• EPA provides free access to the non-confidential portion of the TSCA Inventory online.
• EPA provides a database management system version and a generic comma-delimited "CSV" text version of the TSCA Inventory.
• The TSCA Inventory can be searched in multiple ways.
• Someone with a valid commercial need for the EPA to verify if a substance is on the inventory can submit a bona fide notice to obtain a written determination from EPA.

Determining if a chemical is on the Inventory is a critical step before beginning to manufacture (which includes importing) a chemical substance. Section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requires anyone who plans to manufacture a new chemical substance for a non-exempt commercial purpose to provide the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a premanufacture notice (PMN) at least 90 days before initiating the activity.

As part of EPA’s commitment to strengthen the management of chemicals and increase information on chemicals, the agency provides free access to the non-confidential portion of the TSCA Inventory online.

Downloading the non-confidential TSCA Inventory

The non-confidential portion of EPA’s TSCA Inventory is updated approximately every six months. EPA provides a database management system version and a generic comma-delimited "CSV" text version of the non-confidential TSCA Inventory for users to download. Facilities that don’t have the database management system that EPA uses will instead use the CSV file.

Both files are compressed ".zip" files. The .zip files contain the actual data files. With either version, the file contains two tables:

• The TSCAINV … file contains non-confidential chemical substance listings on the TSCA Inventory, as identified by Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Registry Number and Chemical Abstracts (CA) Index Name.
• The PMNACC … file contains non-confidential data for the confidential chemical substance listings, as identified by EPA accession number and generic chemical name.

For all files, users may need to adjust formatting, including column widths. Use a basic "find" search function and type in a part of a chemical name or CAS Registry Number to find information.

Alternate access of the non-confidential TSCA Inventory

In addition to downloading a database management system version and a generic comma-delimited "CSV" text version, the non-confidential Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory can be searched in multiple ways:

• Use EPA's Substance Registry Services (SRS) to search the non-confidential TSCA Inventory:
  • Go to Substance Registry Services webpage.
  • Select the “search by list" option.
  • Type "TSCA Inventory" in the List Name field.
  • Click the "filter" button and select "TSCA Inventory – TSCA Inv" from the drop-down list.

• Look at other sources of EPA’s non-confidential TSCA Inventory data such as:
  • Government Printing Office (GPO) website no longer provides paper copies of the original 1985 TSCA Inventory publication or the 1990 Supplement; however, it can provide expert assistance in finding and using related U.S. government information.
  • Several commercial services provide searches for the non-confidential TSCA Inventory for a fee. None of these is connected to or has a specific endorsement from EPA.

Submitting notices of bona fide intent to manufacture

Someone with a valid commercial need for EPA to verify if a substance is on the inventory can submit a Bona Fide Intent to Manufacture or Import Notice (bona fide notice) to obtain a written determination from EPA.

In a bona fide notice, a submitter must provide specific chemical identification data including:

• Chemical Abstracts (CA) Index name. Proper CIndex names can be obtained from the Chemical Abstracts Service's Inventory Expert Service;
• Information about the manufacture or importation of the substance;
• Letter of support if some information (e.g. specific chemical identity) has been withheld from the submitter by the supplier;
• Certification of intent to manufacture or import the substance for a commercial purpose; and
• All of the other information required in support of a bona fide notice.

EPA will consider the information submitted in a bona fide notice and, if the agency believes that the submitter has demonstrated a genuine intent to manufacture or import, search the full TSCA Inventory master file and provide a written determination to the submitter on the TSCA Inventory status for the chemical substance.

The e-PMN software enables manufacturers (including importers) of TSCA chemical substances to use the Internet, through EPA's Central Data Exchange (CDX), to submit TSCA section 5 notices to the Agency. These notices include the bona fide notices.