Learn the Issues
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What If More People Bought Groceries Online Instead of Driving to a Store?
Thought starter about the potential impact of online grocery ordering and grocery delivery on transportation greenhouse gases.
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Are mining and mineral extraction wastes exempt under Section 304?
No. The release notification requirements apply if the wastes are CERCLA hazardous substances or extremely hazardous substances.
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Where should the Tier I form be sent and what is the deadline?
The owner or operator subject to this reporting requirement must submit a Tier I inventory form (or the optional Tier II inventory form) for all hazardous chemicals present at the facility in excess of the established threshold to the state emergency response commission, the local emergency planning committee, and the…
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Applicability of EPCRA 304 to EHSs in abandoned receptacles
Must any amount of a listed chemical contained within abandoned or discarded barrels, containers, or other receptacles be considered to determine if a specific reportable quantity has been exceeded under the SARA Section 304 notification requirements? Section 355.61 defines a release as "any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting emptying, discharging…
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What is considered cryogenic conditions?
The Tier II Hazardous Chemical Inventory form, used to meet annual EPCRA §312 reporting requirements, requires facility owners or operators to note whether reported hazardous chemicals are present at, above, or below ambient temperature. For temperatures below ambient, the form distinguishes between “less than ambient temperature but not cryogenic” and…
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What if Garbage Fumes Powered More of Our Cars, Trucks, and Buses?
Thought starter about using landfill gas to power transportation.
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SERC and LEPC determination of "need" for CBI
In complying with a public request for Tier II information under Section 312(e)(3)(C), how is "need" determined? Guidelines for determining need to know are the responsibility of the local emergency planning committees and state emergency response commissions.
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Should hazardous chemicals present in vehicles be considered as present in the "facility"?
The definition of "facility" for EPCRA Sections 311 and 312 does not include "motor vehicles, rolling stock and aircraft." Do hazardous chemicals present in cars, trucks, forklifts and other vehicles need to be considered for Sections 311 and 312 reporting as present in the "facility?" Hazardous chemicals present in vehicles…
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How should locations be identified on Tier I/II forms?
Tier I forms provide for listing the general location for all applicable chemicals in each hazard category, including the names and identifications of buildings, tank fields, lots, sheds, or other such areas. Tier II forms provide for reporting buildings, at a minimum, and allow facilities to describe briefly the location…
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Facilities that close during a reporting year
A facility storing hazardous chemicals on site permanently ceases operations and notifies the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC). Since the facility will no longer be in operation on March 1 of the following year, must the owner/operator of the closed facility submit a Tier I or Tier II hazardous chemical…
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Liability of individuals as members of SERCs and LEPCs
Can individuals, as members of a state emergency response commission or a local emergency planning committee, be sued and/or be held liable for their commission's or committee's failure to fulfill its EPCRA requirements? Under Section 326, an individual may assert a federal cause of action against a state emergency response…
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Does an LEPC have to consist of one individual representative from each organization?
A Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) must be representative of different groups and organizations, as described in Section 301(c). It states that, at a minimum, an LEPC must include "...representatives from each of the following groups or organizations: elected State and local officials; law enforcement; civil defense; firefighting; first aid…
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Can members of SERCs and LEPCs be sued?
What are the liabilities of members of a state emergency response commission and a local emergency planning committee, if an incident is not handled properly despite following procedures developed and reviewed by those commission and committee members? Can the individual members be sued and held liable? The general rule is…
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How does EPA define a "transportation-related release?"
EPA defines a "transportation-related release" to mean a release during transportation, or storage incident to transportation if the stored substance is moving under active shipping papers and has not reached the ultimate consignee.
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Health information language requirements for Section 304 notifications
The follow-up emergency notice requires the owner or operator of a facility that has released a reportable quantity of a substance requiring Section 304 notification to relate, in a follow-up notice, "any known or anticipated acute or chronic health risks associated with the release." Since general health information is already…
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Follow-up emergency notice requirements in EPCRA 304 for CERCLA hazardous substances
Must a follow-up emergency notice be given for a release of a CERCLA hazardous substance which is not an extremely hazardous substance and for which a reportable quantity has not been established under Section 102(a) of CERCLA? In lieu of the emergency release notification required under Section 304(b), Section 304(a)(3)(B)…
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Exceeding "continuous release" amounts
Are releases above the amount qualifying as a "continuous releases" exempt from Section 304 notification requirements? Because "statistically significant increases" from a "continuous release" must be reported as an episodic release under CERCLA Section 103(a), such releases must also be reported under Section 304 of Title III. Any clarifications or…
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Does the CERCLA "petroleum exclusion" apply to EPCRA release notifications?
Does the CERCLA "petroleum exclusion" apply to release reporting under Section 304 of Title III, since "petroleum including crude oil or any fraction thereof" is exempt from reporting under Section 103 of CERCLA? No. "Petroleum" is exempted generally from CERCLA responsibilities since it is excluded from the definition of a…
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Does the "federally permitted release" exemption apply fully to state permitted releases?
No. State permitted releases are exempted only to the extent that the releases are considered "federally permitted" under Section 101(10) of CERCLA.
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CERCLA hazardous substances and relationship to U.S. DOT's Hazardous Materials Regulations
What is the relationship between CERCLA hazardous substances and the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Hazardous Materials Regulations? CERCLA section 306(a), as amended, requires the DOT to list and regulate as hazardous materials all CERCLA hazardous substances. Thus, all CERCLA hazardous substances are covered by the DOT's Hazardous Materials Regulations…