Client Alert: 2024 TSCA Chemical Data Reporting is OPEN!

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The Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule is established as part of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and is codified in 40 CFR Part 711. This rule mandates that U.S. chemical substance manufacturers, producers, and direct importers who exceed reporting thresholds at any single site during any applicable reporting year (2020-2023) file Quadrennial CDR Reports to TSCA. 2024 CDR Reports must be submitted to EPA prior to September 30, 2024. This reporting applies to chemical substances that are manufactured (including substances that are incidentally manufactured as a co-product or by-product) or that are directly imported in quantities above the general threshold of 25,000 pounds (or as low as 2,500 pounds for specifically designated chemicals). EPA uses the data to help assess the potential human health and environmental effects of chemical substances when introduced into commerce. 

Reports are required to be filed by U.S. manufacturers and direct importers of chemical substances. Under CDR, direct importation of a chemical substance from a foreign manufacturer or subsidiary is the same as manufacturing the substance. Reporting is not required to be submitted by facilities who merely use, blend or mix already manufactured domestic chemical substances as long as no chemical reactions occur, and no new chemical substances are being formed. However, byproducts from any chemical reactions (intentional or incidental) that produce a new chemical substance are considered to have been manufactured and are reportable if they are reintroduced into commerce rather than being disposed of as waste. Note; the definition of “manufacture” includes extraction, for commercial purposes, of a specific chemical substance from a previously existing chemical substance or complex combination of chemical substances. Therefore, producers of byproducts for beneficial reuse and recyclers can be affected by these reporting requirements.

The universe of chemical substances subject to CDR reporting is vast, and generally includes any chemical substance with a unique CAS registry number. Polymers, microorganisms, certain forms of natural gas, water, and naturally occurring chemical substances are fully exempt from CDR reporting. Chemicals regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and articles are also fully exempt. Petroleum process streams are subject to reduced reporting and are exempt from detailed processing and use reporting.  There are also exemptions for research and development manufacturers and small manufacturers. A manufacturer is considered small if its total annual sales, combined with its parent company, are below $120 million, and if the production of a chemical substance is less than 100,000 pounds per year. A manufacturer or importer may also be considered small if annual sales, combined with those of its parent company, are less than $12 million.

CDR Reports must be submitted to EPA by September 30, 2024. Reports may be filed as early as June 1, 2024, and must be submitted through the Submissions for Chemical Safety and Pesticide Programs (CSPP) module on the EPA Central Data Exchange (CDX). Reports are prepared by completing EPA Form U (one per site) using the EPA CDX CSPP “e-CDRweb” reporting tool and must be certified through CDX by an authorized official of the site that manufactures or imports the chemical substance. More than one chemical can be reported on the Form U, and reports may be prepared by designated representatives on behalf of the site.

For the 2024 CDR, the principal reporting year is calendar year 2023. Full manufacturing, processing, and use information will be required only for 2023, while only basic information is needed for calendar years 2020, 2021, and 2022. 

Case Examples

A U.S. metal casting operation uses flux in a scrap metal melting operation. Flux reacts with impurities in the scrap and produces dross or slag as a byproduct. This dross or slag may contain newly formed metal salts and other substances. If your facility decides to sell or send this dross or slag for reclamation or secondary use such that it is reintroduced into commerce, and the amount of new substance exceeds the CDR report threshold for one or more substances, it will become subject to CDR reporting requirements. Mixtures of unknown and variable composition may be reported as individual chemicals or as a single UVBC.

A U.S. manufacturing facility imports more than a threshold quantity of a chemical substance,  or mixture of substances, directly into the United States from a foreign subsidiary or foreign chemical suppler or manufacturer for use in its operations. Under CDR, that facility is a “manufacturer” of that substance and is subject to CDR reporting unless that substance or mixture is an exempted substance. [Note: if that same mixture or substance is imported by a US distributor and your facility is not the importer of record, you would not be subject to CDR reporting, but the importing distributor would be.]

A semi-conductor, plating, pickling or anodizing facility cleans or etches its products using acids or other etching chemicals. The byproduct or coproduct from that activity is sold to a secondary processor who uses the material to extract metal content for sale or use in other manufacturing operations, or for direct use in fertilizer or other manufacturing operations that are eventually distributed into commerce. If CDR thresholds are exceeded for any of the chemicals in that produced coproduct or byproduct, CDR reporting is triggered.

KERAMIDA provides Environmental, Health and Safety Compliance services for manufacturing, distribution, utilities, commercial/retail, airports, universities, landfills, and construction projects and ensures compliance with the vast array of EHS regulatory requirements. Learn more about KERAMIDA’s EHS Compliance Consulting Services.

Author

John Wellspring,
Vice President, Air & Environmental Compliance Services
KERAMIDA Inc.

Contact John at jwellspring@keramida.com.