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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) clarifies/codifies the Federal Emergency Planning Community’s Right to Know Act (“EPCRA”) Toxic Release Inventory (“TRI”) in the October 21 Federal Register Final rule announced. Definition of “Parent Company”. 87 See Federal Reserve Board. Registration 63950.
The EPA has previously stated that the purpose of this action is concern that current guidance on reporting parent companies on TRI forms is confusing.
EPCRA requires certain facilities to submit annual reports on the amount of toxic chemicals released into the environment routinely or as a result of accidents. Federal legislation of 1990 expanded reporting requirements to include waste management and source reduction activities. EPA enforces these laws and compiles information received at TRI.
TRI is a public database. Produced and published annually by the EPA. Information contained in the database includes over 650 chemical releases in chemical categories from industries such as manufacturing, metals and coal mining, power utilities, and commercial hazardous waste disposal. Companies that manufacture, process, or otherwise use certain toxic chemicals in amounts above reporting threshold levels must submit a TRI report to EPA and designated state agencies.
The EPA’s final rule codifies the definition of “parent company” for TRI reporting purposes. Facilities are now required for TRI purposes to report to their parent company and identify whether off-site transfers of reportable chemicals are directed to facilities owned by the same parent company.
EPA has previously stated that TRI’s Reporting Forms and Instructions (“RFIs”) address questions such as what constitutes a “parent company” for TRI’s reporting purposes. However, the agency does not say that RFI addresses all scenarios applicable to many of his TRI facilities.
Here’s an example I gave earlier:
- Facilities owned by subsidiaries of large companies
- Facilities with multiple owners (no majority owner)
- A joint venture that is not purely 50/50
- Facilities directly operated by foreign corporations
- public facility
The final rule codifies the “parent company” for TRI reporting purposes to be the highest level company with the greatest ownership interest in the TRI facility as of December 31 of the reporting year. As such, the agency believes the final rule will address the following ownership scenarios:
- Facility is owned by a single company not owned by another company
- A facility is owned by one company and that company is owned by another company
- A facility is owned by multiple companies, including companies that are themselves owned by other entities
- Facility is owned by a joint venture or cooperative
- The facility is owned or at least partially owned by a foreign company.When
- Facilities are federally owned or owned by state, tribal, or local governments.
The final rule also requires facilities reporting to TRI to utilize a standardized naming convention for parent company reporting. These are said to be provided in his annual TRI RFI and available as a downloadable Excel file.
A copy of the Federal Register notice can be downloaded here.
