SARA 313 Toxic Release Inventory
Last updated by sarkis.tatarian on 3/20/2009
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - United States
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA), Title III, Section 313, also known as the Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act (SARA), requires that annual reports be filed by owners and operators of facilities that meet specific criteria (see Applicability below) to report the quantity of SARA 313 chemicals used, released, and transferred at each facility. SARA 313 requires the EPA and State Regulatory Agencies to annually collect data on releases and transfers of certain toxic chemicals from industrial facilities, and make the data available to the public through a public database called the Toxics Release Inventory, or TRI.
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Meet the requirements of this regulation with IHS solutions for:
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SARA 313 Provisions:
- In 1990, Congress passed the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA), which required that additional data on waste management and source reduction activities be reported under TRI.
- In 2006, the Bush administration enacted the Toxics Release Inventory Burden Reduction Final Rule easing the reporting requirements for facilities by increasing release thresholds to 2,000 lbs per year.
- In March 2009, the Omnibus Appropriations Act was signed returning the threshold back to 1986 levels requiring all facilities to inform the public of a toxic release that totals 500 lbs per year.
Management System and Data Management Implications
Determining applicability with SARA 313 reporting requirements and compiling the multi media release required to submit Form R requirements can be an extremely time consuming and information intensive activity. On an annual basis, affected facilities must determine applicability for TRI reporting requirements for over 650 SARA 313 regulated chemicals. The releases of regulated chemicals to air, water, landfills, injection well and offsite transfers must be reported in detail each year on Form R
To effectively perform threshold determinations and generate TRI reports, a data management system can be useful:
- Track production and operations information that TRI impacts threshold determinations and reporting
- Categorize production and operations information by SARA 313 activity
- Track multi-media releases such as air emissions, wastewater discharges, off-site waste transfers, and on-site waste disposal.
- Track the Section 313 regulated chemicals that are constituents of raw materials, products and waste stream.
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Fast Facts
| Jurisdiction |
United States plus territories |
| Applicability |
Form R or Form A reports must be filed by owners and operators of facilities with ten (10) or more full time employees equivalent to a total of 20,000 work hours per year and they must either manufacture or process 25,000 lbs per year, or otherwise use more than 10,000 lbs per year of the chemical exceeding the threshold quantity.
Chemical manufacturers, oil refineries, automakers and electronics manufacturers are most affected by this regulation; however, SARA 313 is applicable to all industries.
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| Regulatory Driver |
SARA 313 |
| Promulgating Entity |
US EPA |
| Enforcing Entity |
US EPA and State Regulatory Agencies |
| Entity Summary |
http://www.epa.gov/oecaagct/lcra.html |
| Regulatory Text |
40 CFR 372 |
| Regulatory Submissions Required |
Form R and Form A reports are due to the US EPA Regional office and the State Environmental Agency by July 1 of each calendar year.
IMPORTANT REVISIONS:
Form R: The threshold of 2,000 lbs under the Bush Administration has been rolled back to the original level of 500 lbs or more. In addition, all reports on persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals are now to be submitted on Form R.
Form A (TRI Short form): can be filed for facilities that process material in excess of the threshold planning quantity, but did not release more than 500 lbs of TRI material per any calendar year and the amount of TRI chemical that is managed onsite does not exceed 1,000,000 pounds per calendar year.
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More Information
For details about how the IHS solutions can help your organization comply with SARA 313 TRI,
call 800.289.6116 or email us.
