The Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)

1
The Toxic Release Inventory(TRI)

• Jim Walsh
• Georgia Tech Economic Development Institute
• 404.210.5550
• jim.walsh_at_edi.gatech.edu
• November 2001

2
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
• Whats New for 2001

3
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 history

Union Carbide India Limited Bhopal
4
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)

5
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

6
The EPCRA Chemicals
Section 313 TRI Chemicals (App. 630)
CERCLA Hazardous Substances (739)
228
79
21
59
EHSs (356)
Excluded Chemical Categories and chemicals
subjective to Administrative Stay
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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)

8
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)

9
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

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Determining Applicability
Is your facility SIC 20xx-39xx or a Federal
facility?
No
Yes
No
No report this year
Do you have 10 or more full-time employees?
No
Yes
Do you manufacture, process, or otherwise use any
listed chemical or chemical category?
No report this year
No
Yes
Do you trip the thresholds?
Do you manufacture, process or otherwise use more
than 1,000,000 lbs
Yes
No
Does Form R Section 8.1-8.7 exceed 500 lbs?
No
Yes
Yes
Submit Form R
Submit Form A
11
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

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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

13
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

14
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

15
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

16
Reporting Exemptions

• Facility-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

17
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

18
Machining of Articles

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

19
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

20
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

21
Common ReportablesPainting 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

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Painting Process Often Complex
Organic Coating Chemicals and Chemical Compounds
Air Emissions
Air Emissions
Air Emissions
Spray Application or Electrodepostion of Organic
Coatings
Workpiece
Surface Prep
Curing Zone
Flash-Off Zone
Coated Workpiece
Cleaning and Treatment Chemicals
Clean Out Wastes from Oven and Product Carrier
Wastewater
Wastewater
Slurry
Slurry
Container Residues
Container Residues
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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

24
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

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Common ReportablesAmmonia 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

26
Common ReportablesChlorine 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

27
Common ReportablesAqueous 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

28
Nitrification/Denitrification
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Common ReportablesAqueous 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

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Common ReportablesNitrate 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

31
Common ReportablesMineral 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

32
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

33
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

34
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

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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

36
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

37
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

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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

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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

40
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

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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

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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

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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!

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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.html
• http//www.epa.gov/enviro/index_java.html

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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

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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