• Processing and use data elements could be claimed as CBI if a submitter believed that the release of information would reveal trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information.

It is important for users of the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) public database to understand what data submitters are permitted to claim as confidential business information (CBI) and the way in which the public database has been aggregated and masked to protect CBI. Submitters could designate individual CDR data elements as CBI when they report information. However, chemical identity may only be claimed confidential if the chemical is listed on the confidential portion of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory.

Processing and use data elements may be claimed as CBI if a submitter believes that the release of information would reveal trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information. Submitters are required to substantiate confidentiality claims for chemical identity, site identification, processing and use information, and other non-exempt data elements by answering a series of questions. A blank response or a response that was designated as “not known or reasonably ascertainable” may not be claimed as confidential. Production volume could also be claimed as CBI.

In preparing the CDR public database, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) takes care to avoid releasing CBI while also publishing as much information as possible. Users examining individual records will notice CBI-protected entries in some data fields.

If all of the production volumes for a chemical were not claimed as CBI, then the public CDR database would include specific values for individual and aggregated production volumes for that chemical. However, if some or all of the reported production volumes for a given chemical substance were claimed as CBI, then some or all of the individual CBI production volumes were not published and aggregated production volumes were published as a range.