EPA Directs 29 Facilities to Begin TRI Reporting for Ethylene Oxide

Today the EPA published a notice of availability in the Federal Register (86 FR 73764-73766) of the “EPA Administrator Determination Extends TRI Reporting Requirements to Certain Contract Sterilization Facilities.” Under the discretionary authority provided to the EPA under 42 USC 11023(b)(2) the EPA has decided “to extend the [Toxic Release Inventory – TRI] reporting requirements for ethylene oxide releases and other waste management activities to 29 contract sterilization facilities; and to extend the reporting requirements for ethylene glycol to 16 of those facilities.”

The facilities identified in the Notice have all been directly contacted by the EPA about their new reporting requirements, so why the interest here? Well, ethylene oxide is a DHS chemical of interest with a screening quantity threshold of 10,000 lbs. The EPA made mention in their notice that they believe “that these facilities are likely to exceed the 10,000 pounds per year “otherwise used” TRI reporting threshold for ethylene oxide.” Thus, these facilities would also be expected to submit a Top Screen report to CISA’s Office of Chemical Security for evaluation for potential inclusion in the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program.

I would suspect that, because of the cooperation between EPA, OSHA and CISA on all matters related to chemical safety and security (most recently evidenced here), OCS has already been made aware of these facilities and has contacted them if a Top Screen has not already been completed. This does, however, point out another industry that CISA may want to add to their CFATS outreach program. I would not be surprised to see a ‘Sterilization Facility Fact Sheet’ added to the CFATS Resources page.