action Apply to Me?

    This action applies to facilities that submit annual reports under 
section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act 
(EPCRA) and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA). It 
specifically applies to those that submit the TRI Form R or Form A 
Certification Statement. (See https://www.epa.gov/tri/report/
index.htm#forms for detailed information about EPA's TRI reporting 
forms.) To determine whether your facility would be affected by this 
action, you should carefully examine the applicability criteria in part 
372, subpart B, of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations. If you 
have questions regarding the applicability of this action to a 
particular entity, consult the individuals listed in the preceding FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
    This action is also relevant to those who utilize EPA's TRI 
information, including State agencies, local governments, communities, 
environmental groups and other non-governmental organizations, as well 
as members of the general public.

II. What is EPA's Statutory Authority for Taking This Action?

    This rule is being issued under sections 313(f)(2) and 328 of 
EPCRA, 42 U.S.C. 11023(f)(2) and 11048. In general, section 313 of 
EPCRA and section 6607 of the PPA require owners and operators of 
facilities in specified Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes 
that manufacture, process, or otherwise use a listed toxic chemical in 
amounts above specified threshold levels to report certain facility-
specific information about such chemicals, including the annual 
releases and other waste management quantities. This information is 
submitted on EPA Form 9350-1 (Form R) or EPA Form 9350-2 (Form A) and 
compiled in an annual Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Each covered 
facility must file a separate Form R for each listed chemical 
manufactured, processed, or otherwise used in excess of applicable 
reporting

[[Page 76933]]

thresholds, which were initially established in section 313(f)(1). 42 
U.S.C. 11023(f)(1). Congress set statutory default reporting thresholds 
of 25,000 pounds for manufacturing, 25,000 pounds for processing, and 
10,000 pounds for the otherwise use of a listed toxic chemical in EPCRA 
section 313(f)(1). Id. EPA has authority to revise the threshold 
amounts pursuant to section 313(f)(2); however, such revised threshold 
amounts must obtain reporting on a substantial majority of total 
releases of the chemical at all facilities subject to section 313. 42 
U.S.C. 11023(f)(2). In addition, Congress granted EPA broad rulemaking 
authority to allow the Agency to fully implement the statute. EPCRA 
section 328 authorizes the ``Administrator [to] prescribe such 
regulations as may be necessary to carry out this chapter.'' 42 U.S.C. 
11048. Using these provisions, EPA may, at the Administrator's 
discretion, modify reporting thresholds on classes of chemicals or 
categories of facilities.
    EPA has raised the reporting thresholds for a class of chemical 
reports once previously. In 1994, EPA finalized a rule that created the 
Form A Certification Statement (59 FR 61488). See 40 CFR 372.27. That 
rule raised the reporting thresholds for manufacturing, processing, and 
the otherwise use of listed toxic chemicals to one million pounds for a 
category of facilities whose total annual reportable amount for a 
particular chemical was 500 pounds or less. In that rulemaking, EPA 
discussed the value of information that is collected on the Form A as 
follows: ``EPA believes that the proposed annual certification will 
provide information relating to the location of facilities 
manufacturing, processing, or otherwise using these chemicals, that the 
chemicals are being manufactured, processed, or otherwise used at 
current reporting thresholds, and that chemical releases and transfers 
for the purpose of treatment and/or disposal are [500 pounds or less] 
per year (i.e., within a range of zero to [500] pounds per year).'' 59 
FR 38527. EPA further indicated that the information collected on the 
Form A helped to ensure that the revised thresholds continued to obtain 
reporting on a substantial majority of releases.
    The burden reduction approach in today's rule is modeled after the 
approach taken in the 1994 Form A rulemaking. Today's rule expands Form 
A eligibility for non-PBT chemicals and allows limited Form A 
eligibility for PBT chemicals by raising the reporting threshold for 
eligible chemicals at specifically defined categories of facilities. 
Eligibility is determined on a chemical-by-chemical basis, rather than 
a facility-wide basis. Under the expanded Form A eligibility, 
facilities qualifying for the raised threshold for a given chemical 
will continue to file an annual certification statement in place of a 
Form R. Through its narrow definition of the category of facilities 
eligible for the raised threshold and through the information collected 
on the certification statements, EPA is ensuring that reporting under 
the raised threshold will continue to ``obtain reporting on a 
substantial majority of total releases of the chemical at all 
facilities subject to the requirements of this section.''

III. What Is the Background and Purpose of These Actions?

A. What Are the Toxics Release Inventory Reporting Requirements and Who 
Do They Affect?

    Pursuant to section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community 
Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), certain facilities that manufacture, 
process, or otherwise use specified toxic chemicals in amounts above 
reporting threshold levels must submit annually to EPA and to 
designated State officials toxic chemical release forms containing 
information specified by EPA. 42 U.S.C. 11023. These reports must be 
filed by July 1 of each year for the previous calendar year. In 
addition, pursuant to section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act 
(PPA), facilities reporting under section 313 of EPCRA must also report 
pollution prevention and waste management data, including recycling 
information, for such chemicals. 42 U.S.C. 13106. These reports are 
compiled and stored in EPA's database known as the Toxics Release 
Inventory (TRI).
    Regulations at 40 CFR part 372, subpart B, require facilities that 
meet all of the following criteria to report:
     The facility has 10 or more full-time employee equivalents 
(i.e., a total of 20,000 hours worked per year or greater; see 40 CFR 
372.3); and
     The facility is included in a North American Industry 
Classification System (NAICS) Code listed at 40 CFR 372.23 or under 
Executive Order 13148, Federal facilities regardless of their industry 
classification; and
     The facility manufactures (defined to include importing), 
processes, or otherwise uses any EPCRA section 313 (TRI) chemical in 
quantities greater than the established thresholds for the specific 
chemical in the course of a calendar year.
    Facilities that meet the criteria must file a Form R report or, in 
some cases, may submit a Form A Certification Statement, for each 
listed toxic chemical for which the criteria are met. As specified in 
EPCRA section 313(a), the report for any calendar year must be 
submitted on or before July 1 of the following year. For example, 
reporting year 2004 data should have been postmarked on or before July 
1, 2005.
    The list of toxic chemicals subject to TRI reporting can be found 
at 40 CFR 372.65. This list is also published every year as Table II in 
the current version of the Toxics Release Inventory Reporting Forms and 
Instructions. The current TRI chemical list contains 581 individually-
listed chemicals and 30 chemical categories.

B. What Led to the Development of This Rule?

    Throughout the history of the TRI Program, the Agency has 
implemented measures to reduce the TRI reporting burden on the 
regulated community while still ensuring the provision of valuable 
information to the public that fulfills the purposes of the TRI 
program. ``Burden'' is the total time, effort, or financial resources 
expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide 
information to or for a Federal agency. 44 U.S.C. 3502(2). That 
includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, 
install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of 
collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and 
maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; 
adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable 
instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to 
a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review 
the collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the 
information.
    Through a range of compliance assistance activities, such as the 
Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Reporting Forms and Instructions 
(which is updated every year), industry training workshops, chemical-
specific and industry-specific guidance documents, and the TRI 
Information Center (a call hotline), the Agency has shown a commitment 
to enhancing the quality and consistency of reporting and assisting 
those facilities that must comply with EPCRA section 313. In addition, 
EPA has made considerable progress in reducing burden through 
technology-based processes. One example of a technology-based process 
is electronic reporting using the Toxics Release Inventory--Made Easy 
(TRI-ME) software, an interactive, user-friendly software tool that 
guides

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facilities through TRI reporting. Other technology-based examples 
include the use of EPA's Central Data Exchange (CDX) for form 
submission, and the use of data submitted to the Agency through other 
EPA programs to pre-populate TRI data fields. These measures have 
reduced the time, cost, and complexity of existing environmental 
reporting requirements, while enhancing reporting effectiveness and 
efficiency and continuing to provide useful information to the public 
that fulfills the purposes of the TRI program.
    The burden-reducing measure of particular relevance to today's rule 
is the Form A Certification Statement, which EPA established through 
rulemaking in 1994. This burden-reducing measure is based on an 
alternate threshold for quantities manufactured, processed, or 
otherwise used by those facilities with relatively low annual 
reportable amounts of TRI chemicals. Pursuant to this 1994 rule, a 
facility can use an alternate, higher reporting threshold for a non-PBT 
chemical for which it has an annual reportable amount not exceeding 500 
pounds. The annual reportable amount (ARA) was defined as the total of 
the quantity released at the facility, the quantity treated at the 
facility, the quantity recovered at the facility as a result of 
recycling operations, the quantity combusted for the purpose of energy 
recovery at the facility, and the quantity transferred off-site for 
recycling, energy recovery, treatment, and/or disposal. This combined 
total corresponds to the quantity of the toxic chemicals in production-
related waste (i.e., the sum of sections 8.1 through and including 
section 8.7 on the Form R). Pursuant to the 1994 rule, the reporting 
threshold for chemicals with an ARA less than or equal to 500 pounds is 
one million pounds manufactured, processed, or otherwise used, 
considered individually.
    Beginning with the 1995 reporting year, facilities that meet the 
ARA eligibility requirement and do not exceed the one-million-pound 
reporting threshold for a particular toxic chemical can so certify by 
using Form A, and thus avoid having to submit a detailed Form R. The 
Form A serves to certify that a facility is not subject to Form R 
reporting for a specific toxic chemical (Toxic Chemical Release 
Inventory Reporting Forms and Instructions (EPA 260-B-04-001), pages 1-
2).
    The primary difference between information contained on Form R and 
the Form A Certification Statement is that the Form R provides details 
of releases and other waste management (e.g., total quantity of 
releases to air, water, and land; and on- and off-site recycling, 
treatment, and combustion for energy recovery), while the Form A does 
not. If the reporter meets the criteria for using the Form A, the 
reporter need only report the name of the chemical and certain facility 
identification information. The Form A serves as a range report which, 
to date, has told the public that the total production related waste 
for the chemical is between zero and 500 pounds. Several chemicals can 
be reported on each Form A.
    In 1999, when EPA lowered reporting thresholds in the PBT rule, EPA 
determined that allowing the Form A certification for PBT chemicals at 
that time would be inconsistent with the intent of expanded PBT 
chemical information (64 FR 58732, October 29, 1999) and so disallowed 
the use of Form A for PBT chemicals. EPA cited concerns over releases 
and other waste management of these chemicals at low levels and said 
that, based on the information available to the Agency at that time, it 
believed that the level of information from Form A was insufficient to 
do meaningful analyses on PBT chemicals (Id. at 58733). EPA also stated 
``the Agency believes that it is appropriate to collect and analyze 
several years worth of data at the lowered thresholds before EPA 
considers developing a new alternate threshold and reportable quantity 
appropriate for PBT chemicals.'' (Id. at 58732).
    In an effort to explore additional burden reduction opportunities, 
EPA conducted a TRI Stakeholder Dialogue between November 2003 and 
February 2004. A summary of this dialogue is available at https://
www.epa.gov/tri/programs/stakeholders/outreach.htm. The dialogue 
process focused on identifying improvements to the TRI reporting 
process and exploring a number of burden reduction options associated 
with TRI reporting. As a result of the Stakeholder Dialogue and 
subsequent comments from stakeholders, the Agency identified several 
burden reducing options. These options fall into three broad 
categories: (1) Relatively minor changes or modifications to the 
reporting forms and the TRI-ME software; (2) expanding Form A 
eligibility; and (3) reducing the frequency of reporting for some or 
all reports.
    EPA decided to address the three categories of changes through 
separate actions, the first of which was promulgated in July 2005. In 
July 2005, the Agency promulgated the TRI Reporting Forms Modification 
Rule (70 FR 39931, July 12, 2005), which streamlined the current forms 
by eliminating some fields and simplifying completion of others. The 
changes eliminated some redundant or seldom-used data elements from 
Forms A and R, and modified others that could be shortened, simplified, 
or otherwise improved to reduce the time and costs required to complete 
and submit annual TRI reports. The changes also improved data 
consistency and reliability by replacing some elements on the forms 
with information extracted from the EPA's Facility Registry System 
(FRS), which includes data on most facilities subject to environmental 
reporting requirements across EPA programs.
    Today's rule, the second of the three categories of changes, which 
the Agency has referred to as the ``Phase 2'' burden reduction 
rulemaking, expands eligibility for Form A reporting for non-PBT 
chemicals, and allows, for the first time, limited Form A reporting for 
PBT chemicals with zero releases. In developing the proposed rule for 
Phase 2, EPA considered input from stakeholders, and identified a 
number of criteria to guide the development of the approach. The 
criteria used by the Agency to develop the proposal continued to play a 
guiding role in the development of today's final rule. These criteria 
include providing meaningful data to users that fulfill the purposes of 
the TRI program; providing an overall burden savings in hours needed 
for reporting; providing benefits to both non-PBT and PBT reporting 
facilities, as appropriate; ensuring that the approach is relatively 
easy to implement; and creating incentives consistent with national 
pollution prevention policy.
    In a separate notice issued on October 4, 2005, the same day the 
Phase 2 Proposed Rule was published in the Federal Register, EPA 
announced its intent to explore potential approaches for modifying the 
reporting frequency for facilities that report to TRI and its 
notification to Congress, as required by 42 U.S.C. 11023(i), of its 
intent to initiate a rulemaking to modify TRI reporting frequency. This 
statutory provision requires one-year advance notification to Congress 
before initiating such a rulemaking. Many commenters who responded to 
the Phase 2 proposed rule to expand Form A eligibility also voiced 
concerns over any modification to the TRI reporting frequency. Because 
these comments are outside the scope of the Phase 2 rulemaking, EPA has 
not responded to them as part of today's rule on expanded Form A 
eligibility. With regard to TRI reporting frequency, the Agency has 
decided not to pursue any changes in the TRI reporting frequency at 
this time. While EPA does not intend to take any further actions

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concerning the TRI reporting frequency, EPA will adhere to the process 
outlined in 42 U.S.C. 11023(i)(5) and provide 12 months advance notice 
to Congress if the Agency decides in the future to initiate changes to 
the TRI reporting frequency.

C. What Reporting Requirement Changes Did EPA Propose?

1. Form A Eligibility--PBT Chemicals
    In October 2005, EPA issued a proposed rule that would allow 
facilities reporting zero or not applicable (NA) for disposal or other 
releases of a PBT chemical,\1\ except dioxin and dioxin-like compounds, 
to use the Form A Certification Statement in lieu of Form R provided 
the facilities do not exceed a one-million-pound manufacture, process, 
or otherwise use activity threshold for the specific PBT chemical and 
provided the facilities have 500 pounds or less of total other waste 
management quantities for the chemical. The other waste management 
quantities include all recycling, energy recovery, and treatment for 
destruction. As it relates to the Form R, this proposed approach allows 
a facility to use Form A for a specific PBT chemical when zero or NA is 
reported for items a, b, c, and d of Section 8.1 (Total Disposal or 
Other Releases) and the facility does not have any non-production-
related releases for the PBT chemical included in Section 8.8 
(quantities released to the environment as a result of remedial 
actions, catastrophic events, or one-time events not associated with 
production processes). Under the proposed approach, the facility may 
have other waste management quantities in Sections 8.2 through 8.8 
totaling 500 pounds or less and still qualify for the Form A 
Certification Statement. In summary, as proposed, facilities must 
manufacture, process, or otherwise use no more than one million pounds 
of a PBT chemical, have zero disposal or other releases in Section 8.1 
and 8.8 for the chemical, and have 500 pounds or less of total other 
waste management quantities in Sections 8.2 through 8.8 for the 
chemical. The Agency has referred to this 500-pound PBT other waste 
management sum of Sections 8.2 + 8.3 + 8.4 + 8.5 + 8.6 + 8.7+ 8.8 for 
Form A eligibility as the PBT Reportable Amount (PRA).
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    \1\ Allowing Form A for PBT chemicals affects those chemicals 
identified by EPA as ``chemicals of special concern'' in the October 
1999 PBT rule to identify chemicals subject to a lower reporting 
threshold. Currently, ``chemicals of special concern'' include only 
certain chemicals that have been found to be ``persistent, 
bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT).'' Therefore, for the reader's 
convenience, in the proposed rule EPA referred to the chemicals in 
40 CFR 372.28 as ``PBT chemicals.'' In today's final rule EPA 
continues to use the term ``PBT chemical'' in lieu of ``chemicals of 
special concern'' for improved readability. For purposes of the 
proposed rule as well as today's final rule, the Agency refers to 
non-PBT chemicals, when referring to the larger group of TRI 
chemicals that are not PBTs (i.e., not chemicals of special 
concern). Should the Agency identify additional chemicals of special 
concern in the future, at that time the Agency will consider whether 
it is appropriate to extend these or other burden reduction measures 
to those chemicals.
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    As discussed in the proposal, the inclusion of Section 8.8 waste 
management amounts in PBT chemical Form A eligibility is different from 
the approach taken to date for non-PBT chemical Form A eligibility. 
Section 8.8 of the Form R is for release and other waste management 
quantities of toxic chemicals associated with remedial actions, 
catastrophic events, or one-time events not associated with production 
processes. As explained in the proposed rule, the Agency examined data 
from the 2003 reporting year and determined that some of the reporters 
that had zero releases also reported quantities in Section 8.8 which 
appear to be associated with ongoing CERCLA-related or RCRA-related 
remediation. If any of these quantities are disposal or other releases, 
the facility would not qualify for Form A. It is possible, however, 
that some of these quantities represent other waste management 
activities carried out to deal with waste created from non-production-
related events. Based on the assumption that local communities may be 
concerned about the progress of these activities and may wish to track 
non-release quantities in Section 8.8 exceeding 500 pounds using the 
Form R, EPA proposed that both release and non-release Section 8.8 
amounts be considered in determining Form A eligibility for PBT 
chemicals. EPA acknowledged in the proposal that using a different 
basis for reportable amount for PBT chemicals than has been used for 
non-PBT chemicals could potentially confuse reporters. As a practical 
matter, however, the inclusion of Section 8.8 in Form A eligibility 
determinations for PBT chemicals only affects a small number of 
facilities. In the proposed rule, the Agency requested comment on 
whether Section 8.8 management amounts should be included in the 
definition of the ARA for PBTs.
    The proposed rule retained the current exclusion of dioxin and 
dioxin-like compounds from Form A eligibility. As explained in the 
proposal, because of the high toxicity of some dioxin and dioxin-like 
compounds and the wide variation in toxicity among forms of dioxin, in 
a prior action, EPA proposed adding toxic equivalency (TEQ) reporting 
for the dioxin and dioxin-like compounds category (70 FR 10919, March 
7, 2005). EPA proposed TEQ reporting in response to requests from TRI 
reporters that EPA create a mechanism for facilities to report TEQ data 
to provide important context for the dioxin and dioxin-like compounds 
release data. In addition, EPA believes that the public will benefit 
from the additional context and comparability of data provided by TEQ 
reporting. Accordingly, in the proposed burden reduction rule, the 
Agency decided to wait until the dioxin TEQ rulemaking is finalized and 
until the Agency has appropriate data before considering whether this 
class of PBT chemicals should be considered for Form A eligibility.
    In the proposed rule, EPA stated that it is focusing on providing 
burden relief for smaller businesses that have zero disposal or other 
releases. EPA referred to the Stakeholder Dialogue, where some 
commenters pointed out that there are reporters with no releases but 
who send small amounts of TRI chemicals into more desirable management 
techniques like recycling or energy recovery. Because the Agency 
encourages reuse and recycling, it decided to explore whether a clearly 
demarcated group of such reporters could be defined. EPA reasoned that 
by expanding Form A eligibility as described in the proposed rule, the 
Agency would be providing burden relief for PBT reporters with no 
disposal or other releases and small quantities of other waste 
management activities reportable in sections 8.2 through 8.8. The 
Agency believes that this approach will encourage facilities to reduce 
their releases of PBT chemicals to zero and, for those facilities that 
are already not releasing any PBT chemicals, to accomplish further 
source reduction so that their other waste management totals are low 
enough to use this option (500 pounds or less). The Agency balanced 
this pollution prevention incentive with the needs of TRI data users 
who use this information for tracking and reporting trends in 
recycling, waste treatment, and energy recovery, and decided that 
limited Form A eligibility for PBT chemicals with zero releases would 
be an appropriate approach for providing burden relief to this group of 
reporters while minimizing the amount of useful detailed data that 
would no longer be reported on Form R.
    With regard to data that would no longer be reported on Form R, the 
Agency analyzed TRI data submitted in previous reporting years. Based 
on its analysis of the data, the Agency expected the group of PBT 
chemicals

[[Page 76936]]

that would qualify for the proposed approach to represent a total of 
approximately 2,700 Form Rs. This number of forms was expected to save 
approximately 47,000 hours (or $2.1 million) of reporting burden 
(Economic Analysis of Toxics Release Inventory Burden Reduction 
Proposed Rule, EPA, September 2005). Of these 2,700 Forms Rs with zero 
release amounts, approximately 2,100 also reflected zeros for the other 
waste management activities of recycling, energy recovery, and 
treatment for destruction. Accordingly, only about 600 Form Rs reported 
non-zero amounts for at least one of the sections 8.2 through 8.8 
(Economic Analysis of Toxics Release Inventory Burden Reduction 
Proposed Rule, EPA, August, 2005). As discussed in the proposal, those 
forms with some other waste management quantity are primarily forms for 
lead and lead compounds; polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs), 
including benzo(g,h,i)perylene; and mercury and mercury compounds. At 
the time of the proposal, these three chemicals accounted for about 98% 
of the eligible reports with non-zero waste management quantities.
    Prior to proposing, EPA analyzed the data TRI collects on these 
three chemicals. EPA conducted an extensive analysis of lead reporters 
in conjunction with the 2002 Public Data Release.\2\ Based on this 
analysis, EPA found that the detailed information that would no longer 
be reported on Form R under the proposed approach would be information 
on the recycling of small amounts of lead; in particular, the off-site 
transfer of lead waste to recyclers. EPA further noted that in addition 
to the requirement of zero releases as proposed, facilities managing 
lead and lead compounds cannot be conducting the activities of energy 
recovery or treatment for destruction because metals may not be 
reported in those categories.\3\ Similarly, for mercury and mercury 
compounds, recycling \4\ is the only permissible waste management 
activity in section 8 of Form R for those facilities that would qualify 
for Form A under the proposal. Finally, for PACs and 
benzo(g,h,i)perylene, EPA explained in the proposal its understanding 
that facilities that produce small amounts of these chemicals may burn 
the waste in a boiler or industrial furnace for energy recovery or 
treatment for destruction via incineration. As a consequence of the 
extremely high destruction efficiencies achieved in burning, combustion 
in these units can result in zero releases for purposes of TRI 
reporting. Since the PBT rule, which lowered reporting thresholds for 
PACs, was published, the Agency has adopted new Clean Air Act (CAA) 
Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards for hazardous 
waste combustion facilities that, among other things, help to ensure 
that 99.99% of these chemicals are destroyed during either energy 
recovery or incineration. These standards cover hazardous waste 
incinerators and cement kilns. (See 40 CFR parts 63 and 264.) The MACT 
standards also control products of incomplete combustion that may 
result. With a PBT ARA limiting the total PACs treated to 500 pounds or 
less, releases at the lowest allowable efficiency could be no more than 
0.01% (or a maximum of .05 pound) for facilities that must comply with 
these strict standards. The Guidance for Reporting Toxic Chemicals: 
Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds Category (EPA 260-9-01-01, August 2001) 
allows for this level of PACs to be rounded to zero. If, for any 
reason, treatment of PACs does result in a release of even one pound, 
the facility would no longer be eligible. So, while very small amounts 
of releases may occur from facilities combusting 500 pounds or less, 
the PAC chemicals are unlikely to be released at levels which would 
require a non-zero response in section 8.1 and, therefore, the 
completion of Form R.
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    \2\ See ``Lead: TRI Lead and Lead Compounds Reporting Years 
2000-2002'' (U.S. EPA) at https://www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/tri02/
index.htm.
    \3\ The Agency's Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Reporting 
Forms and Instructions (EPA 260-B-05-001, January 2005, Appendix B) 
states that it is not appropriate to report energy recovery and 
treatment for destruction for metals that are part of metal compound 
categories with the exception of barium and barium compounds. When a 
facility reports metals and their associated metal compound 
categories it only reporits the parent metal portion of the 
compounds. The parent metal cannot be destroyed nor can it be burned 
for energy recovery so these matals should not be reported as such.
    \4\ Ibid.
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2. Form A Eligibility--Non-PBT Chemicals
    As proposed, a facility reporting on a non-PBT chemical \5\ would 
be able to use Form A if the facility meets the one-million-pound 
manufacture, process, or otherwise use activity threshold and the 
facility has 5,000 pounds or less of total ``annual reportable amount'' 
(ARA), defined as the combined total quantity released at the facility, 
treated at the facility, recovered at the facility as a result of 
recycling operations, combusted for the purpose of energy recovery at 
the facility, and amounts transferred from the facility to off-site 
locations for the purpose of recycling, energy recovery, treatment, 
and/or disposal. This combined total ARA corresponds to the quantity of 
the toxic chemical in production-related waste, i.e., the sum of 
section 8.1 through and including section 8.7 of the Form R. This 
proposed 5,000-pound ARA represents an increase from the 500-pound ARA 
threshold that has been in effect since the 1994 Form A rulemaking.
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    \5\ For the purposes of the proposed rule and the final rule, 
``non-PBT chemicals'' indicates all listed TRI chemicals that are 
not ``chemicals of special concern,'' which are listed in 40 CFR 
372.28.
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    As part of the proposed rule, the Agency requested comment on 
whether the ARA for non-PBT chemicals should be modified to include 
section 8.8 management information. As discussed above, section 8.8 of 
the Form R collects release and other waste management quantities of 
toxic chemicals resulting from remedial actions, catastrophic events, 
or one-time events not associated with production processes. 
Recognizing that a different basis for the reportable amount for PBT 
chemicals and non-PBT chemicals poses some risk of confusion among 
reporters, EPA specifically asked for comment on whether the ARA for 
non-PBT chemicals should be modified to include section 8.8 amounts, 
thereby making the proposed PBT annual reportable amount, which 
includes section 8.8 amounts, and the non-PBT annual reportable amount 
more consistent.
    In the proposal, EPA explained that after several years of 
reporting experience, the Agency believes it is appropriate to increase 
the ARA to expand eligibility for Form A for non-PBT chemicals. During 
the stakeholder dialogue, a number of stakeholders suggested increasing 
the ARA to 5,000 pounds. In addition to proposing an ARA of 5,000 
pounds, EPA also analyzed and requested comment on 1,000-pound and 
2,000-pound ARA levels. Recognizing that the 500-pound ARA, which has 
been available to reporters since the 1994 rulemaking (59 FR 61488), 
gained a measure of success in reducing reporting burden, the Agency 
stated in the proposal that it believes a higher ARA would provide 
additional burden relief to facilities and at the same time continue to 
allow the TRI program to provide valuable information to the public 
that fulfills the purposes of the TRI program.
    From the standpoint of burden relief, the Agency's analysis at the 
time of the proposal indicated that a 5,000-pound ARA would extend Form 
A eligibility to around 12,000 non-PBT Form Rs, saving approximately 
117,000 hours (or $5.2 million) of reporting burden. For more 
information about the burden reduction

[[Page 76937]]

expected from the proposed rule, refer to the Economic Analysis of 
Toxics Release Inventory Burden Reduction Proposed Rule, EPA, September 
2005.
    Even with this proposed increase in eligible forms, the percentage 
of total release and other waste management pounds that would be newly 
eligible for Form A under a 5,000-pound ARA would be less than 1% of 
total release and other waste management amounts reported annually on 
Form R nationwide. Specifically, under the proposed 5,000-pound 
threshold, the Agency expected approximately 14 million pounds of 
releases (0.34% of total non-PBT releases) and 25 million pounds of 
total production-related waste (0.11% of non-PBT total production-
related waste) to become newly eligible for Form A reporting.
    The Agency also considered the impact the proposed rule would have 
at the local level and asked for comment on whether changes to the ARA 
would adversely impact local community uses of the information. In the 
proposal, EPA looked at the number of Zip Codes affected by a 5,000-
pound ARA, as well as the number and identity of chemicals where all 
Form R reports could convert to Form A Certification Statements at the 
higher threshold. Detailed analyses of the impacts on communities and 
individual chemicals are provided in the Economic Analysis for the 
proposed rule (Economic Analysis of Toxics Release Inventory Burden 
Reduction Proposed Rule, EPA, September 2005). As part of the proposal, 
EPA also summarized the potential impacts on reporting that could 
result from raising the ARA to 1,000 pounds and 2,000 pounds.
    Prior to proposing, EPA weighed the value of Form A against the 
potential loss of detailed Form R information. Data users know that a 
facility filing a Form A is a potential source of releases and other 
waste management activities. As discussed in the proposed rule, data 
users would know that for any non-PBT chemical submitted on a Form A, 
the total for releases (Section 8.1) and total production related waste 
(the sum of Sections 8.1 through and including Section 8.7) does not 
exceed 5,000 pounds. In other words, each Form A would serve as a range 
report which informs the public that total releases, as well as total 
production related waste (which includes releases), is in the range of 
zero to 5,000 pounds. TRI data users are currently able to access Form 
A facility information via Envirofacts and TRI Explorer (https://
www.epa.gov/triexplorer/). Under the proposal, data users would still 
be able to obtain national information such as the number of Form As 
filed each year by individual chemical. Using EZ Query in Envirofacts 
(https://www.epa.gov/enviro/), data users would be able to access 
individual chemical Form As along with the TRI Facility Identification 
Numbers (TRIFIDs) and names of the facilities submitting Form As.
    Existing Form A utilization was another factor considered by the 
Agency prior to issuing the proposed rule. The Agency observed that 
facilities use Form A for only slightly over half of the forms (54%) 
potentially eligible. As discussed in the proposal, there are a number 
of possible reasons for this estimated utilization rate. Some 
facilities may be using in excess of the one-million-pound alternate 
threshold \6\ (e.g. users of feedstock chemicals like nitrapyrin and 
producers of pesticides or pharmaceuticals) and, therefore, they are 
ineligible for Form A. Other facilities may report on Form R out of a 
desire to showcase their pollution prevention efforts. Still other 
facilities may find the Form R to be an efficient mechanism for 
tracking their material balances. A facility, having collected all of 
this information, may also be making a Form R submission to demonstrate 
good environmental stewardship. Regardless of the factors that prompt 
facilities to use Form R when they may be eligible for Form A, the 
Agency does not believe the rate of Form A utilization would be 
significantly higher at a 5,000-pound threshold than it is at the 
current 500-pound ARA threshold.
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    \6\ For the purposes of the proposed rule and the final rule, 
``non-PBT chemicals'' indicates all listed TRI chemicals that are 
not ``which are listed in 40 CFR 372.28.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. Summary of This Final Rule

    Today's final rule allows facilities to use Form A in lieu of Form 
R for a PBT chemical as proposed when there are no annual releases of 
the PBT chemical, the facility's total annual amount of the chemical 
recycled, combusted for energy recovery, and/or treated for destruction 
does not exceed 500 pounds, and the facility has not manufactured, 
processed, or otherwise used more than one million pounds of the PBT 
chemical. As it relates to the Form R data elements, this final rule 
allows a facility to use Form A instead of Form R for a specific PBT 
chemical when zero or not applicable (NA) is reported for items a, b, 
c, and d of Section 8.1 (Total Disposal or Other Releases), the 
facility does not have any non-production-related releases of the PBT 
chemical included in Section 8.8 (quantity released to the environment 
as a result of remedial actions, catastrophic events, or one-time 
events not associated with production processes), and the total amount 
reported for recycling, energy recovery, and/or treatment for 
destruction in Section 8.2 through and including Section 8.8 does not 
exceed 500 pounds. Further, for the same reasons discussed in the 
proposal (and discussed above in Unit III.C.1), this final rule retains 
the current exclusion of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds from Form A 
eligibility.
    Based on comments received and information analyzed since the 
proposed rule, EPA decided to finalize a hybrid approach to the 
proposed expansion of Form A eligibility for non-PBT chemicals. Today's 
rule expands non-PBT chemical eligibility for Form A by raising the 
eligibility threshold to 5,000 pounds for total annual waste management 
(i.e., releases, recycling, energy recovery, and treatment for 
destruction), as proposed, provided total annual releases of the non-
PBT chemical comprise no more than 2,000 pounds of the 5,000-pound 
total waste management limit. While the proposed rule also advanced a 
5,000-pound threshold, it did not place any limit on the amount of 
releases that a facility may consider toward the 5,000-pound threshold 
amount. In response to comments on data use impacts at the local level 
from the loss of detailed Form R information, and in particular, the 
loss of detailed Form R release information, EPA has decided to place a 
2,000-pound limit on releases of non-PBT chemicals. By placing a 2,000-
pound limit on the amount of releases that may be applied to the 5,000-
pound Form A eligibility threshold, EPA is preserving on Form R a 
significant amount of the release and other waste management 
information that was expected to be eligible for Form A under the 
proposal. At the same time, by limiting the release portion of the non-
PBT ARA to 2,000 pounds, EPA is providing an incentive for facilities 
to recycle or use other preferred forms of waste management other than 
release.
    In addition, based on comments regarding consistency between Form A 
eligibility for PBT chemicals and Form A eligibility for non-PBT 
chemicals, as well as concerns over the potential loss of detailed Form 
R information on large, accidental releases, EPA has decided to include 
Section 8.8 non-production related quantities in the calculations to 
determine whether facilities have met the 5,000-pound ARA for non-PBT 
chemical Form A eligibility. Accordingly, pursuant to this rule, the 
Form A ARA for non-PBT chemicals is

[[Page 76938]]

now comprised of the sum of Section 8.1 through and including Section 
8.8.
    In summary, today's final rule allows facilities to use Form A in 
lieu of Form R for a non-PBT chemical when the facility's total annual 
amount of the chemical released, recycled, combusted for energy 
recovery, and/or treated for destruction does not exceed 5,000 pounds, 
the facility's total annual releases of the chemical do not exceed 
2,000 pounds, and the facility has not manufactured, processed, or 
otherwise used more than one million pounds of the non-PBT chemical. As 
it relates to the Form R data elements, this final rule allows a 
facility to consider Form A for a non-PBT chemical when the sum of 
Section 8.1 through and including Section 8.8 does not exceed 5,000 
pounds and the sum of amounts reported for items a, b, c, and d of 
Section 8.1 (Total Disposal or Other Releases) and any non-production-
related releases reported in Section 8.8 (Quantity released to the 
environment as a result of remedial actions, catastrophic events, or 
one-time events not associated with production processes) does not 
exceed 2,000 pounds.

V. Summary of Public Comments and EPA Responses

    EPA received well over 100,000 comments in response to the proposed 
rule. After accounting for about a dozen mass mail campaigns, docket 
staff identified approximately 5,000 distinct comments. These 5,000 
comments are listed separately in the EPA docket for this rulemaking, 
and along with supporting materials for this rule, individual comments 
can be accessed at https://www.regulations.gov under docket ID TRI-2005-
0073.

A. Comments on Form A Eligibility--PBT Chemicals

    Some commenters supporting EPA's proposed option to extend Form A 
reporting to PBT chemicals favor the option because it would provide 
burden relief but no actual release data would be lost. Some commenters 
also state that the proposal will not compromise public health or 
reduce the ability to plan for emergency responses, and that most 
people are interested solely in releases to the environment. Other 
commenters suggest that EPA's proposal would encourage pollution 
prevention, as facilities would work to eliminate releases and minimize 
waste generation of PBT chemicals in order to qualify for Form A. On 
the other hand, some commenters express general opposition to the 
proposed option for PBT chemicals. Some of those in opposition suggest 
that PBT chemicals are too persistent and dangerous to human and 
environmental health for the reporting requirements to be relaxed and 
therefore, they recommend that the Agency maintain the current 
reporting requirements for these chemicals.
    EPA agrees with commenters who stated that the proposed approach 
for allowing Form A for PBT chemicals provides incentives that would 
result in positive environmental impacts. By limiting Form A 
eligibility to facilities with zero PBT releases and 500 pounds or 
fewer other waste management quantities (i.e., recycling, energy 
recovery, and treatment for destruction), EPA is encouraging facilities 
to reduce releases and other waste management to meet these targets. 
For chemicals such as lead and mercury, this approach will encourage 
recycling and/or source reduction, both desirable waste management 
techniques. Further, because the proposed rule requires zero releases 
for PBT chemical Form A eligibility, there will be no loss of detailed 
Form R release information; therefore, the proposal does not affect the 
use of TRI release data to gauge direct impacts on public health.
    Some commenters express opposition to expanding the use of Form A 
to PBT chemicals because it would result in some important non-release 
data no longer being reported on Form R. Concerns include the potential 
serious health impacts associated with these chemicals (especially 
lead, PACs and mercury) and thus the need to have public data on even 
small quantities managed by facilities. Comments also express concerns 
about the loss of the ability to assess potential liabilities of 
facilities that handle PBTs.
    EPA believes that allowing Form A for PBT chemicals as conditioned 
in the proposal will not result in an appreciable reduction in the data 
reported to the Agency. As EPA stated in the preamble to the proposal, 
it anticipates this rule will have a minimal impact on the national 
totals for waste management. The Agency estimates that 0.01% of total 
waste management will go unreported on Form R as a result of this 
component of the rule. (Economic Analysis of Toxics Release Inventory 
Burden Reduction Proposed Rule, EPA September, 2005). The quantity of 
lead recycled and eligible for this option would be approximately 
0.0084% of the lead recycled by all TRI reporters. The corresponding 
figures for PACs and mercury are 0.023% and 0.3%, respectively. As EPA 
stated in the proposed rule, it expects that 2,700 PBT chemical reports 
would qualify for Form A under this rule. On an individual facility 
basis, data users will know that the facility filing Form A for a PBT 
chemical has zero releases and between zero and 500 pounds of combined 
recycling, energy recovery, and treatment for destruction. In addition, 
data users will know that the facility has manufactured, processed or 
otherwise used the PBT chemical above the relevant thresholds and did 
not exceed the one-million-pound alternate threshold for Form A. EPA 
believes that this is an appropriate level of detail for public 
reporting for these substances when there are zero releases and waste 
management totals are under 500 pounds.
    Several commenters express opposition to the proposed option for 
PBT chemicals because the proposal provides minimal burden reduction 
while losing important publicly available data. One commenter estimates 
that the average cost savings per facility would be only $1,035, which 
the commenter argues does not justify the expected loss of information 
from the rule. Another commenter estimates that 77% of facilities 
eligible to use Form A for PBTs report zero for both releases and other 
waste management and therefore do not save burden by switching to Form 
A. Other commenters support EPA's proposed option for PBTs because of 
the helpful burden reduction for facilities that have zero releases. 
These commenters state that the burden of reporting is substantial and 
that burden relief is needed, especially for reporters that have zero 
releases and are managing their chemicals in an environmentally 
responsible manner. Some commenters also suggested that additional 
burden reduction could be provided by allowing use of Form A for PBT 
chemical reports with small, non-zero release quantities.
    EPA believes that the rule will result in significant burden 
reduction without losing crucial information. Facilities that use Form 
A for a PBT chemical will save an estimated 15.5 hours of burden for 
each Form A submitted instead of a Form R. From the standpoint of total 
burden, the Agency estimates that the approximately 1,800 facilities 
eligible for this option will save approximately 36,000 hours (or $1.8 
million) of reporting burden. In response to comments that the burden 
savings is minimal because the majority of facilities eligible for this 
option have no waste management quantities to report (i.e., zeros in 
Sections 8.1 through 8.8), such facilities will still realize burden 
savings from no longer having to complete all of the Form R data 
elements (e.g., the Production Ratio in Part II, Section 8.9; and the 
maximum

[[Page 76939]]

amount of the TRI chemical on-site at any one time during the year in 
Part II, Section 4).
    While a higher PBT-release level would provide additional burden 
reduction, EPA believes that a zero release amount under current TRI 
reporting requirements strikes an appropriate balance between paperwork 
burden and the provision of valuable information consistent with the 
goals and statutory purposes of the TRI program. EPA notes that under 
current TRI reporting guidance, facilities are already allowed to round 
small PBT chemical releases to zero. As discussed in the preamble to 
the PBT chemical final rule (64 FR 58672, October 29, 1999), facilities 
are required to report PBT chemical releases greater than 0.1 pound 
(except dioxins). In that preamble, the Agency stated that it believes 
that facilities may be able to calculate their estimates of releases to 
one-tenth of a pound and that such guidance is consistent with the 
requirements of sections 313(g) and (h).

B. Comments on Form A Eligibility--Non-PBT Chemicals

1. Overview
    Commenters who support EPA's proposed expansion of Form A 
eligibility for non-PBT chemicals assert that the proposed rule would 
provide significant burden relief from TRI reporting--especially for 
small facilities. These proponents argue that this relief would be 
significant despite the need to calculate releases and other waste 
management amounts to determine if they qualify for Form A.
    Other commenters opposed to the proposed rule focused on the impact 
at the local level from the detailed Form R waste management 
information that would no longer be reported on Form R. While many of 
these commenters recognize that the potential non-reporting of detailed 
Form R waste management information represents less than 1% of the 
total waste management reported nationwide on Form R, they argue that 
at the local level, a 5,000-pound Form A range of release and other 
waste management information will adversely affect the ability of data 
users to perform local trend analyses, monitor the performance of 
individual facilities, and more generally, meet the intended purpose of 
the data collection to inform the public, government, and other data 
users about releases of toxic chemicals to the environment. Many 
commenters gave examples of local data uses that could be affected by 
the proposed rule such as identifying pollution-prevention 
opportunities, conducting risk analyses, identifying trends in toxic 
exposures, conducting spatial analyses of toxic hazards, setting 
environmental and public-health policy, and evaluating trends in the 
environmental performance of individual companies.
    After a thorough consideration of commenters' concerns about the 
potential non-reporting of detailed Form R information, EPA has decided 
to modify the proposed 5,000-pound total waste management threshold for 
Form A by placing a 2,000-pound limit on releases of non-PBT chemicals 
eligible for Form A. In today's final rule, in order for a facility to 
use the Form A Certification Statement for a non-PBT chemical, the 
facility cannot have more than 5,000 pounds of total annual waste-
management (i.e., releases, recycling, energy recovery, and treatment 
for destruction) of that chemical, and the contribution of total annual 
releases toward the 5,000-pound total annual waste management amount 
must be no greater than 2,000 pounds. This approach is partially 
responsive to those commenters who expressed a preference for a lower 
ARA than the proposed 5,000-pound cutoff. Under today's rule, Form A 
continues to serve as a range report and with regard to releases, it 
will inform the public that a facility filing a Form A for a specific 
non-PBT chemical has total annual releases of that chemical in the 
range of zero to 2,000 pounds. With regard to total waste management 
(which includes releases), today's rule increases the current range of 
zero to 500 pounds to zero to 5,000 pounds. The Agency believes that 
today's approach effectively balances concerns associated with 
potential non-reporting of detailed Form R release information against 
total paperwork burden and the promotion of recycling and treatment as 
alternatives to disposal and other releases.
    Specifically, by finalizing a Form A eligibility threshold that 
favors the waste management activities of recycling, energy recovery, 
and treatment for destruction over disposal and other releases, this 
rule responds to comments about the proposed rule's failure to promote 
improvements in environmental performance. By placing a 2,000-pound 
limit on the amount of non-PBT chemical releases that may be applied to 
the 5,000-pound threshold for Form A eligibility, today's rule actively 
encourages facilities to make improvements in environmental performance 
consistent with national pollution-prevention policy. That is, it 
creates incentives for facilities to move away from disposal and other 
releases towards treatment and recycling. In addition, by including all 
waste management activities in the Form A eligibility criteria, EPA is 
encouraging facilities above the 5,000-pound ARA to reduce their total 
waste management in order to qualify for Form A.
2. Comments on the Impact of the Annual Reportable Amount (ARA) 
Criterion on Environmental Performance
    Some commenters state that recycling, energy recovery, and 
treatment for destruction should be excluded from the ARA to provide 
facilities with an incentive for pollution-prevention activities. EPA 
believes that it has addressed this comment in the final rule by 
providing one threshold (2,000 pounds) which considers only releases, 
and a second threshold (5,000 pounds) that includes releases to the 
environment and other waste management activities. EPA believes that by 
including these other waste management activities in the 5,000-pound 
eligibility threshold, it is promoting pollution prevention. Section 
6602 of the Pollution Prevention Act states that ``pollution should be 
prevented or reduced at the source whenever feasible.'' Accordingly, 
the Agency has decided to continue to include all waste management 
activities under the Form A threshold determination in the expectation 
that the cost savings associated with using Form A instead of Form R 
would provide incentives to promote source reduction. Further, by 
limiting the release portion of the 5,000-pound ARA to 2,000 pounds, 
today's rule structures Form A eligibility in a way that encourages 
treatment, recycling, and/or energy recovery over releases, which is 
consistent with national policy under the Pollution Prevention Act.
    One commenter opposes increasing the 500-pound ARA because the 
Agency has not yet defined the Section 8 waste management data 
elements. To support this position, the commenter asserts that there 
are significant data-quality problems with the Section 8 data. This 
commenter believes EPA should not consider raising the Form A threshold 
until the Agency fixes these data-quality problems.
    EPA has provided various forms of compliance assistance (e.g., 
guidance, training sessions, a call center, a TRI Web site, reporting 
software) to improve data quality and to promote consistent TRI 
reporting. Recognizing that there still is room for improvement, the 
Agency intends to continue its outreach efforts to improve data quality 
through reporting compliance. Nevertheless, EPA believes that today's 
final rule

[[Page 76940]]

appropriately balances the paperwork burdens of reporting against the 
promotion of pollution prevention and the requirement to provide the 
public and other data users with valuable information that is 
consistent with the goals and statutory purposes of the TRI program.
3. Comments on the Rule's Impact on Local Risk Screening Analyses
    Many commenters opposed to the proposed rule assert that small 
releases that may no longer be reported on Form R as a result of the 
proposed rule do not necessarily pose less risk at the local level than 
the larger releases that will continue to be reported on Form R. Some 
of these commenters discuss the negative impact the proposed rule would 
have on county-level risk rankings generated by the Agency's Risk 
Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) software program, which 
relies on TRI release data. Some commenters describe specific county-
level risk rankings generated by RSEI for which the order and 
composition of rankings would change under the proposed rule.
    Another comment asserts that the RSEI tool can be used to show that 
the proposed rule would not adversely affect the use of TRI data to 
identify toxic releases that pose significant risk at the local level 
because 99% of counties would not have significant changes in reported 
risk. Further, some commenters state that allowing facilities that 
report minimal releases to utilize Form A could improve the quality of 
the TRI database by focusing attention on detailed Form R release 
information that represents a potential risk to the public. They also 
noted that the small reduction in detailed information would be far 
outweighed by the benefits of the proposed rule, in terms of reduced 
costs and paperwork affecting the economic competitiveness of small 
businesses and the counties they serve.
    EPA believes that while RSEI is a valuable screening tool for 
identifying risk-related situations of high potential concern, and 
which warrant further evaluation, it makes assumptions about chemical 
toxicity and exposure pathways that may not hold true at the local 
level where a more robust risk assessment could be undertaken depending 
on the intended use of the data. RSEI analysis alone does not provide a 
detailed or quantitative assessment of risk (e.g., excess cases of 
cancer). By itself, RSEI is not designed as a substitute for more 
comprehensive, site-specific risk assessments. More information on the 
functionality and limitations of RSEI can be found at https://
www.epa.gov/oppt/rsei.
4. Environmental Justice (EJ) Concerns
    A number of commenters raised concerns about the proposed rule's 
potential Environmental Justice (EJ) impacts. Specifically, commenters 
are concerned about the potential