Reduction in TRI Reporting Facilities - a State & Regional Review -

2009 Toxic Release Inventory

National Training Conference

Bethesda, MD

March 31 – April 2, 2009

EPA Region 2 Activities

In the Beginning (well, in the Fall of 2008 at least), Nora Lopez, EPA - Region 2 & Andy Opperman, NJDEP were discussing observations of approximately a 10% reduction in the number of reporting facilities for 2007 compared to 2006.

The TRI Facility Reconciliation Project always stimulates conversation when reviewing which facilities report on an annual basis.

Mary Ann Kowalski, EPA – Region 2 sent notifications to facilities that reported for RY 2006 but not for RY 2007.

Mary Ann requested responses from industry as to their compliance status and she documented every facility’s response (or lack of one).

EPA Region 2 Activities

EPA Region 2 Activities

the intro from Region 2’s outreach to facilities:

“As part of our annual review of TRI submissions, it has been noted that a number of facilities reported for 2006, but did not report for 2007. As of December 9, 2008, it appears that your company has not submitted any Form A or Form R reports for 2007, but had submitted reports in 2006 to the Toxics Release Inventory. …”

Region 2 & NJDEP Cooperation

Mary Ann forwarded to Andy her detailed spreadsheet on the responses from facilities and/or other findings involved with the listed facilities.

Andy reviewed each facility’s records in NJDEP’s database for any information that might shed light on a facility’s compliance status (or lack of one).

NJDEP’s Findings on Region 2 Identified Facilities

1 2 3

TRI CriteriaIndustry

Code Changed

Below Threshold

Less than 10 Employees

SUB-

TOTAL

1 13 1 15

4 5

Out of Business

Process Ceased; not

O-O-BSUBTOTAL

10 2 12

NJDEP’s Findings on Region 2 Identified Facilities (cont’d)

6 7 8

TRI Compliance

Issue

TRI & NJ Compliance

IssueUnknown

SUB-

TOTAL

23 9 7 396: TRI Compliance Issue: facility submitted state RPPR but not TRI

7: TRI & NJ: examples - no TRI or RPPR; filing with state would automatically forward to EPA (i.e. the NJ RPPR); NJ has facility shut down in 2006 and they submitted 2007 TRI

8: Unknown: covered status undetermined (3); submitted NJ RPPR, stated < TRI threshold (1); closed/not closed! (2); threshold ? (1)

NJDEP’s Findings on Region 2 Identified Facilities (cont’d)

Summary of Findings

NJDEP Findings of EPA-Region2-Identified Facilities

Description Number % of Total

1 Industry Code Changed 1 1.5 %..

2 Below Threshold 13 19.7 %..

3 Less than 10 Employees 1 1.5 %..

4 Out of Business 10 15.2 %..

5 Process Ceased; not O-O-B 2 3.0 %..

6 TRI Compliance Issue 23 34.8 %..

7 TRI & NJ Compliance Issue 9 13.6 %..

8 Unknown 7 10.6 %..

TOTAL 66

Compliance Outreach

Confusion Abounds (???) TRI Instructions are no longer mailed NJ Release & Pollution Prevention Report

(RPPR) Instructions no longer mailed – simply a notification letter is mailed

RPPR Instructions (online) provide compliance notifications

NJDEP sends TRI CDX eMails to Facility TRI Technical Contacts

“Please be advised that the NJDEP is partnering with the USEPA on the Toxic Chemical Release Inventory (TRI) Central Data Exchange (CDX) program for the submission of TRI Forms R and A. CDX allows you to file a paperless report, significantly reduce data errors, and receive instant receipt confirmation of your submission. When you use the USEPA’s Toxic Release Inventory - Made Easy (TRI-ME) software to prepare and submit your TRI forms via the Internet, your forms will be sent simultaneously to USEPA and NJDEP via the Environmental Information Exchange Network. Further, an Internet-based version of TRI-ME, known as TRI-MEweb, is available and eliminates the need to download software to your PC. TRI-MEweb also includes pre-population of data, an automated Section 8 calculator, and accessibility from any PC anywhere there is Internet access. .....

Compliance Outreach TRI CDX Notification in RPPR Instructions

Compliance OutreachTRI CDX Notification – in RPPR (cont’d)

.....Once a TRI submission is certified it will be electronically forwarded to the state and your obligation to report TRI to NJDEP will be satisfied.1 If you choose to submit via the Internet (TRI-ME or TRI-MEweb), do not send duplicate paper or diskette copies of the TRI reports. If you have any questions about the CDX submission process, call toll free: 1-888-890-1995 between the hours of 8:00 A.M. – 6:00 P.M. Eastern Time.”

1.This phrase is enlarged and underlined for emphasis; it does not appear inthe instructions any differently than the rest of the text.

Compliance OutreachTRI CDX Notification (cont’d)

NJDEP’s TRI vs. RPPR reference…

NOTE: Only the federal TRI data may be submitted on CD or diskette, though USEPA prefers internet submissions. The NJ Release and Pollution Prevention Report must be submitted electronically using the eRPPR online submission module found at NJDEP Online (http://www.njdeponline.com).

NJDEP to receive TRI CDX Submissions(email from Andy Opperman to TRI Tech Contacts)

Dear TRI Contact or Environmental Manager:

Please be advised that the NJDEP Office of Pollution Prevention and Right to Know is partnering with the USEPA on the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Central Data Exchange (CDX) program for reporting year 2006.  CDX allows you to file a paperless TRI Form R or Form A report, significantly reduce data errors, and receive instant receipt confirmation of your submission. 

When you use the USEPA’s 2006 Toxic Release Inventory - Made Easy (TRI-ME) software to prepare and submit your TRI forms via the Internet, your forms will be sent simultaneously to USEPA and NJDEP via the Environmental Information Exchange Network.  Therefore, you are highly encouraged to utilize TRI-ME and submit your 2006 TRI forms via CDX. .....

.....Once a TRI submission is certified it will be electronically forwarded to the state and your obligation to report your TRI to NJDEP will be satisfied.  If you choose to submit CDX via the Internet, DO NOT send duplicate paper or diskette copies of the TRI reports to NJDEP. Remember, the federal 2006 TRI submission is due by July 1, 2007. If you have any questions about TRI CDX or your TRI reporting obligations to the state of New Jersey, please feel free to contact me.

NJDEP to receive TRI CDX Submissions(cont’d)

Take-Home Message

Don’t Be Complacent About Compliance!

• Identified issues with CDX Certifications

• People Forget!

• People leave the company or are fired

• eMail addresses change; and some are not even provided

• People die – this is a sad truth that I hear almost every year

Questions & Issues for the Future

Should we conduct these reviews much sooner? (I think so; but then what other work is put aside?)

Data is not included in the national Public Data Release! Will doing this analysis earlier guarantee its inclusion in the PDR?

Contact Info:

Andy Opperman

NJDEP

andy.opperman@dep.state.nj.us

609-633-1154

Office of Pollution Prevention & Right to Know

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/opppc/

Want to Talk More on the Subject?