Right-to-know compliance – what you don’t know CAN hurt you!

EPCRA, or the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, is an important law that affects almost all facilities that manufacture, use, or store large quantities of hazardous chemicals. EPCRA requires organizations to adopt emergency planning procedures and requires employers to report the presence of hazardous chemicals in the workplace to certain state and local authorities.

The community right-to-know regulations include the following three nonemergency chemical reporting components:

• Chemical Reporting. EPCRA requires the reporting of hazardous chemicals present at a facility that meet or exceed threshold levels. Facilities must submit a safety data sheet (SDS) for each hazardous chemical or submit a list of hazardous chemicals to state and local officials and the local fire department within 3 months after becoming subject to the reporting requirements.
• Chemical Inventory. Any facility that submits SDSs or chemical lists must annually submit a hazardous chemical inventory report, more commonly known as a Tier II report, to state and local officials and the local fire department. Reports are due March 1 for the previous year.
• Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). Facilities that release toxic chemicals must annually disclose their releases above threshold quantities to the EPA and to state officials. TRI reports are submitted on EPA’s Form R and are due July 1 for the previous year. Facilities may use the abbreviated Form A certification if the total chemical waste does not exceed 500 pounds, and the chemical was manufactured, processed, or otherwise used in an amount not exceeding 1 million pounds during the previous year.

Why Is Right-to-Know Compliance Important?

Failure to report regulated chemicals kept on-site can and will hurt you. Under EPCRA, penalties for noncompliance can range up to almost $55,000 per violation per day.

EPCRA provides local governments and emergency responders access to information concerning chemicals in the community, which enables planning for emergencies and increased community safety.

Nearly every state has its own community right-to-know rules, along with separate reporting forms. Many of the state rules are stricter than corresponding federal rules.