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Under EPCRA Section 313 (40 CFR Part 372), a covered facility is required to report all releases and waste management activities involving toxic chemicals for which the facility has exceeded an activity threshold. A covered facility uses a solution containing nitric acid to strip elemental nickel from plating racks. During the stripping process, nickel nitrate is manufactured in the solution. When the stripping of the racks becomes inefficient, the spent solution (containing nitric acid and nickel nitrate) is sent off site to a facility that recovers the nickel, then treats the remainder of the spent solution and ultimately discharges the treated stream to a POTW. What activity thresholds apply to the nitric acid and nickel nitrate? How should the transfer of the spent solution be reported in Part II, Sections 6 and 8 of the Form R?
Nitric acid in the solution used to strip nickel from plating racks must be applied towards the 10,000-pound otherwise use activity threshold for nitric acid. Nickel nitrate meets the listing description for both the nickel compounds category and the water dissociable nitrate compounds category. Therefore, the entire weight of nickel nitrate coincidentally manufactured during the stripping operation must be counted toward the 25,000-pound manufacturing thresholds for both the water dissociable nitrate compounds and the nickel compounds categories.
EPCRA Section 313 requires all releases and waste management activities to be reported for toxic chemicals that exceed an activity threshold. Because the spent solution (containing nickel nitrate and nitric acid) is transferred off site for nickel recovery, the nickel compounds would be reported as transferred off site for recycling in Part II, Sections 6.2 and 8.5. Only the parent metal (nickel) portion of the nickel compounds sent off site must be counted when determining the amount to be reported in Sections 6.2 and 8.5. Reports for nitric acid and the nitrate compounds category must reflect the amount of nitric acid and nitrate ion, respectively, sent off site for treatment in Sections 6.2 and 8.7.