United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
Publication 9360.7-12FS
September 1993
PB93-963425
Clean Air Act Hazardous Air Pollutants Added
to the List of CERCLA Hazardous Substances
Office of Emergency and Remedial Response
Emergency Response Division 5202G
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) defines the
term "hazardous substance" by reference to lists of substances contained in other environmental laws, including the
Clean Air Act (CAA). On November 15, 1990, amendments to the CAA were signed into law. Under section 112
of the CAA, as amended, 190 substances are listed as hazardous air pollutants; 52 of these substances were not
previously on the CERCLA list of hazardous substances. By definition, these hazardous air pollutants automatically
become CERCLA hazardous substances and are, therefore, subject to CERCLA reporting requirements and liability
provisions.
The purpose of this fact sheet is to identify the 52 CAA hazardous air pollutants that have been added to the list of
CERCLA hazardous substances and that are now subject to CERCLA requirements; to describe the reporting
requirements and exemptions under CERCLA; and to examine reporting exemptions in relation to releases of
ethylene glycol.
WHAT SUBSTANCES DOES THE CAA
REGULATE?
The purpose of the CAA Amendments is to attain and
maintain national ambient air quality standards, to
control toxic air pollutants, to prevent acid
deposition, and to improve the quality of the nation's
air. As part of this effort, the 1990 CAA
Amendments listed 190 substances, including certain
categories of substances, as "hazardous air
pollutants."
Most of the 190 CAA hazardous air pollutants were
already on the CERCLA list of hazardous substances
because they were already listed under other
environmental laws. However, 52 of the hazardous
air pollutants were not previously listed as CERCLA
hazardous substances. These 52 hazardous air
pollutants include 47 specific substances and five
generic categories of substances. Each of the 52
substances is listed in Exhibit 1.
Table of Contents
What Substances Does the CAA Regulate? ... 1
Exhibit 1: List of CAA Hazardous Air
Pollutants Which are Added to the CERCLA
List of Hazardous Substances 2
What is a Hazardous Substance? 2
What is an RQ? 2
Exhibit 2: Statutory Sources of the
CERCLA Hazardous Substances 3
What Happens When a Hazardous Substance
is Released? 3
What Effects Do the CAA Amendments Have? 4
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Exhibit 1. List of CAA Hazardous Air Pollutants Which are Added to the
CERCLA List of Hazardous Substances
Acetamide
4-Aminobiphenyl
o-Anisidine
Biphenyl
1,3-Butadiene
Calcium cyanamide
Caprolactam
Carbonyl sulfide
Catechol
Chloramben
Chloroacetic acid
2-Chloroacetophenone
Chloroprene
m-Cresol
o-Cresol
p-Cresol
DDE
Diazomethane
Dibenzofuran
Diethanolamine
N,N-Diethylaniline
Diethyl sulfate
N,N-Dimethylaniline
Dimethylformamide
1,2-Epoxybutane
Ethylene glycol
Hexamethylene-l,6-diisocyanate
Hexamethylphosphoramide
Hexane
Hydroquinone
Methyl tert-butyl ether
Methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI)
4,4'-Methylenedianiline
4-Nitrobiphenyl
N-Nitrosomorpholine
p-Phenylenediamine
beta-Propiolactone
Propionaldehyde
Propoxur (Baygon)
Styrene oxide
Titanium tetrachloride
Trifluralin
2,2,4-Trimethylpentane
Vinyl bromide
m-Xylene
o-Xylene
p-Xylene
Cobalt compounds
Glycol ethers
Manganese compounds
Fine mineral fibers
Polycyclic organic matter
For a complete listing of the 190 hazardous air
pollutants, refer to 42 U.S.C. section 112(b)(l).
WHAT IS A HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE?
The list of hazardous substances is found in
section 302.4 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal
Regulations. CERCLA defines "hazardous
substance" to include certain substances regulated
under the CAA, the Clean Water Act (CWA), the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA), and the Toxic Substances Control Act
(TSCA) (see Exhibit 2). CERCLA also allows
EPA to designate additional hazardous substances
that may present substantial danger to public
health or welfare or the environment when
released. The CAA Amendments of 1990 listed
52 hazardous air pollutants that automatically
became hazardous substances under CERCLA and
have one-pound statutory reportable quantities
(RQs), unless and until adjusted by EPA.
WHAT IS AN RQ?
An RQ is the quantity of a hazardous substance
which, if released into the environment within a
24-hour period, must be reported to appropriate
government response personnel. Under CERCLA
and the Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA), certain
parties are required to report any release of a
hazardous substance into the environment as soon
as the person has knowledge of the release, and if
the amount released is equal to or greater than
the RQ for that hazardous substance. RQs serve
as triggers for informing the government of
releases of CERCLA hazardous substances so that
Federal, State, and local personnel can determine
whether government participation is required for
an appropriate response. CERCLA establishes a
one-pound statutory RQ for most substances
unless and until final adjusted RQs are established
by regulation. An RQ is a relative indication of
the potential hazards associated with the release of
a hazardous substance, rather than a measure of
absolute levels of risk, which depends on the
specific circumstances of the release.
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Exhibit 2. Statutory Sources of the CERCLA Hazardous Substances
CAA
Section 112
CWA
Sections 307 8. 311
CERCLA
Hazardous Substances
RCRA
Section 3001
TSCA
Section 7
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A HAZARDOUS
SUBSTANCE IS RELEASED?
Reporting Requirements
Any release into the environment of an RQ of a
hazardous substance (over a 24-hour time period)
must be reported immediately to the National
Response Center (NRC) at 800-424-8802 or 202-
267-2675. In addition, EPCRA requires that the
release be reported to the appropriate State
emergency response commission (SERC) and local
emergency planning committee (LEPC). The
phone number for the SERC and LEPC in each
State is available through the EPCRA Hotline at
800-525-0202 or 703-412-9877. For transportation-
related releases, dialing 911 (or 0 for the operator)
will satisfy the EPCRA notification requirements.
Liability and Penalties
The person in charge of a facility or vessel and
other parties who transport or dispose of
hazardous substances are liable for all response
costs and natural resource damages resulting
from a release of a CERCLA hazardous
substance. This includes the costs of cleanup
and any health study resulting from the release.
This liability applies even if a release is not
reportable because the amount of the substance
released is less than the RQ. In addition, if the
person in charge of a vessel or facility fails to
report a release that equals or exceeds its RQ or
submits false or misleading information regarding
a release, EPA is authorized to impose civil
penalties and may seek the imposition of
criminal sanctions.
Relief from Release Reporting
Several statutory and regulatory sources of relief
from CERCLA's release reporting requirements
that may apply to releases of CAA hazardous air
pollutants are summarized below.
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Continuous Releases: Reduced reporting
requirements are available for releases of
hazardous substances that are continuous and
stable in quantity and rate (see Code of Federal
Regulations Title 40, section 302.8). "Continuous"
is defined by EPA to include routine, anticipated,
intermittent releases that are incidental to normal
facility operations. In these cases, one does not
need to report every release of a hazardous
substance that equals or exceeds its RQ; the
person in charge of the vessel or facility may
choose to make only one notification to the NRC
and submit an initial written report to the
appropriate EPA Region, SERC, and LEPC.
After that, a one-time follow-up report must be
submitted to the EPA Region on the one-year
anniversary of the initial written report; additional
notification is required only if there is a significant
change in the amount or type of release.
Federally Permitted Releases: Under CERCLA
section 103, any federally permitted release is
exempt from CERCLA notification requirements.
A federally permitted release is defined in
CERCLA section 101(10) to include releases
subject to permit programs under various
environmental laws. Examples of releases that are
federally permitted include releases specified in
and in compliance with a National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit
under the CWA; releases into publicly owned
treatment works (POTWs) that are in compliance
with CWA pretreatment standards; and emissions
into the air that are subject to a permit or control
regulation or a State implementation plan under
the CAA
Metal Particle Size: Notification of a release of an
RQ or greater of solid particles of certain metals
that are CERCLA hazardous substances is not
required if the diameter of the particles is greater
than 100 micrometers or 0.004 inches (see Code of
Federal Regulations, Title 40, section 302.6 (d)).
This cutoff size was set 10 times larger than the
maximum size considered by EPA to remain in the
lungs if inhaled. This should ensure that
potentially hazardous releases containing small
particles of metals would be reported to the NRC
and State and local authorities. Very fine beach
sand has a particle size of roughly 100
micrometers.
Consumer Products: In CERCLA, Congress
exempted consumer products in consumer use
from the definition of a facility (see Code of
Federal Regulations, Title 40, section 302.3).
Therefore, releases from consumer products in
consumer use (as defined in the Consumer
Product Safety Act) are exempt from the
reporting requirements described above.
WHAT EFFECTS DO THE CAA
AMENDMENTS HAVE?
Example - Ethylene Glycol
Ethylene glycol is one of the new CAA
hazardous air pollutants that currently has a one-
pound statutory RQ. A common use of ethylene
glycol is in aircraft and runway de-icing
procedures at airports. Each time an aircraft is
de-iced, ethylene glycol is likely to be released
into the environment in an amount that is
greater than the one-pound statutory RQ. The
airline industry is concerned that the volume and
frequency of reports will result in an unnecessary
burden on the NRC and on the airlines.
EPA has identified two potential sources of
reporting relief for releases of ethylene glycol
resulting from aircraft and runway de-icing
procedures. As mentioned earlier, reduced
reporting requirements are available for
continuous releases of hazardous substances.
EPA has defined "continuous" to include routine,
anticipated, intermittent releases that are
incidental to normal facility operations. The
person in charge of the facility must first
establish that the release is indeed continuous
and stable in quantity and rate, and must
complete initial notification reports in order to
qualify for reduced reporting.
The federally permitted releases exemption,
described above, also may provide reporting
relief to regulated parties. For example, if
releases of ethylene glycol are covered by an
NPDES permit, are part of a POTW
pretreatment program, or are subject to a
National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air
Pollutants (NESHAPs) permit, they may be
exempt from CERCLA notification and liability
provisions.
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In addition, EPA has evaluated the chemical and
toxicological properties of ethylene glycol and is
soliciting public comments on an adjusted RQ of
5000 pounds. Releases of aircraft de-icing fluids
in amounts containing less than 5000 pounds of
ethylene glycol would not require reporting under
this approach.
// should be emphasized that until the effective
date of a final rulemaking published in the
Federal Register with RQ adjustments for the
CAA hazardous air pollutants, a release of one
pound or more of the substances listed in Table 1
is subject to the reporting provisions ofCERCLA
and EPCRA.
For more information contact:
RCRA/Superfund Hotline
(800) 424-9346
(703) 412-9810 in the B.C. metropolitan area
TDD hotline: (800) 553-76727(703) 486-3323
or
Ms. Gerain H. Perry
Response Standards and Criteria Branch
Emergency Response Division (5202G)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
NOTICE: This document is intended solely for informational purposes and cannot be relied upon to create any rights
enforceable by any party in litigation with the United States.
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