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Final TRI Burden Reduction Rule
The final TRI Burden Reduction Rule (PDF) (57 pp, 1.06MB, About PDF) published on December 22, 2006, expands eligibility for use of the Form A Certification Statement (Form A) in lieu of the more detailed Form R by TRI facilities submitting required annual reports on releases and other waste management. This rule provides incentives for facilities to improve environmental performance by eliminating or reducing releases and managing remaining wastes using preferred methods such as recycling and treatment.Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, signed March 11, 2009, reverts the TRI reporting requirements to those prior to this rule. This rule is no longer in effect.
A proposed Burden Reduction rule (PDF) (26 pp, 1.04MB, About
PDF) was issued on October 4, 2005 (70 Federal Register 71448). Comments received in response to the proposed rule are addressed in the final rule. This is "Phase 2" of a multi-year initiative. Phase One removed unneeded items from TRI reporting forms and eliminated items that could be pulled from other data sources already available to EPA.
- What are the provisions of the final rule?
- What is the difference between Form R and Form A?
- What are the criteria for using Form A to report Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) chemicals?
- Why did EPA decide to allow facilities to use Form A for PBT chemicals under certain circumstances?
- What are the criteria for using Form A for chemicals other than PBTs?
- Why did EPA change the proposed conditions for reporting non-PBT chemicals on Form A in the final rule?
- What other resources are available for information on the rule and EPA's TRI Program?
Q: What are the provisions of the final rule?
- This rule expands eligibility for TRI reporters to use Form A, a simpler form with less detailed information, in lieu of the more detailed Form R.
- Reporting facilities are allowed to use Form A for non-PBT (Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic) chemicals, so long as releases or other disposal is not greater than 2,000 pounds as part of the total waste management limit for the chemical, which is not more than 5,000 pounds.
- Form A may be used for certain chemicals of greater concern (i.e., persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic, or PBT, chemicals) when there are no releases or other disposal and no more than 500 pounds of other waste management (e.g., recycling or treatment).
- This rule makes Form A available for use in reporting PBT chemicals under limited circumstances for the first time in the program’s history.
- “Non-production related waste,” i.e., waste from one time events such as facility cleanups or extraordinary weather events must be counted when determining eligibility to use Form A.
Q: What is the difference between Form R and Form A?
- Form R provides details about 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).
- Form A provides the name of the chemical and certain facility identification information.
- Form A can be used by the public as a “range report,” i.e., an indication that the facility manages as waste between 0 and 500 pounds of a PBT chemical as waste and has no releases or other disposal. For a non-PBT chemical, a facility manages between 0 and 5,000 pounds of the chemical as waste, of which no more than 2,000 pounds is released or otherwise disposed.
- Four chemicals may be reported on each Form A; only one chemical may be reported on a Form R.
For your information, here is the 2007 Form R (PDF) (5 pp, 101KB, About PDF) and the 2007 Form A (PDF) (2 pp, 43KB, About PDF).
Q: What are the criteria for using Form A to report Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) chemicals?
- Facilities may use Form A for PBT chemicals (except for dioxin and dioxin compounds), when there have been no releases or other disposal into the environment and the total amount of the chemical managed by treatment, energy recovery, and/or recycling is not more than 500 pounds.
- The PBT chemical eligibility for Form A is identical in the final and proposed rules.
- Facilities previously were not allowed to use Form A for PBT chemicals.
Q: Why did EPA decide to allow facilities to use Form A for PBT chemicals under certain circumstances?
- The final rule promotes improved environmental management by providing incentives to eliminate or reduce releases and to encourage shifts from less desirable waste management practices (i.e., releases and other disposal) to preferred practices, such as recycling and treatment.
- To be eligible to use Form A for PBT chemicals, facilities must eliminate all releases or other disposal, and must reduce other waste management of the chemical as a waste, such as recycling and treatment, to no more than 500 pounds.
- The final rule will not eliminate reporting on any releases of PBT chemicals; it will allow a limited amount of recycling and treatment to be reported on Form A, letting the community know that the facility is managing between 0 and 500 pounds of the chemical as waste.
Q: What are the criteria for using Form A for chemicals other than PBTs?
- The final rule expands the current use of Form A for non-PBT chemicals by raising the eligibility limit on total waste management (i.e., releases, recycling, energy recovery, and treatment) from 500 pounds to 5,000 pounds, with a cap on releases and other disposal of 2,000 pounds.
- The “cap” means that releases and other disposal must not comprise more than 2,000 pounds of the 5,000-pound total limit for all waste management.
Q: Why did EPA change the proposed conditions for reporting non-PBT chemicals on Form A in the final rule?
- Commenters expressed concern that the proposed 5,000-pound threshold would allow too large amounts of releases, especially toxic air emissions, into communities without requiring detailed Form R reports.
- The 2,000-pound limit on releases, coupled with the 5,000-pound limit on total waste management, addresses this concern.
- By placing a 2,000-pound limit on non-PBT releases EPA was able to retain almost 60 percent of the detailed information on releases that would have been eligible for Form A under the proposed rule.
- The final rule provides an incentive for facilities that report to TRI to reduce releases and use preferred waste management methods in order to qualify to use Form A and ensures that important information will continue to be provided to communities consistent with the goals and statutory purposes of the TRI program.
Q: What other resources are available for information on the rule and EPA's TRI Program?
- You can get more information several ways.
- TRI Web site
- TRI Program Contact Information
- TRI Information Center: toll-free: (800) 424-9346, toll-free TDD: (800) 553-7672, callers in the DC area: (703) 412-9810.