Tier II or Form R: which chemical report do you owe?
This page explains what the rules and common practice call for. Every site is different, and what a survey or a filing needs at your facility is something we work out with you after we see it.
Both reports come from the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), both are annual, and both carry the same penalty provision. Almost everything else about them is different.
Tier II is the annual inventory of hazardous chemicals stored on site, due March 1. Form R is the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) report on toxic chemical releases, due July 1. People confuse them because they share a law, a filing season and, in Arizona, a portal. The table below puts them next to each other.
Side by side
| Tier II | Form R | |
|---|---|---|
| Law section | EPCRA sections 311 and 312 (42 U.S.C. §§ 11021, 11022) | EPCRA section 313 (42 U.S.C. § 11023) |
| Rule | 40 CFR Part 370 | 40 CFR Part 372 |
| What it reports | Hazardous chemicals present on site, the most of each on hand at one time, and where they are stored | Releases of listed toxic chemicals to air, water and land, plus off-site transfers, treatment and recycling |
| Which chemicals | Any chemical with a safety data sheet, plus EPA's list of extremely hazardous substances | The TRI chemical list, currently 810 chemicals and 34 categories |
| Threshold basis | Maximum amount on site at any single point in the year | Amount manufactured, processed or otherwise used over the whole year |
| Thresholds | 10,000 lb for a hazardous chemical; 500 lb or the threshold planning quantity, whichever is lower, for an extremely hazardous substance | 25,000 lb manufactured or processed; 10,000 lb otherwise used; far lower for chemicals of special concern |
| Who is covered | Any facility that must keep safety data sheets under OSHA's hazard communication standard | Facilities with 10 or more full-time employees, in a listed industry, that exceed a threshold |
| Deadline | March 1 | July 1 |
| Where filed (Arizona) | myDEQ, ADEQ's online portal | TRI-MEweb, EPA's online system, plus the Toxic Data Report in myDEQ |
| Who receives it | The state emergency response commission, the local emergency planning committee and the fire department | EPA and the state |
| Fees (Arizona) | $75 first facility, $20 each additional, $500 cap | None |
| Penalty provision | 42 U.S.C. § 11045(c)(1), per violation per day | 42 U.S.C. § 11045(c)(1), per violation per day |
Two rows deserve a second look. The threshold basis is the real difference: Tier II asks how much you had on hand at the worst moment, while Form R asks how much passed through your process all year. And the penalty row is identical, because one paragraph of the statute covers both sections 312 and 313. A late Tier II is not the minor cousin of a late Form R.
The four combinations
Because the two reports measure different things, a facility can land in any of four places.
| Situation | Typical example | What you owe |
|---|---|---|
| Tier II only | A distribution warehouse that stores large quantities of a hazardous chemical but never opens it, or any facility with a big forklift battery fleet and nothing on the TRI list | Tier II by March 1 |
| Form R only | A plant that runs a listed solvent through its process in small, frequent deliveries, never holding 10,000 pounds at once, but using well over that in a year | Form R by July 1, plus the Arizona Toxic Data Report |
| Both | A metal finishing shop with bulk acid tanks, where the acid is both stored in quantity and used in quantity | Tier II by March 1 and Form R by July 1 |
| Neither | A small shop with a few drums and a cleaning cabinet, under every threshold all year | Nothing to file, but keep the determination on paper |
The first row is the one that surprises people. Tier II has no employee count and no industry test, so a facility that has never heard of Form R, and correctly so, can still owe Tier II every year.
The third row is where the records overlap. Purchasing data that shows annual throughput for Form R also shows delivery sizes, which is where the Tier II peak comes from. If you do both reports, build them from one chemical list.
Which one applies to you
Start with Tier II, because the test is shorter: safety data sheets, and the most of each chemical on hand at any point. Then run the Form R test: employee hours, NAICS code and annual quantities of listed chemicals. Each has its own page.
→ Do you have to file Tier II? · Do you have to file Form R? · Our Tier II service · Our Form R service
Ask us which reports your facility owes
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Talk with us. No cost.References
The regulations and standards behind this page, with links to the official text, so you can check the source yourself.
- Congress 42 U.S.C. § 11021 EPCRA section 311: safety data sheets
- Congress 42 U.S.C. § 11022 EPCRA section 312: emergency and hazardous chemical inventory forms
- Congress 42 U.S.C. § 11023 EPCRA section 313: toxic chemical release forms
- Congress 42 U.S.C. § 11045 EPCRA enforcement and civil penalties
- EPA 40 CFR Part 370 Hazardous Chemical Reporting: Community Right-to-Know
- EPA 40 CFR 370.10 Tier II reporting thresholds
- EPA 40 CFR 372.22 Toxic Chemical Release Reporting (TRI): covered facilities
- EPA 40 CFR 372.25 Toxic Chemical Release Reporting (TRI): thresholds
- EPA 40 CFR 19.4 Civil monetary penalty inflation adjustments, Table 1
- ADEQ AZSERC Tier II Reporting Arizona State Emergency Response Commission: Tier II filing, fees and electronic acceptance agreements