Tier II Trade Secret Package Must Include All Chemicals Subject to Reporting

The regulations at 40 CFR part 350 allows facilities to withhold certain chemical information when reporting under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) if the facility claims those chemicals to be a trade secret. When submitting the required trade secret claim package for EPCRA section 312 (i.e., Tier II) reporting, must a facility include all the chemicals for which they are preparing Tier II forms or should the package only include the hazardous chemicals that are being deemed as trade secret?

The facility must include all their chemicals in their submission package to EPA and not just the ones that are being deemed trade secret. A complete trade secret claim package sent to EPA must include both an entire sanitized and an unsanitized federal Tier II report as well as sanitized and unsanitized versions of the Trade Secret Substantiation Form. The entire Tier II form, not just the page on which the chemical being claimed as trade secret is found upon, must be submitted.

Additional guidance for completing the trade secret package can be found in the EPCRA Trade Secret Form Instructions.