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EPA offering businesses toxics reporting classes in Salt Lake City

Release Date: 2/14/2001
Contact Information:
EPA 303/312-6447,

Release Date: 2/14/2001
Contact Information:
EPA 303/312-6026,

Release Date: 2/14/2001
Contact Information:
EPA 303/312-6603

SALT LAKE CITY – Industries in Utah make news each year when their annual Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reports are made public. These reports, required under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (EPCRA), allow EPA, States, Tribes and communities to monitor the quantities and types of pollutants released into the environment, to identify which facilities release the most toxic chemicals and to gauge a facility’s pollution-prevention progress and waste-management activities.

EPA recently added seven chemicals and two chemical categories to the TRI list. It also substantially lowered the reporting limits for 18 chemicals and chemical categories considered “persistent bioaccumulative, and toxic pollutants” or PBTs. EPA now allows fewer exemptions and calls for new qualifiers for the PBT chemicals.

PBTs are highly toxic, long-lasting substances that can amass in human, marine and animal tissues to levels that are harmful to human and ecosystem health. Those most at risk are children and the developing fetus. PBTs are associated with a range of adverse human health effects, including effects on the nervous system, reproductive and developmental problems, cancer, and genetic impacts. EPA's challenge in reducing risks from PBTs stems from the pollutant's ability to travel long distances, to transfer rather easily among air, water and land, and to linger for generations in people and the environment.

To help companies meet all their TRI reporting obligations, EPA is offering two separate FREE two-day workshops in Salt Lake City. One workshop is aimed at the mining industry and electricity generating facilities. The other is designed for manufacturing and other select industries. The first day of each workshop will explain the TRI program and its compliance and reporting rules. The second day of each workshop involves the PBT chemicals including: the risks they pose, industry applications in which they are most likely to occur, their reporting thresholds, and changes in their reporting exemptions.

WHO/WHEN:
Workshop #1: Tuesday and Wednesday, March 13-14, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
For metal and coal mining industries and electricity generating facilities. Limited to representatives from:
# coal mining sector, code 12 (except 1241);
# metal mining sector, code 10 (except codes 1011, 1081, 1094);
# electricity generating plants – codes 4911, 4931, and 4939.

Workshop #2: Tuesday and Wednesday, March 27-28, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
For manufacturing and other select industries. Limited to representatives from the following manufacturing, petroleum bulk storage, chemical distribution, solvent recovery and hazardous waste industries:
# Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) manufacturing codes 2000 - 3999. These codes include the following industrial sectors: Food, Tobacco, Textiles, Apparel, Lumber & Wood, Furniture, Paper, Printing & Publishing, Chemicals, Petroleum & Coal, Rubber & Plastics, Leather, Stone, Clay and Glass, Primary Metals, Fabricated Metals, Machinery (excluding electrical), Electrical and Electronic Equipment, Transportation Equipment, Instruments and Miscellaneous Manufacturing.
# bulk petroleum wholesale distributors with SIC code 5171;
# chemical distributors with SIC code 5169;
# solvent recovery facilities with SIC code 7389;
# hazardous waste facilities with SIC code 4953.

WHAT: Participants will learn:
T how, when and what to report.
T how to complete EPA's Form R.
T about TRI chemicals that are subject to reporting requirements.
T EPCRA rules, definitions and exemptions, with emphasis on the PBT chemicals
T about pollution prevention and source waste reduction.
T about the Toxic Release Inventory database and related reporting software.

WHERE: Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Room 101, located at 168 North 1950 West (West on North Temple), in Salt Lake City.

WHY: The new PBT Rule lowers reporting thresholds for those chemicals. This means companies that haven’t had to report releases in the past may now have to for the first time this year. Those release figures are due to EPA by July 1, 2001. Also, facilities that have previously reported on certain chemicals included on EPA’s TRI list, may discover they are required to report on other chemicals, including PBTs. Businesses that fail to properly report their releases could face costly penalties.

WHAT ELSE: Space is limited and participants must register for a workshop in advance. Those attending the workshop should bring an ID (drivers license), calculator, pen and paper to the session. Transportation and lodging are the participants’ responsibility. For more details or to register, call Joyel Dhieux at 303/312-6447 or Jack Salter at 303/312-6026 or call toll free at 800/227-8917 (ext. 6447 or 6026).