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The USA’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing a rule to add per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) included on the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) to the list of Chemicals of Special Concern. This final rule shall apply for the reporting year beginning January 1, 2024. (reports due July 1, 2025).
This change will align reporting requirements for these PFAS with other chemicals of special concern. EPA anticipates this will result in additional Form R reports being filed for these PFAS due to the removal of the de minimis exemption and the option to use Form A. It also limits the use of range reporting, which will capture more specific information for PFAS.
According to CFR Part 372, de minimis exemption applies when a toxic chemical is in the mixture at concentrations below 1% (or 0.1% for carcinogens). This will allow the covered facilities to no longer report the quantity of the toxic chemical under TRI. Because PFAS are used at low concentrations in many products, there has been a relatively small number of TRI reports filed to the Agency in the recent years. By removing the availability of certain burden-reduction reporting options, EPA expects an increase of collected data and result in a more complete picture of the releases and waste management quantities for PFAS.
In addition, EPA is removing the availability of the de minimis exemption under the Supplier Notification Requirements for facilities that manufacture or process any chemicals included on the list of Chemicals of Special Concern. This means apart from PFAS, certain persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals like lead, mercury, and dioxins are also required to be reported for their usage and disposal. EPA reasons that the change will help ensures that purchasers of mixtures and trade name products containing such chemicals are informed of their presence in mixtures and products they purchase.
Notably, this development coincides with the Agency’s decision for PFAS data reporting, which requires companies to report on PFAS uses, production volumes, byproducts, disposal, exposures, and existing information on environmental or health effects dating back to January 1, 2011. (See more on the previous coverage) The combination of these two rules will undoubtedly increase the reporting obligations for industries involved in PFAS-related activities.
The final rule can be accessed here.
