2011 is a reporting year pursuant to the Toxic Substance Control
Act (TSCA) Inventory Update Reporting (IUR) rule. Pursuant to IUR,
companies (other than "small" manufacturers) that
manufacture (including import) chemicals for commercial purposes
(including byproduct chemicals that are not disposed of as waste)
must periodically report manufacturing information to the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For the 2011
reporting period, EPA is proposing many changes that may trigger
additional reporting for many companies.
Last fall EPA issued a proposed rule seeking many changes to the
IUR requirements, including requiring companies to identify if a
chemical is being recycled. This requirement is a change from
previous reporting years and affects companies that may not have
previously reported chemicals that were recycled or used on-site.
EPA classifies those activities as commercial purposes that require
a chemical, including a byproduct, to be reported. Consequently,
companies should consider all of the chemicals they manufacture
during their processes in order to determine if the chemical is
required to be reported for IUR purposes.
In addition to adding recycling information to the IUR requirements, EPA also is proposing to reduce the reporting threshold. For the last reporting period in 2006, a manufacturer was required to report if a company's production volume of a regulated chemical substance at a site met or exceeded 25,000 pounds (lbs.) in 2005. For the 2011 reporting period, EPA is proposing to reduce the reporting threshold to 10,000 lbs. Based on the proposed rule, if a company manufactured a chemical that is on the TSCA Inventory at or above the reporting threshold (10,000 lbs) in the calendar year 2010, the company may be required to conduct IUR in 2011.
The 2011 reporting submission period is June 1 to Sept. 30, 2011 and includes information from the previous 5-year period from 2006 to 2010. EPA anticipates finalizing the 2011 IUR rule in July. If finalized as proposed, the rule will also change the reporting format. Specifically, the IUR reporting form, Form U, must be submitted electronically using EPA's web-based reporting software (e-IURweb). Paper submissions would no longer be allowed.
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