• OSHA’s HazCom Standard requires facilities to procure or prepare SDSs, or MSDSs, for the hazardous chemicals found at the facility.
• If the quantity of a hazardous chemical onsite equals or exceeds the applicable threshold level at any one time, the facility must report to the SERC, LEPC, and the local fire department.

Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) 311, codified at 40 CFR 370, requires the submission of a one-time notification identifying the hazardous chemicals present at a facility in amounts equal to or in excess of threshold levels. The notification goes to the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) (or Tribal Emergency Response Commission (TERC)), Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) (or Tribal Emergency Planning Committee (TEPC)), and local fire department.

Applicability

In order to be required to report under EPCRA 311, facilities must meet the applicability criteria found in 40 CFR 370.10. Not all facilities with hazardous chemicals onsite are required to participate in the program. Applicability for EPCRA 311 is two-fold. First, facilities must be regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). Second, facilities must exceed established thresholds for hazardous chemicals onsite at any one time.

OSHA’s HCS requires facilities to procure or prepare safety data sheets (SDSs), or material safety data sheets (MSDSs), for the hazardous chemicals found at the facility (29 CFR 1910.1200). In general, the chemicals regulated by OSHA’s HCS pose a hazard to workers potentially exposed to the substances (e.g., the substance is reactive, flammable, etc.). The SDS or MSDS contains important health and safety information.

Any facility that is required by OSHA to prepare or have available an SDS for a hazardous chemical is subject to EPCRA 311 if the chemical is present onsite at any one time in excess of threshold levels. There is no list of hazardous chemicals subject to reporting. The key to determining whether a chemical is considered hazardous is if it meets OSHA’s definition of a hazardous chemical in 29 CFR 1910.1200(c), and the chemical is not otherwise exempted.

Not all facilities storing or using hazardous chemicals pose a significant threat to human health and the environment. To restrict reporting to those facilities whose chemical inventories pose the most substantial risks, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed threshold levels for hazardous chemicals that serve as the second trigger for applicability. If the quantity of a hazardous chemical on site equals or exceeds the applicable threshold level at any one time, the facility must report to the SERC, LEPC, and the local fire department.

The threshold level the facility owner/operator must look to varies depending on how the chemical is classified:

• For hazardous chemicals that are not extremely hazardous substances (EHSs), the threshold is 10,000 pounds, unless the chemicals meet the following criteria:
  • For gasoline at a retail gas station (retail facility engaged in selling gasoline and/or diesel fuel principally to the public, for motor vehicle use on land), the threshold level is 75,000 gallons (approximately 283,900 liters) (all grades combined). This threshold is only applicable for gasoline that was in tank(s) entirely underground and was in compliance at all times during the preceding calendar year with all applicable Underground Storage Tank (UST) requirements at 40 CFR 280 or requirements of the state UST program approved by EPA under 40 CFR 281.
  • For diesel fuel at a retail gas station (retail facility engaged in selling gasoline and/or diesel fuel principally to the public, for motor vehicle use on land), the threshold level is 100,000 gallons (approximately 378,500 liters) (all grades combined). This threshold is only applicable for diesel fuel that was in tank(s) entirely underground and was in compliance at all times during the preceding calendar year with all applicable Underground Storage Tank (UST) requirements at 40 CFR 280 or requirements of the state UST program approved by EPA under 40 CFR 281 are gasoline at a retail gas station or diesel fuel at a retail gas station.
• For hazardous chemicals which are EHSs (listed in 40 CFR 355, Appendices A and B), the threshold is 500 pounds OR that chemical’s threshold planning quantity (TPQ), whichever is lower.

For example, suppose a facility is required by OSHA to have an SDS for sodium cyanide, that is an EHS and has a TPQ of 100 pounds. Because the TPQ is lower than the default 500-pound threshold for EHSs, the facility owner/operator must report this chemical if there was 100 pounds or more onsite at any one time. In contrast, if a facility had dichloroethyl ether, an EHS with a TPQ of 10,000 pounds, the facility would defer to the default 500-pound threshold for EHSs. The facility owner/operator must report if the quantity equals or exceeds 500 pounds onsite at any one time.