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The focus of the Chemical Management Program Area is emergency planning, community right-to-know, and reporting of substances and processes at facilities which may pose a threat. This program area does not solely apply to manufacturers or large federal facilities. Chemicals include liquids, solids, and gaseous substances. A substance as common as "white-out" or a household pesticide/herbicide are considered a chemical as well as paints, strippers, thinners, toluene, mercury, chlorine, and trichloroethane.
Executive Order 14057: Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability was signed by President Biden on 8 December 2021. Accompanying this Executive Order is the Federal Sustainability Plan, which states The Administration reinstates the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory reporting, referencing the CEQ Memorandum, Agency Compliance with Sections 301 through 313 of the EPCRA.
The CEQ Memo states, "Each agency must continue to comply with the provisions set forth in sections 301 through 313 of EPCRA, as amended, in light of applicable guidance issued by EPA, and without regard to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) or North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) delineations."
EPCRA Sections 301 to 303 contain Emergency Planning provisions requiring local governments to prepare chemical emergency response plans, and to review plans at least annually. State governments are required to oversee and coordinate local planning efforts. Facilities that maintain Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHS) on-site in quantities greater than corresponding threshold planning quantities (TPQs) (see 40 CFR 355, Appendix A) must cooperate in emergency planning preparation.
EPCRA Section 304 contains Emergency Notification provisions requiring facilities to immediately report accidental releases of EHSs and "hazardous substances" defined under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Any releases of these substances in quantities greater than their corresponding Reportable Quantities (RQs) (see 40 CFR 355, Appendix A) must be reported to state and local officials. There are specific additional provisions for continuous release reporting.
EPCRA Sections 311 and 312 addresses the Community Right-to-Know Requirement commonly referred to as a Tier I or Tier II Report (see 40 CFR 370). The purpose of these reports are to provide State and local officials and the public with information on the general hazard types and locations of hazardous chemicals present at your facility during the previous calendar year. The Tier I form contains general information on hazardous chemicals at the facility. The Tier II form contains specific information on hazardous chemicals present at the facility. Since the promulgation of the final rule published in 1987, states were given the flexibility to implement hazardous chemical inventory reporting requirements, as appropriate for the needs of their community. This flexibility included adding more chemicals, setting lower reporting thresholds and creating a reporting form or format that included information beyond that required by the federal reporting requirements. Tier I/Tier II forms are due by 1 March each year. Generally, Tier I/Tier II reporting is required for:
- A hazardous chemical that is an EHS which is present at your facility at any one time in an amount equal to or greater than 500 pounds (227 kg--approximately 55 gallons) or the Threshold Planning Quantity (TPQ), whichever is lower. (see 40 CFR 355, Appendix A).
- A hazardous chemical that is not an EHS is present at your facility at any one time in an amount equal to or greater than 10,000 pounds (or 4,540 kg).
See the EPA EPCRA website for additional information on EPCRA Sections 311 and 312 exempted hazardous chemicals and State specific programs
EPCRA Section 313 details the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting requirements. Facilities must complete and submit a toxic chemical release inventory form (Form R) annually. Form R must be submitted for each of the over 600 TRI chemicals that are manufactured or otherwise used above the applicable threshold quantities. To help facilities determine if they are required to submit a Form R, EPA has developed the The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Threshold Screening Tool , a step-by-step questionnaire to determine if a facility meets or exceeds established facility, employee, and chemical thresholds.
When reporting under EPCRA Section 313 is required (i.e., Toxic Release Inventory [TRI] reporting), current EPA guidance must be followed.
Clean Air Act Section 112r - Risk Management Plan (RMP) Rule & General Duty Clause Overview
Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act Amendments requires EPA to publish regulations and guidance for chemical accident prevention at facilities that use certain hazardous substances. These regulations and guidance are contained in the Risk Management Plan (RMP) rule. The RMP rule requires facilities that use extremely hazardous substances to develop a Risk Management Plan which:
- identifies the potential effects of a chemical accident,
- identifies steps the facility is taking to prevent an accident, and
- spells out emergency response procedures should an accident occur.
These plans, which must be revised and resubmitted to EPA every five years, provide valuable information to local fire, police, and emergency response personnel to prepare for and respond to chemical emergencies in their community. Making RMPs available to the public also fosters communication and awareness to improve accident prevention and emergency response practices at the local level.
The RMP rule was built upon existing industry codes and standards. It requires facilities that use listed regulated Toxic or Flammable Substances for Accidental Release Prevention to develop an RMP and submit that plan to EPA.
The rule includes a List of Regulated Substances List of Regulated Substances under section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act, including their synonyms and threshold quantities (in pounds) to help assess if a process is subject to the RMP rule.
These regulated substances are also subject to the requirements of the General Duty Clause, which applies to any stationary source producing, processing, handling, or storing regulated substances or other extremely hazardous substances. "Other extremely hazardous substances" are any chemicals listed in 40 CFR part 68, or any other chemicals, which may be considered extremely hazardous.
Facilities subject to the General Duty Clause are responsible for:
- Knowing the hazards posed by the chemicals and assessing the impacts of possible releases
- Designing and maintaining a safe facility to prevent accidental releases
- Minimizing the consequences of accidental releases that do occur
Please use the links below to quickly jump to the information area needed or scroll down to view all items.
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Also known as Title III of SARA, EPCRA was enacted by Congress as the national legislation on community safety. This law was designated to help local communities protect public health, safety, and the environment from chemical hazards.
CEQ memo directing federal agencies to follow the reporting requirements of section 301 through 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).
EPA has an interpretive statement in response to questions raised about Clean Water Act (CWA) permitting requirements for the application of pesticides to or over the nation's waters. The statement reflects EPA’s belief that a CWA permit is not required where application of a particular pesticide to or over water is consistent with requirements under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). However, EPA is reinforcing for local officials, resource managers, agricultural producers, and other pesticide users the importance of applying pesticides in accordance with their label directions.
Section 112(r)(1), also known as the General Duty Clause, applies to any facility where extremely hazardous substances are present. GDC is a performance-based authority recognizing that owners and operators have a general duty and responsibility to prevent and mitigate the consequences of chemical accidents.
The RMP Rule implements Section 112(r) of the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments. RMP requires facilities that use extremely hazardous substances to develop a Risk Management Plan. These plans must be revised and resubmitted to EPA every five years.
Questions submitted to the EPA about EPCRA and their answers.
In this database, users can browse and search frequently asked questions about EPCRA, RMP, and Oil Pollution Prevention (which includes oil discharge regulations, SPCC, and FRP). In addition, users can submit their own question if they do not find a similar one in the Database.
Climate Crisis; Efforts to Protect Public Health and Environment and Restore Science
January 20, 2021
This Executive Order directs all executive departments and agencies to immediately review and, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, take action to address the promulgation of Federal regulations and other actions during the last 4 years that conflict with these important national objectives, and to immediately commence work to confront the climate crisis. In addition, this EO revokes several EOs including: • EO 13834, except for Section 6. Duties of the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer, Section 7. Duties of Heads of Agencies, and Section 11. General Provisions. • Executive Order 13778 Restoring the Rule of Law, Federalism, and Economic Growth by Reviewing the "Waters of the United States" Rule • Executive Order 13783 Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth • Executive Order 13807 Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure Projects
Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad
January 27, 2021
The EO has three overarching objectives 1) promote safe global temperature, 2) increase climate resilience, and 3) support financial a pathway toward low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development. The EO reinstates the Presidential Memorandum of September 21, 2016 (Climate Change and National Security), establishes the Climate Policy Office within the Executive Office of the President and establishes a National Climate Task Force. In addition, the EO aims to use Federal procurement to support robust climate action including a carbon pollution-free electricity sector, no later than 2035 and clean and zero-emission vehicles for Federal, State, local, and Tribal government fleets.
Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability
December 8, 2021
President Biden has signed an Executive Order that demonstrates how the United States will leverage its scale and procurement power to lead by example in tackling the climate crisis. The executive order will reduce emissions across federal operations, invest in American clean energy industries and manufacturing, and create clean, healthy, and resilient communities.
Overview of EO 14057.
This advisory notifies Federal facilities about U.S. EPA's National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative (NECI) to reduce the risk to human health and the environment by reducing the likelihood of chemical accidents at Federal facilities with Clean Air Act (CAA) stationary sources that make, use, and store extremely hazardous substances.
Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act requires owners/operators of a stationary source that manufactures, uses, stores, or otherwise handles more than a threshold quantity of a listed regulated substance in a process, to implement a risk management program and submit a single RMP for all covered processes at the facility.
The Federal Sustainability Plan sets out a range of ambitious goals to deliver an emissions reduction pathway consistent with President Biden's goal of reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emission by 50–52 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as the science demands.
The General Duty Clause in Section 112(r)(1) makes the owners/operators of facilities with regulated hazardous substances responsible for managing chemicals safely.
EPA developed the following guidance to assist the regulated community in understanding the Risk Management Program (RMP) rule.
Details approaches for implementing the general duty clause of the Clean Air Act (CAA), explains statutory requirements, and describes how to assess compliance.
This database is designed to enable users to locate documents, including publications, OSW memos, and other outreach materials, that cover a wide range of RCRA issues and topics.
Issued August 2013, the guidance document is intended to assist regional inspectors in reviewing a facility's implementation of the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule at 40 CFR part 112 and understanding the rule's applicability, and to help clarify the role of the inspector in the review and evaluation of the performance-based SPCC requirements. The guidance document is also available to owners and operators of facilities that may be subject to the requirements of the SPCC rule and the general public on how EPA intends the SPCC rule to be implemented. The document is designed to provide a consistent national policy on several SPCC-related issues.
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Beyond Benign will be hosting a monthly Green Chemistry Connection around Green Chemistry education using the Green Chemistry Students Learning Objectives from the Green Chemistry Commitment program as a loose framework. The topics for discussion will be Green Chemistry theory, toxicology, laboratory skills and application of Green Chemistry education. Each time we meet, we will host up to 4 speakers from the community who are actively practicing Green Chemistry in their courses and/or laboratories, as well as give time for discussion in small groups along with networking and resource sharing.
PCRC is maintained by the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS). The PCRC is one of the Compliance Assistance Centers developed by industry-government partnerships, with support from EPA's Office of Compliance.
This site contains links to information on TRI chemical lists, tri pbt chemicals, list changes, toxicity, regulatory program information, fact sheets, and chemical specific guidance documents.
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AIChE, was founded in 1908. AIChE is a professional association of more than 50,000 members that provides leadership in advancing the chemical engineering profession. Chemical engineers are at the forefront of research to assure the safe and environmentally-sound manufacture, use, and disposal of chemical products.
Beyond Pesticides is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization which advocates safe, healthy, LIVING lawns and landscapes with the use of organic and least toxic practices and products that nurture healthy lawns and landscapes and protect the health of children, families, pets, wildlife and the environment from unnecessary exposure to toxic pesticides.
A publicly accessible service that provides information on the regulatory requirements for the following EPA programs: Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA); Risk Management Plan (RMP) Rule; and Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Rule and Facility Response Plan (FRP) Rule. The Information Center does not provide regulatory interpretations. It does, however, maintain up-to-date information on the availability and distribution of publications and other resources pertaining to its program areas.
Beyond Benign will be hosting a monthly Green Chemistry Connection around Green Chemistry education using the Green Chemistry Students Learning Objectives from the Green Chemistry Commitment program as a loose framework. The topics for discussion will be Green Chemistry theory, toxicology, laboratory skills and application of Green Chemistry education. Each time we meet, we will host up to 4 speakers from the community who are actively practicing Green Chemistry in their courses and/or laboratories, as well as give time for discussion in small groups along with networking and resource sharing.
CCPA brings together manufacturers, insurers, government, academia, and expert consultants to lead the way in improving manufacturing process safety. CCPS and its sponsors are committed to protecting employees, communities, and the environment by developing engineering and management practices to prevent or mitigate catastrophic releases of chemicals, hydrocarbons, and other hazardous materials.
The NRC is the sole federal point of contact for reporting oil and chemical spills. In addition to gathering and distributing spill data for Federal On-Scene Coordinators, the NRC serves as the communications and operations center for the National Response Team, which is chaired by EPA. The NRC has implemented an on-line query system that makes oil and chemical spill data available online.
An independent federal agency investigating chemical accidents to protect workers, the publice, and the environment. The CSB determines the causes of accidents but does not issue fines or penalties. The immediate causes of accidents often involve equipment failures, human errors, unforeseen chemical reactions or other hazards. But the ultimate goal of the Board's investigations is to determine the root causes of accidents, which typically are deficiencies in safety management systems.
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This program is an opportunity for individuals, groups, and organizations to compete for annual awards in recognition of innovations in cleaner, cheaper, smarter chemistry. The Program provides national recognition of outstanding chemical technologies that incorporate the principles of green chemistry into chemical design, manufacture, and use, and that have been or can be utilized by industry in achieving their pollution prevention goals.
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Provides information about EPA's Emergency Management programs, their emergency management partners, and locating information resources for cleanup or response activities.
This book, intended for safety managers, chemists, and engineers alike, helps both small and large companies address safe handling, processing and storing of chemicals that might become involved in uncontrolled chemical reactions. The Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), in partnership with OSHA, the EPA, the American Chemistry Council, and Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association, has made this book available.
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The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program collects information to track industry progress in reducing waste generation and moving towards safer waste management alternatives. These tools and resources can help identify effective environmental practices and highlighting pollution prevention successes. Use the TRI Pollution Prevention Search to learn how facilities have reduced releases of toxic chemicals to the environment and compare how different facilities have managed their toxic chemical waste. Database can be searched by industry sector, chemical, geography or parent company, and compare environmental performance.
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ToxCast™ Phases I and II are testing a combined total of about 2,000 chemicals. Chemical nominations came from within EPA, from other U.S. agencies (NTP, NIEHS, FDA), from international organizations such as OECD and from other stakeholder groups. In Phase III, ToxCastTM will expand the list to thousands of environmental chemicals, delivering an affordable, science-based system for decision-makers.
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SFI is an approach that encourages pollution prevention in new chemical development through the transfer of EPA's chemical risk screening methodologies.
The P2 Framework is compilation of many of EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) most important computer-based methods for predicting risk-related information. The P2 Framework provides important methods to predict risk-related information that may not be readily available. Its purpose is to provide information that can inform decision making and help promote the design, development, and application of safer chemicals, products, and processes.
This tool provides access to the pollution prevention/source reduction information submitted in the TRI reports.
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This course provides participants with an introduction to applied environmental chemistry principles and practices which underlie the release, fate and transport, sampling, analysis, and cleanup of chemicals contaminating environmental media with particular emphasis on soil and groundwater.
This 2-day course provides participants with a review of fundamental chemical concepts which underlie an understanding of applied environmental chemistry concepts and practices. This course is designed for environmental professionals who are not chemists, but who require a basic knowledge of chemistry and environmental chemistry in their work.
A system of software applications used widely to plan for and respond to chemical emergencies. It is one of the tools developed by EPA's Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office (CEPPO) and NOAA, to assist front-line chemical emergency planners and responders. They can use CAMEO to access, store, and evaluate information critical for developing emergency plans. In addition, CAMEO supports regulatory compliance by helping users meet the chemical inventory reporting requirements of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA, also known as SARA Title III). CAMEO also can be used with a separate software application called LandView ® to display EPA environmental databases and demographic/economic information to support analysis of environmental justice issues.
TSI is a part of the U.S.Department of Transportation (DOT) and was initially created in 1971 to support DOT's mission of ensuring safety and security in the nation's transportation system. They offer courses in hazardous materials transportation, hazardous waste transportation, and other forms of transportation.
Addresses inventorying chemicals, emergency planning, emergency releases, and community right-to-know.
This is a course offered to DoD students to learn proper environmental sampling technique. This include:
* basic sampling techniques (grab/composite/multi-increment sampling, avoidance of cross contamination, use of preservatives, etc.)
* specific sampling techniques for the following media: soil, potable water, waste water (including storm water), groundwater and hazardous waste
* completion of environmental sampling paperwork (e.g. sample container labeling, field log books, chain of custody documentation)
* health and safety considerations
* field testing techniques (i.e. use of pH meter, conductivity / total dissolved solids meter, temperature indicator and dissolved oxygen meter)
* Use of a flow-through cell for micro purging of monitoring wells.
PHMSA hosted a webinar to present the objectives of the FAQ initiative and answer questions from concerned parties. The overarching concern expressed in comments was that PHMSA may eliminate the LOI process and rescind its existing LOI. During the public webinar, PHMSA clarified that the FAQ initiative compliments the LOI process and that PHMSA has no intention of discontinuing the process to request LOI, rescinding the nearly 7,000 LOI in its database, or limiting the scope of questions PHMSA will answer in the future. The recording is from 27 June 27, 2022.
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Executive Order 14057
