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Burden Reduction Proposed Rule (Phase II)
- What does this rule do?
- Who will benefit from this rule?
- How does this relate to the TRI Reporting Forms Modification Rule?
- Will there be any future proposal to continue burden reduction?
- How did EPA develop the proposed rule?
- How can I get more background on EPA's TRI Program and this rule?
- Senators' letter regarding proposed rule and EPA's response
- Letter from US House of Representative Members regarding proposed rule and EPA's response
Q: What does this rule do?
A: This rulemaking enables facility owners and operations to use Form A for reporting certain PBT chemicals to TRI. It also expands the use of Form A for non-PBT chenicals. Facilities are currently required to provide information on disposal, release, and management of toxic chemicals using forms that EPA has prescribed. Most TRI information is submitted on the 5 page “Form R”, which includes detailed information on chemical disposal and other releases and chemical waste management in some circumstances. EPA allows the use of a simplified Form A.
EPA is proposing that facilities may use Form A for persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals (except for dioxin and dioxin compounds, which are unaffected by this proposal), provided they have no disposal or other releases to the environment, and do not manage more than 500 pounds (in sum) of the chemical by treatment, energy recovery, or recycling. Under current rules, facilities may not use Form A for PBT chemicals at all.
EPA is also proposing that facilities with non-PBT chemicals would be able to use Form A provided they manage no more than 5000 pounds (in sum) of the chemical by disposal or other releases to the environment, by treatment, energy recovery, or recycling. Currently, these same facilities may use Form A only if they manage or release no more than 500 pounds of chemicals. One condition that remains unaffected by this proposal is that all facilities using Form A must meet a 1 million pound threshold for manufacture, processing or other use of the chemical. Two other conditions would be affected by this proposal, as described below.
TRI Burden Reduction Proposed Rule - October 4th, 2005, 70 Federal Register
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Q: Who will benefit from this rule?
A: Facilities that report low amounts of chemicals to TRI will benefit from this rule by being allowed to use the shorter Form A, thus reducing their reporting burden. The Form A is easier to complete than the longer Form R because there are fewer information fields to complete and fewer mathematical calculations to perform.
Q: How does this relate to the TRI Reporting Forms Modification Rule?
A: As part if its burden reduction effort the Agency identified two broad categories of actions:
- Modifications to the reporting forms to streamline reporting without significantly affecting the information collected; and
- Changes that will affect which facilities are required to report and at what level of detail.
EPA decided to address these two categories of changes through separate rulemakings. The first category of changes was addressed in the TRI Reporting Forms Modification Rule (70 Federal Register 39931). The second category is addressed in this rule.
EPA will continue to examine ways to reduce reporting burden while balancing these efforts with our commitment to providing information to the public.
Q: Will there be any future proposal to continue burden reduction?
A: Yes. EPA will continue to examine ways to reduce reporting burden while balancing these efforts with our commitment to providing information to the public.
One issue that EPA will consider in the future is frequency of TRI reporting. For more information on this issue, please read this additional Federal Register notice (PDF) -- (September 25, 2005) (2 pp, 20K, About PDF)
Q: How did EPA develop the proposed rule?
A: EPA collected suggestions from stakeholders in meetings and on-line between November 2002 and February 2004 and supplemented those discussions with analyses created using TRI data from previous reporting years. The Agency went through an established internal process for rulemakings in which representatives from EPA offices and programs participate on a workgroup tasked with review, analysis, and development of a proposed rule.
Q: How can I get more background on EPA's TRI Program and this rule?
A:You can get more information several ways.
- On our Web site
- By calling an EPA representative, or
- By contacting the TRI Information Center, toll-free: (800) 424-9346, toll-free TDD: (800) 553-7672, callers in the DC area: (703) 412-9810.
Background documents
- TRI Burden Reduction Stakeholder Briefing, October 19, 2004 Meeting Summary (PDF) (10 pp, 87K, About
PDF)
- Overall Burden Reduction Strategy (PDF) (7 pp, 30K, About PDF)
- TRI Reporting Forms Modifications (PDF) (18 pp, 62K, About PDF)
- TRI Program Related burden Reduction (PDF) (8 pp, 35K, About PDF)
- Analytic Methods (PDF) (12 pp, 40K, About PDF)
- TRI Stakeholder Dialogue
Senators' letter regarding proposed rule and EPA's response
Senators' Letter Regarding EPA's Proposed Rule (PDF, 156KB, 3pp, About PDF)
EPA's Response to the Senators' Letter (PDF, 575KB, 10pp, About PDF)
Attatchments:
Letter from US House of Representative Members regarding proposed rule and EPA's response
Letter from US House of Representative Members regarding proposed rule (PDF) (PDF, 388KB, 6pp, About PDF)
EPA's response to House letter (PDF) (PDF, 570KB, 10pp, About PDF)