TRI-MEweb Reporting Process

The Toxics Release Inventory – Made Easy Web (TRI-MEweb) is a Web-based application that enables facilities to file a paperless TRI report, significantly reducing data errors and allowing instant receipt confirmation of submissions. TRI-MEweb requires no downloads or software installs and is EPA's preferred method for reporting toxic chemical releases under EPCRA Section 313. The deadline to submit TRI forms is midnight EST July 1. The following questions and answers will help you understand how to use TRI-MEweb.

The TRI-MEweb application uses EPA's CDX network to transmit and certify electronic submissions to EPA for your facility. If your facility is using TRI-MEweb, the use of this tool requires the creation of two user roles. The individuals who will use TRI-MEweb to prepare and transmit data to CDX ("preparers") and individuals who will access CDX to certify transmitted TRI forms ("certifying officials") must both have CDX user accounts. Preparers and certifying officials must have a CDX user account and role, and have added the TRI-MEweb application before preparing or certifying any TRI forms. TRI-MEweb allows the certifying official role to also prepare TRI forms (dual role). All newly designated certifying officials with CDX user accounts will require signing an Electronic Signature Agreement (ESA) to EPA approval to before facilities can certify TRI forms that will be submitted to EPA and their state or tribe.

Facility accounts are added to TRI-MEweb using a 5-6 digit alphanumeric access key. A facility account within TRI-MEweb may contain up to seven reporting years (RY) worth of TRI data that the facility submitted to EPA (RY 2005-RY 2012). If your filed TRI forms in previous years and do not see your facility account on the "Welcome" page of TRI-MEweb application or your facility is reporting for the first time to TRI, please follow the instructions below.

Has your facility reported in prior years to TRI? If your facility has reported TRI data in previous years, a TRI facility identification designator number (TRIFID) should have been assigned to your facility's physical location. The TRIFID never changes, even if ownership of the facility changes. A six to seven digit code called an Access Key is assigned to each TRIFID in order to load previous year's TRI data into the TRI-MEweb application. Access codes are sent to preparers annually after the TRI-MEweb application is released. You may also call the CDX Helpdesk to find out your access code. Instructions: Click the "Manage My Facilities" icon on the "Welcome" page of TRI-MEweb, you will go to the "My List of Facilities" page, click the "Access/Add Facility" icon to add a new facility account to your list. You have 2 options to add a prior reporting facility: Enter your technical contact information from last year in option 1, or Enter your access code in option 2. Access codes are sent via email by CDX to your technical contact no later than January of every year.

Is your facility reporting for the first time to TRI? If your facility has never reported to TRI, TRI-MEweb can assign your facility a new TRIFID. Instructions: New preparers with CDX accounts will be prompt upon opening TRI-MEweb for the first time to choose one of four options. Select the "Manage TRIFIDs" option to open the "Enter Facility's Access Information" page. Select option 2 radio button and proceed to enter your access key to load your facility account in TRI-MEweb. If you have never received an access key from EPA nor transmitted TRI forms to EPA in previous years before, select the third option. Enter your facility location information, verify that a TRIFID has never been assigned before to your facility location, and print the page when your new TRIFID and access key have been generated for your new reporting facility. Click "Next" to begin data entry of your chemical form data.

There are usually two scenarios for users to start a new RY 2012 TRI form.

Returning Preparer To begin a RY 2012 TRI Form R and/or A for a chemical that has been filed in previous years, you have three (3) options: Loading your pre-loaded current year chemical report –new method - Click on the (+) next to each TRIFID in your TRI-MEweb "Welcome" page to view all chemical forms created in the past 7 years for each facility in theForms Summary table. Select the current reporting year (default is 2012). If your facility has not started any TRI forms, you will view two links. Click on an "Add Blank Form" link to begin a blank Form R or A, or to click on the "Import Data" button to import dynamically the most current data EPA has in our databases to pre-populate your TRI Form with the chemical release data submitted in the prior year. Creating a new chemical report -old method.. Create a new chemical form submission by clicking on the "Prepare" tab > "Select Year" (i.e., 2011) > "Select Facility" (pick your facility) > "Forms" (select TRI Form R or A) > open the "Select a Form"; page - add chemical by clicking on "+Add Form" button or click the "Import Data" button to load prior data into your current year forms.

New Preparer-New Reporting Facility As a new reporter, your facility will not have any prior year data preloaded in the TRI-MEweb database. To create a new chemical report you have two options. Creating a new chemical report-new method. Click on the (+) next to each TRIFID in your TRI-MEweb "Welcome" page. Thi will open the Forms Summary table. On the bottom of the Forms Summary table, there is a link that will create a new RY 2012 chemical report for you. Creating a new chemical report - old method. Navigate through the application by clicking on the "Prepare" tab > "Select Year" (i.e., 2012) > "Select Facility" (pick your facility) > "Forms" (select TRI Form R or Form A) > open the "Select a Form" page. Add a chemical by clicking on "+Add Form".

A preparer must verify that their designated certifying official has an EPA approved Electronic Signature Agreement (ESA) for each facility. If the reporting facility has a new certifying official this year, they must create a new CDX user account and sign a new ESA for EPA approval. Approval of the ESA is needed before any TRI forms transmitted to CDX can be certified to meet the reporting requirements under EPCRA Section 313. Contact the CDX HelpDesk at (888) 890-1995 or via email (helpdesk@epacdx.net) to inquire about the status of your ESA. More information on ESA process

Upon completing data entry for each chemical form, the preparer is ready to correct any error detected by the data validation checks that are built into TRI-MEweb. TRI-MEweb identifies three type of errors, critical errors that need to be fixed before TRI Form is allowed to be transmitted to CDX in order to be certified, possible errors that EPA believes are incorrect and need to be reviewed by preparer, however the transmission of TRI Form is allowed, and data quality alerts that indicates that a data point entered is inaccurate, significant or may have exceeded the normal threshold reported for the chemical release that is being reported. New in RY 2012! Click the "Enter Validation Mode" button on the "Validation Summary Report: Detail of Errors" page to navigate through only those pages under the Prepare tab which contain either a critical or possible error.

TRI data must be entered correctly (no critical errors must be present in TRI Form) by the preparer before the data can be transmitted to CDX to be certified. The data validation error report contains links named "fix" that take the preparer to the specific TRI Form Section where any critical or potential validation errors were found in the TRI Form R or Form A. Once all critical and potential errors are addressed, the preparer can proceed to transmit the submission to CDX to be certified.

When the preparer transmits the facility's TRI forms to CDX to be certified, the forms will not be processed, instead they will be held until the designated certifying official logs in into their CDX account and opens TRI-MEweb and completes the certification process. Upon successfully transmitting TRI forms to CDX, the preparer can check the status of the transmitted submission in the TRI-MEweb under the "Prepare" tab by first selecting the "Select Year" tab, choosing the appropriate facility from the "Select Facility" tab, and then selecting the chemical form to be verified from the Select a Form page. Next, the preparer must click the "Review" tab. The preparer will locate the submission from the Pending Submission Summary Table on the "Reporting Summary" page. A status column will indicate a -Pending Certification- status if submission has not been certified.

New in RY 2011! Upon successfully transmitting TRI forms to CDX, the preparer can check the status of the transmitted submission in the TRI-MEweb within Pending Submission Summary Table by clicking on the "Review" tab and scrolling down to the first table.

EPA sends a notification email to the designated certifying official(s) when an electronic TRI submission has been transmitted to CDX and is awaiting certification by the facility's certifying official.

New in RY 2012! EPA has developed a new certification component within the TRI-MEweb application that will allow a facility to prepare any reporting year TRI Form R/A and transition directly into the certification process without leaving the TRI-MEweb application. The user with a certifying official role will log into their CDX account (or create a new CDX account, if necessary) and open the TRI-MEweb application. Only CDX account users with a certifying official role will view the "Certify" tab on the TRI-MEweb "Welcome" page. All new certifiers are required to have signed Electronic Signature Agreement (ESA) for EPA approval before they can certify any pending submissions in CDX. The certifying official is the person designated to verify that transmitted data from their facility is correct and accurate. TRI forms must be certified by the facility's certifying official to fulfill the TRI reporting requirements.

Important! Uncertified electronic submissions created in TRI-MEweb will not be accepted as a submission meeting EPCRA section 313 reporting requirements. The absence of a certification will prevent the submission from being processed by EPA. Uncertified submissions will result in a Notice of Significant Error (NOSE) if they remain uncertified after the July 1st reporting deadline. A facility must respond to a Notice of Significant Error within 21 days of receipt. Failure to respond within the initial 21-day requirement could result in the issuance of a Notice of Noncompliance (NON). A Notice of Noncompliance is not included in a Facility Data Profile (FDP) and is mailed separately.

Upon the certifying official certifying that a facility's TRI form submission is valid and submitting the form to EPA, the preparer can view a receipt of their submitted data in the TRI-MEweb by first navigating to the "Prepare" tab, selecting the reporting year under the "Select Year" tab, choosing the appropriate facility from the "Select Facility" tab, and then selecting the chemical form in question from the "Select a Form" page. Next, the preparer must click the "eFDP" tab. The "eFDP" page in TRI-MEweb contains the past 5 years worth of eFDP reports organized by reporting year and chemical name. The eFDP report reflects only the most current active record in EPA's database.

An email notification is also sent to the preparer and certifying officials that notifies them that a TRI submission has been successfully processed by EPA's Data Processing Center. The eFDPs are made available by EPA's Data Processing Center to a reporting facility in response to any submission EPA's Data Processing Center receives and has processed successfully into TRI's database. A reporting facility may access and print their eFDP report via TRI-MEweb and make any corrections in blue ink that are required to their TRI data that has been submitted previously to EPA. These hard-copy eFDP forms with hand-written corrections must be mailed to EPA's Data Processing Center to be keyed into the TRI database. Please note that a certification statement must be signed by a facility owner/operator or senior management official if using the eFDP hard-copy to make a revision. Hard-copy eFDPs with hand written corrections are still vulnerable to human-error when manually keyed by the DPC into the TRI database. Therefore, EPA recommends facilities that send corrections in response to their eFDPs are encouraged to submit any needed revision using TRI-MEweb instead.

Facilities that reside in a state participating in the TRI Data Exchange will have their TRI forms sent simultaneously to EPA and their state TRI representative via the Environmental Information Exchange Network.

Facilities that reside in states not on the TRI Data Exchange will be able to have TRI-MEweb s to generate disk/CD submissions for their state. However, please note that EPA will not accept submissions generated of such media type.

Facilities that are located within Indian Country will need to find their Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) three digit code for their Indian Country name. Currently, there are no tribes on EPA's TRI Data Exchange. Therefore, a hard-copy of TRI forms must be mailed to their Indian Country TRI coordinator. Facilities using TRI-MEweb to fulfill their federal and tribal submission requirement under EPCRA Section 313 will be able to print a copy of the TRI form to be mailed to their tribal country TRI coordinator.