The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that it is finalizing amendments to the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule that reduce the burden for certain CDR reporters, improve the quality of CDR data collected, and align reporting requirements with the Lautenberg Act amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). According to the EPA, this action advances the agency’s efforts to ensure chemical safety, increase transparency, and provide clarity for stakeholders.

“Today’s action is a great example of modernizing reporting while maintaining our ability to effectively implement TSCA and protect public health,” said Andrew Wheeler, EPA administrator. “EPA’s actions in 2020 under the Lautenberg Act amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act demonstrate the agency’s commitment to ensuring that Americans are protected from unreasonable risks from chemicals and to continuing to engage with stakeholders and the public in an open and transparent manner.”

Some of the key revisions in the CDR final rule include:

• Simplifying reporting, including allowing manufacturers to use certain processing and use data codes already in use by many chemical manufacturers as part of international codes developed through the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• Changing requirements for making confidentiality claims to align with the requirements in amended TSCA
• Adding reporting exemptions for specific types of byproducts manufactured in certain equipment

In addition, the EPA is extending the reporting period for CDR data submitters from September 30 to November 30 in order to provide additional time for the regulated community to familiarize themselves with these revisions and to allow time for reporters to familiarize themselves with an updated public version of the reporting tool. In a separate but related action, the EPA is working to finalize an amendment to update the size standards definition for small manufacturers for reporting and recordkeeping requirements under TSCA section 8(a) (TSCA 8(a) Small Manufacturer Definition Update Rule. The extended CDR reporting period should allow companies reporting under CDR time to comply with any amendments to the definition of a small manufacturer.

The CDR rule requires manufacturers (including importers) of certain chemical substances listed on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory to report data on chemical manufacturing, processing, and use every four years. The EPA uses the data to help assess the potential human health and environmental effects of these chemicals. States, tribes, other agencies, industry, NGOs, and the public can use CDR data to understand chemicals in commerce. 

For more information, visit www.epa.gov/chemical-data-reporting.