The Toxic Release Inventory(TRI)

Jim WalshGeorgia Tech Economic Development

Institute404.210.5550

jim.walsh@edi.gatech.edu

November 2001

Presentation Outline

What is the TRI? Who must file reports for the TRI? Form R vs Form A Common TRI Reportables Estimating Releases Filing & Fees TRI Enforcement What’s New for 2001

The Bhopal Incident

December 3, 1984 pesticide plant (Sevin) massive release of

methyl isocyanate 3,800+ dead and

11,000 disabled worst industrial accident

in historyUnion Carbide India Limited

Bhopal

What is the TRI? provides public with information on routine &

accidental releases of certain toxic chemicals began in 1986 as Superfund re-authorization Congress prompted to act by Bhopal tragedy Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and

Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA)– a.k.a. Section 313 of Title III – Community Right

to Know, of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA Title III)

Who Must File TRI Reports?

Facility must meet three criteria in order to be required to submit reports:

• have 10 or more employees(part-time included at 2000 hours/employee)

• be included under SIC codes 20xx through 39xx(all Federal facilities are also included)

• manufacture, process, or otherwise use any listed toxic chemical in quantities greater than the established thresholds for a given year

The EPCRA Chemicals

EHSs(356)

Section 313TRI Chemicals

(App. 630)*CERCLA

Hazardous Substances(739)

228

792159

* Excluded Chemical Categoriesand chemicals subjective toAdministrative Stay

EPCRA Chemicals

The “Title III List of Lists” is the key to EPCRA and is available from:

– http://www.epa.gov/ceppo/pubs/title3.pdf

– EPA hotline at 1-800-535-0202 (hotline is operated by contractor; provides

“shield” from EPA inquiries)

Notable Chemical Exemptions

Certain common industrial chemicals are

presently exempt from TRI reporting: acetone sodium hydroxide ammonium sulfate sulfuric and hydrochloric acids (non-aerosol) isopropyl alcohol (unless from strong acid

manufacturing facility)

TRI Reporting Thresholds

The reporting threshold is tripped if your facility:

manufactures or processes….. more than 25,000 lbs of certain chemicals or compounds

OR

otherwise uses….. more than 10,000 lbs of certain chemicals or compounds

Determining Applicability

Is your facility SIC 20xx-39xx or aFederal facility?

Do you have 10 or morefull-time employees?

Do you manufacture, process,or otherwise use any listedchemical or chemical category?

Do you trip the thresholds?

Does Form R Section 8.1-8.7exceed 500 lbs?

Submit Form R

No report this year

No report this year

Do you manufacture, processor otherwise use more than1,000,000 lbs

Submit Form A

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

No

Yes No

Form R vs Form A analogous to IRS Form 1040 vs Form 1040EZ

Form R must be used if the total amount in Sections 8.1 thru 8.7 exceeds 500 lbs

Form A can be used if the total amount in Sections 8.1 thru 8.7 is less than 500 lbs– unless more than one million lbs is manufactured,

processed, or otherwise used– PAC, PBT, mercury and mercury compounds

Form A Exclusion

Less than 500 lbs reported in Sections:8.1 – Quantity Released

8.2 – On- Site Energy Recovery

8.3 – Off-Site Energy Recovery

8.4 – On-Site Recycling

8.5 – Off-Site Recycling

8.6 – Treated On-Site

8.7 – Treated Off-Site

Manufacture

EPCRA defines “manufacture” as: to produce chemicals for

– sale– distribution– on-site use

coincidentally manufacture as a byproduct or impurity– deminimis exemption does not apply

or import

Process

EPCRA defines “process” as: distributed in commerce

– stays or is intended to stay with product used as a reactant used as a formulation component incorporated as an article component repackaged created as an impurity

Otherwise Use

EPCRA defines “otherwise use” as: does not stay with product used in chemical processing

– solvents used as a manufacturing aid

– refrigerant ancillary

– waste water treatment chemicals

Reporting ExemptionsFacility-Related Exemptions Laboratory

– manufactured, processed, or otherwise used in laboratory activities by technically qualified persons

Property Owner– own real estate with covered facility

Use-Related Exemptions used as a structural component of the facility used in janitorial or grounds maintenance work personal use by employees or other persons maintenance of facility motor vehicles contained in intake water or air

The Article Exemption Quantities of listed toxics contained in an article do

not have to be factored into threshold or release determinations:

an article is formed to a specific shape has an end-use dependent on shape does not release a TRI chemical or chemical

category under normal processing– less than 0.5 lbs of release per year

original shape still definable ingot melting, wire drawing, welding rods and wire,

and solder are NOT exempt

Machining of Articles

drilling, cutting, or other machining probably negates the article exemption

Releases via Machining

Many common engineering materials contain TRI reportables. For instance, stainless steels usually contain the following TRI chemicals:– manganese (Mn)– chromium (Cr)– nickel (Ni)– lead (Pb)– others MAY be deminimis exempt

Estimating Releases Estimating Releases and Waste Treatment

Efficiencies for the Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Form– EPA 560/4-88-002, Call NTIS at 703-605-6000

– Has SOCMI Factors, Cost $54.50, PB88210380

Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors AP-42, Fifth Edition, Volume I: Stationary Point and Area Sources– http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/ap42.html

Common Reportables:Painting Operations many solvents used in

painting, such as toluene, xylene, and methyl ethyl ketone are TRI reportables as otherwise used

solid paint that remains on product is processed

what you use is often what you lose

Painting Process Often Complex

SurfacePrep

Spray Applicationor

Electrodepostionof

Organic CoatingsCoated

Workpiece

Flash-OffZone

CuringZone

Organic Coating Chemicals and Chemical Compounds

Air EmissionsAir EmissionsAir Emissions

Workpiece

Cleaningand TreatmentChemicals

WastewaterSlurry

Container Residues

Wastewater

Slurry

Container Residues

Clean OutWastes fromOven and ProductCarrier

Painting Factors to Consider

surface preparation can result in substantial solvent and/or particulate releases (abrasive blasting)

transfer efficiency of different types of spray guns has tremendous impact on amount of overspray (conventional vs HVLP vs electrostatic)

booth filter efficiency plays a lesser role residue quantities in drums for different chemicals

and removal methods

Estimating Releases from Abrasive Surface Preparation Bag House Performance

– 95% efficient, 25 replacements/year, 5 bags/replacement, 50 lb weight gain/bag, dust 1.1% chromium, bags to landfill

Off-Site Disposal– 25 x 5 x 50 x 1.1% = 69 lbs

Air Emissions– 25 x 5 x 50 x (.05/.95) x 1.1% = 3.6 lbs

Common Reportables:Ammonia Refrigeration Systems

Anhydrous ammonia is otherwise used in a refrigeration system

If more than 10,000 lbs is added, TRI report must be filed– new system can trip

the threshold

Common Reportables:Chlorine for Water Treatment

chlorine is otherwise used in water and wastewater treatment

if more than 10,000 lbs is used, TRI report must be filed

chlorine in water is NOT released

only fugitive air emissions are reported

Common Reportables:Aqueous Ammonia & Nitrates Nitrate compounds and

aqueous ammonia are coincidentally manufactured as wastewater byproducts– threshold is 25,000 lbs

– concentrations are less than 10,000 mg/l

– deminimis exemption does not apply when manufactured as byproduct

Nitrification/Denitrification

Total Organic Nitrogen (TON) = TKN –NH3-N

Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN)

Anaerobic Treatment Ammonia Nitrogen (NH3-N)

Aerobic Treatment Nitrite Nitrogen (N02-N)

Oxidizing

Nitrate Nitrogen (NO3-N)

Anoxic Treatment (Shut Off Aerators)

Nitrogen (N2) Facultative Bacteria strip O from NO3

Common Reportables:Aqueous Ammonia aqueous ammonia is manufactured as a

byproduct by biological wastewater treatment systems which convert protein (TON) into ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N)

the highest concentration is immediately after an anaerobic treatment system

the data from laboratory analysis is reported as N and must be multiplied by 1.2

10% of the aqueous ammonia is used for threshold and release calculations

Common Reportables:Nitrate Compounds nitrate compounds are manufactured as a

byproduct by aerobic wastewater treatment systems which oxidize nitrogen compounds

deminimis does not apply the threshold is computed by assuming the

nitrate compound is NaNO3

if nitrate nitrogen (N03-N) is reported as N, the amount must be multiplied by 6.1

the release is only the amount of NO3 in the final effluent

Common Reportables:Mineral Acids and Bases no release if pH is 6 to 9 100% wastewater treatment efficiency typical chemicals excluded

– sulfuric acid– phosphoric acid

typical chemicals NOT excluded– acetic acid

Aerosol forms Sulfuric Acid

threshold– 25,000 lbs– manufactured as a by-product by

combustion of fuel oil and coal– deminimis does not apply– although natural gas contains trace

amounts of sulfur, it is not likely that an aerosol form of sulfuric acid will be manufactured

Mercury & Mercury Compounds

threshold is 10 lbs deminimis exemption does not apply Form A cannot be used fluorescent light tubes

– generally qualify for article exemption– can be crushed when no longer in use

Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (PACs) 21 chemicals in PAC category

– benzo(a)anthracene– benzo(a)pyrene– dibenzo(a,l)pyrene

threshold is 100 lbs for all chemicals in PAC category

deminimis does not apply Form A cannot be used

Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxic (PBT) Chemicals chemical

– aldrin– methoxychlor– chlorodane– benzo(g,h,i) perylene– polychlorinated biphenyls

(PCBs)» Transformers may be

article exempt

– dioxin and dioxin Like Compounds – 17 total

deminimis does not apply Form A cannot be used

threshold– 100 lbs– 100– 10– 10– 10

– 0.1 gram

Combustion System Releases

PBTs– benzo(g,h,I)perylene– PCBs (used oil)– dioxin

PACs Mercury lead sulfuric acid other TRI chemicals

– otherwise used are subject to deminimis

– manufactured are not subject to deminimis

Natural Gas Thresholds

manufacture– benzo(g,h,i)perylene – 8.33 trillion SCF– PACs – 115.1 trillion SCF– benzene – 11.9 trillion SCF– formaldehyde – 333.33 trillion SCF– naphthalene – 40.98 trillion SCF

otherwise use– vanadium – 4.35 trillion SCF

No. 2 Fuel Oil Thresholds

manufacture– dioxin – 8.3 million gal– sulfuric acid – 20.4 million gal– mercury compounds – 3.6 million gal

otherwise use– PACs – 1.4 million gal– benzo(g,h,I)perylene – 28.6 million gal– vanadium – 952.4 million gal– mercury – 3.6 million gal

No. 6 Fuel Oil Thresholds manufacture

– PAC – 6.1 billion gal– benzo(g,h,I)perylene – 4.4 billion gal (two different factors)– dioxin – 8.3 million gal– sulfuric acid (5% sulfur) – 5.1 million gal– mercury compounds – 135.1 million gal– formaldehyde – 0.8 million gal

otherwise use– PAC – 5,079 gal– benzo(g,h,I)perylene – 47,170 gal– Vanadium – 17.1 million gal– mercury – 135.9 million gal

Coal Thresholds

manufacture– zinc compounds – 1,801 tons– all others greater than 19 thousand tons

otherwise use– zinc – 893 tons– all others greater than 20 thousand tons

How to File Form R/A must be sent to both EPA and state

environmental agency electronic filing is strongly encouraged;

Georgia EPD prefers this format ATRS 2000 software available free from:

http://www.epa.gov/tri/atrs/ reports are due July 1 for previous calendar

year, along with applicable fees

TRI Reporting Fees

less than 500 lbs of release $0 500-1,000 lbs of release $500 1,000-10,000 lbs of release $1,000 more than 10,000 lbs of release

$1,500 fees are for any one report due July 1

Filing for Previous Years if facility determines it should have been submitting

Form R or A in past years– submitting data for past 5 years is recommended– EPCRA provides for enforcement 5 years into past– EPA Region IV known to enforce 3 years back

penalties or fines vary per situation:– unofficial policy is to not levy fines as long as facility has

submitted reports voluntarily– fines are likely if EPA finds the discrepancy– $50,000 per chemical per year is typical (get legal help!)– fine reductions up to 90% are possible via Supplemental

Environmental Project (SEP) …. this is not an EMS!

Information Sources The TRI section of the U.S. EPA website

(http://www.epa.gov/tri) is a treasure trove of information on EPCRA and TRI:– general information– FAQs and guidance documents– reporting forms and instructions– TRI Explorer software for accessing TRI data (It is a good idea to review your posted facility data for

errors; transcription errors abound)http://www.epa.gov/enviro/index_java.htmlhttp://www.epa.gov/enviro/index_java.html

TRI Enforcement

a.k.a. “Beware of Your Grandparents” EPA/AARP agreement several enforcement actions in Georgia $50,000 fine per chemical per year typical

proposed penalty legal help may be necessary

New for 2001

transportation SICs may be added lead (Pb) threshold lowered to 100 lbs

for reporting year 2001– Exception for stainless, brass, and bronze– Lead acid batteries qualify for article

exemption coal ash used in cement is “processed”