United States       Region 10
Environmental Protection  1200 Sixth Avenue
Agency	Seattle. WA
Superfund	October 1988
Emergency
Planning and
Community
Right-to-Know

What You Should Know
About Section 313 of
SARA Title III

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   Emergency  Piannica
Toxic Chemical Release Reporting
    Section 313 of Title III of the Superfund
Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986
(SARA) requires regulated manufacturing
facilities to submit annual reports concerning
releases of certain toxic chemicals, both routine
and accidental, that have occurred from their
particular facilities during the preceding calendar
year.  These reports are submitted directly to an
office of the state in which the facility is located
and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Headquarters in Washington, D.C. This new law
requires that EPA make this information
available to the public on a computer database
and by other means.

    These  requirements will result in an annual
inventory of certain toxic chemicals and the
information will be used to build a historical
record of emissions that occurred at specific
facilities.  That inventory will indicate facility-by-
facility estimates of the quantity of these
chemicals that have been released into the
environment during the past year, and how
much of those releases went into air, land, or
water, or were transported offsite.

    Many segments of industry already routinely
report certain emissions data to EPA and the
states as a result of the Clean Air Act,  the Clean
Water Act, the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act, and other statutes. This new
requirement, however, is more comprehensive in
terms of chemicals addressed, and insures that
a facility's releases of a specific chemical to  all
media - whether air, or water, or land—will
appear on one form, and will be accessible to
the public.  These new reports are not
replacements for other EPA reports, but provide
more  and different kinds of information.
Because  most facilities do not routinely monitor
their releases, EPA is providing guidance to
facilities to ensure that data they report are
complete and accurate.
    This reporting requirement covers
manufacturing operations that have ten or more
employees and that handle any of more than
300 toxic chemicals and chemical categories, in
excess of specified quantities. For a facility that
manufactures, imports, or processes any of the
listed toxic chemicals, the reporting quantity was
75,000 pounds in 1987.  It drops to 50,000
pounds for 1988, and will go down even further
for 1989, and thereafter, to 25,000 pounds. If a
listed chemical is used in some other way, the
reporting quantity is 10,000 pounds for any
reporting year. Facilities are required to report
on listed chemicals even if the chemicals are
present in mixtures or are trade name products.

    The first toxic chemical release reports,
covering calendar year 1987, were due by July
1, 1988, and are required annually thereafter by
July 1. In order to help ensure timely and
accurate reporting, this new law specifies
substantial penalties - up to $25,000 per day
per violation - for those facilities which fail to
comply with the requirements of Section 313.
Approximately 70,000 reports from more than
16,000 facilities were received for the 1987
reporting year. The Agency will use these data
to create the computerized Toxic Release
Inventory, which will be ready for public access
by the spring  of 1989.

    Like the other information reported under
this Act, these data are available to the public
through State designated offices or EPA
Headquarters. The information is of course
accessible to the Local Emergency Planning
Committees (LEPCs), who may put  it together
with other information for a more complete
picture of the hazardous materials present in
their districts.
    For detailed Information concerning this
section, consult the Federal Register, Tuesday,
February 16, 1988 (40 CFR 372) or the following
contacts:

U.S. EPA Region 10 (AK, ID, OP, WA)
Phil Wong/Section 313 (AT-083)
1200 Sixth Ave.
Seattle, Washington 98101
(206)442-1091

U.S. EPA Headquarters Office (OS-120)
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know
401 M Street, S. W.
Washington. D.C. 20460
1 -800-535-0202 or (202) 479-2449

Alaska
Amy Kyle
Alaska Emergency Response Commission
Department of Environmental Conservation
PouchO
Juneau, Alaska 99811
(907) 465-2600

Idaho
Jennie Records
Idaho State Emergency Response Commission
Division of Environment
Statehouse
Boise,  Idaho 83720
(208) 334-5849

Oregon

Dennis Walthall
State Fire Marshal
3000 N. E. Market
Salem, Oregon 97310
(503) 378-2885

Washington
Hazardous Substances Office - Title III
Washington Department of Ecology
MSPT-11
Olympia, Washington 98504-8711
(800) 633-7585

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