[Home]  [Services]  [Resources] [About Us]  [Contact]

Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act: Section 313,

EPCRA Section 313 Release Reporting Requirements "blue brochure" (February 2001 Revision; PDF, 614 KB).

What is meant by the terms “manufacture,” “process,”or “otherwise use”?
Manufacture – means to produce, prepare, import, or compound one of the EPCRA section 313 chemicals on the list. For example, if you make a dye for clothing by taking raw materials and reacting them, you are manufacturing the dye. You would also be covered if you were a textile manufacturer who imported a dye on the list for purposes of applying it to fabric produced at your plant.
Process – means the incorporation of an EPCRA section 313 chemical into a product for further distribution into commerce. This definition includes making mixtures, repackaging, or using a chemical as a feed-stock, raw material, or starting material for making another chemical. Examples of processing include:
– Adding a solvent as a dilutant when making a paint, coating, or other mixture;
– Using a chemical as a reactant in the manufacture of a pesticide (e.g., using chemical A to make chemical B).
Otherwise Use – applies to any use of an EPCRA section 313 chemical at a covered facility that is not covered by the terms “manufacture” or “process” and includes use of an EPCRA section 313 chemical contained in a mixture or trade name product. An EPCRA section 313 chemical that is otherwise used by a facility typically is not intentionally incorporated into a product distributed in commerce. The otherwise use definition also includes EPCRA section 313 chemicals disposed, stabilized, or treated for destruction if the facility that conducted these activities received the EPCRA section 313 chemical from off-site for purposes of waste management.
Examples include:
– Using a metal cutting fluid that contains diethanolamine;
– Using a heat transfer fluid containing biphenyl;
– Using trichloroethylene to degrease tools; 7
– Using chlorine in waste water treatment;
– Using Freon 113 as a refrigerant to cool process streams;
– Stabilizing boiler ash that contains nickel compounds received from another facility.
Section 313 requires suppliers of mixtures and trade name products to notify customers of the presence of EPCRA section 313 chemicals in their products above certain de minimis concentrations (these cutoffs are discussed under “Exemptions”). This supplier notification requirement has been in effect since January 1, 1989.

PERSISTENT, BIOACCUMULATIVE AND TOXIC CHEMICALS (with lower thresholds)

Chemical Name or Chemical Category Name
Aldrin
Benzo(g,h,i)perylene*
Chlordane
Dioxin and dioxin-like
compounds*
Heptachlor
Hexachlorobenzene
Isodrin
Mercury
Mercury compounds
Methoxychlor
Octachlorostyrene*
Pendimethalin
Pentachlorobenzene*
Polycyclic aromatic
compounds*=
Polychlorinated biphenyl
PCBs)
Tetrabromobisphenol A
TBBPA)*
Toxaphene
Trifluralin

EXEMPTIONS

Under certain circumstances, some or all of the reporting requirements under EPCRA Section 313 may not apply to an EPCRA Section 313 chemical at a facility. The following are the major exemptions:
De minimis. The de minimis exemption allows facilities to disregard certain minimal concentrations of non-PBT chemicals in mixtures or other trade name products they process or otherwise use when making threshold determinations and release and other waste management calculations. In determining whether the amount of an EPCRA section 313 chemical used at your facility exceeds the reporting threshold listed on page 4, in certain cases you are not required to count the amount of EPCRA section 313 chemical present in a mixture if its concentration is less than 1 percent of the mixture, or its concentration is less than 0.1 percent of the mixture when the chemical is defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as carcinogenic. The de minimis exemption does not apply to PBT chemicals. The chemical list beginning on page 20 identifies the de minimis levels for the non-PBT chemicals.
Articles. In considering whether a reporting threshold has been exceeded, you are not required to count toxic chemicals present in articles processed or used at your facility. An “article” is a manufactured item which:
(1) is formed to a specific shape or design during manufacture;
(2) has end use functions dependent in whole or in part upon its shape or design during end use; and
(3) does not release an EPCRA section 313 chemical under normal conditions of processing or use of that item at the facility or establishments.
Specified Uses. In considering whether a reporting threshold has been exceeded, you are not required to count EPCRA section 313 chemicals that are used at your facility for any of the following purposes:
As a structural component of the facility;
In routine janitorial or facility grounds maintenance;
In foods, drugs, cosmetics, or other items for personal use, including supplies of such items;
In motor vehicle maintenance (including motor fuel); or
In process water and non-contact cooling water as drawn from the environment or from municipal sources, or in air used either as compressed air or as part of combustion.
• Laboratory Activities. In considering whether a reporting threshold has been exceeded, you are not required to count EPCRA section 313 chemicals that are manufactured, processed, or otherwise used for research or quality control in a laboratory at a covered facility under the supervision of a technically qualified individual. This exemption does not apply to production, processing, or the use of EPCRA section 313 chemicals in laboratories for distribution in commerce or in pilot plant scale operations.
• Owners of Leased Property. The owner of a covered facility is not subject to reporting under Section 313 if the owner’s only interest in the facility is ownership of the real estate upon which the facility is operated. However, the operator of the facility must report if the reporting criteria are met.