1. Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)
Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) Section 313
2015 Environmental Trade Fair and Conference
Air Quality Division
K Blake Kidd May 5, 2015

2. TRI Topics Background Reporting TRI Facts and Trends
Information Resources

3. Background

4. What is TRI? Established under EPCRA
Publicly accessible United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) database contains information on disposal and
other releases of over 680 toxic chemicals from more than
20,000 United States industrial facilities
Bhopal, India (2,000+ fatalities) Dec 3, 1984
Institution, WV August, 1985

5. What is TRI? cont. Goals of TRI Multimedia reporting:
Provides communities with information regarding toxic chemical releases and waste management activities
Supports informed decisions by industry, government, nongovernmental organizations, and the public
Multimedia reporting:
Air
Water
Underground injection
Land

6. TRI Regulations Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization
Act Title III, Section 313
EPCRA
Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations,
Part 372
Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 370

7. TRI Chemicals Approximately 680 chemicals and chemical categories are
currently on the TRI list.
Persistent bioaccumulative toxins (PBT) chemicals have lower
thresholds and different reporting requirements.
Twenty chemicals and chemical categories are subject to PBT
and lead rules, including dioxin and dioxin-like compounds.
The EPA maintains the list.

8. Trigger Amounts for TRI Reporting
Facilities must report if site-level usage totals at least:
For each non-PBT chemical:
25,000 pounds, manufactured; or
25,000 pounds, processed; or
10,000 pounds, otherwise used.
For PBT chemicals:
10 or 100 pounds, depending on the chemical; or
0.1 grams of dioxin or dioxin-like compounds.
It is prudent to
1. keep all calculations that confirmed the non triggering status should a facility not qualify to report for a year
2. keep confirmations of all electronic submittals

9. Common Sectors Reporting Releases in Texas
TRI Industry Sectors
Common Sectors Reporting Releases in Texas
Chemicals
Electric utilities
Petroleum
Hazardous waste/Solvent recovery
Primary metals
Paper
Food/Beverage/Tobacco
Fabricated metals
Plastics and rubber
Stone/Clay/Glass

10. Reporting

11. Facilities must meet all three criteria
Reporting Criteria
Facilities must meet all three criteria
10 or more full-time employees or 20,000 man hours as defined by the EPA
Industry sector must be covered by the North American Industry Classification System code list found in Table I of the January 2014 EPA publication 260-R , Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Reporting Forms and Instructions
Manufacture, process, or otherwise use more than the triggering amount for that classification of a TRI chemical

12. Reporting Criteria, cont.
Additionally, PBTs have lower reporting thresholds:
>100 pounds of aldrin, lead, lead compounds, methoxychlor, polycyclic aromatic compounds, pendimethalin, tetrabromobisphenol A, trifluralin
>10 pounds of benzo(g,h,i)perylene, chlordane, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, isodrin, mercury, mercury compounds, octachlorostyrene, pentachlorobenzene, polychlorinated biphenyls, toxaphene
>0.1 grams of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds

13. Reporting Process
Submit TRI reports to EPA using TRI-MEweb by July 1st
following the reporting year.
Each chemical must be reported using either Form A or
Form R.
Facilities determine which reporting form to use by
following the EPA guidance document, Toxic Chemical
Release Inventory Reporting Forms and Instructions
available at:
www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/ /documents/rfi_RY2013_ pdf .
When using TRI-MEweb, the submission is automatically
submitted to the TCEQ.

14. TRI Facts and Trends

15. From 2013 dataset released March 2015
2013 Texas TRI
Number of TRI Facilities: 1,718
Total On-site Disposal or other Releases: million (MM) pounds
Ranks 24th out of 56 states/territories on total releases
per square mile
Total forms submitted: 8,705
From 2013 dataset released March 2015

16. Chemical Releases by Media
Air Release Totals: 62.6 MM pounds
Ethylene: 11.2 MM pounds (17.9%)
Methanol: 8.2 MM pounds (13.1%)
Ammonia: 4.9 MM pounds (7.8%)
Water Release Totals: 15.4 MM pounds
Nitrate Compounds: 14.2 MM pounds (92.2%)
Underground Injection Release Totals: 81.3 MM pounds
Ammonia: 16.5 MM pounds (20.3%)
Acrylonitrile: 10.3 MM pounds (12.7%)
Acetonitrile: 8.0 MM pounds (9.8%)
Land Release Totals: 40.9 MM pounds
Barium Compounds: 17.3 MM pounds (42.3 %)
Manganese Compounds: 7.6 MM pounds (18.6%)
Zinc Compounds: 3.5 MM pounds (8.6%)

17. Industry Sources for Major Chemicals
Air:
Ethylene: Refineries, Chemical Plants, Bulk Terminals
Methanol: Chemical Plants, Paper
Ammonia: Chemical Plants, Refineries
Water:
Nitrate Compounds: Refineries, Food/Beverages/Tobacco, Chemical Plants
Underground Injection:
Acrylonitrile: Chemical Plants
Acetonitrile: Chemical Plants

18. Industry Sources for Major Chemicals, cont.
Land:
Barium Compounds: Electric Utilities
Manganese Compounds: Electric Utilities
Zinc Compounds: Primary Metals, Electric Utilities

19. TRI Trends for Texas

20. Resources

21. EPA Online Training
Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Reporting Forms and Instructions TRI Basic Training TRI Advanced Training

22. TRI Training Workshops and Webinars
Live Workshops
Baton Rouge: May 14th, 2015
Training Webinar
Basic Concepts: May 26, 2015, 12pm – 3 pm CDT
Advanced Concepts: May 28, 2015, 12pm - 3 pm CDT
Basic Concepts: June 8, 2015, 12pm – 3 pm CDT
More information available at

23. TRI Information Sources
EPA TRI home page
EPA TRI Explorer
EPA Envirofacts
Explorer on-line tool generates reports based on facilities, chemicals, industry type, geographic areas all media releases and more.
Envirofacts has query forms that provide direct access to EPA databases on facility information, air, toxic releases, chemicals, harzardous waste, grants/funding and more

24. Contact Information
EPA Region 6 Enforcement Coordinator
Morton Wakeland, Jr. (214)
TRI Information Center (operated by the EPA)
(800)
Central Data Exchange hotline
(888) 890 – 1995
TCEQ TRI Hotline
Blake Kidd (512) TRI {4874}