How Tier II reporting works, step by step

We determine which chemicals you have to report, work out the peak amount of each one, and file the report by March 1. We do it every year, with the inventory documented well enough to stand up when the fire department or an inspector asks.

Tier II is the annual chemical inventory report required by sections 311 and 312 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). It covers the previous calendar year and is filed with the state, the local emergency planning committee (LEPC) and the fire department. Here is how a job runs, step by step.

Step 1: Safety data sheet review

We start with your safety data sheet (SDS) binder, because the rule reaches any chemical that OSHA's hazard communication standard requires you to keep an SDS for. We check that the binder matches what is actually on site, which it rarely does. New products arrive, old ones linger in a corner, and maintenance buys things that never pass through purchasing.

The walk-through fixes that. We look at tanks, drums, totes, cylinders, battery banks and the yard, and we note anything that has no SDS on file.

Step 2: Identifying hazardous chemicals and extremely hazardous substances

Every chemical with an SDS is a hazardous chemical for Tier II purposes, unless one of the exemptions applies. Within that group, some chemicals are also extremely hazardous substances (EHS), the ones on EPA's emergency planning list. Those carry a much lower threshold, so we flag each one separately.

The most common EHS at an ordinary plant is sulfuric acid, which is the electrolyte in lead-acid batteries. Others that come up are ammonia in refrigeration, chlorine in water treatment, and nitric or hydrofluoric acid in finishing shops. We check the current EPA list rather than relying on memory, because the list changes.

Step 3: Thresholds

A chemical is reportable if the amount on site reached its threshold at any point during the year.

The threshold planning quantity is the amount EPA set for each EHS for emergency planning purposes. For sulfuric acid it is 1,000 pounds, so the lower figure, 500 pounds, is the Tier II threshold. If an EHS is on site at or above its threshold planning quantity, the facility also owes a one-time emergency planning notice under section 302 of EPCRA, and we check that at the same time. → The full applicability test, with the exemptions

Step 4: Working out the peak quantity

Tier II asks for the maximum amount of each chemical present at any one time during the year, and the average daily amount. Both are reported in pounds, so liquids and gases have to be converted from gallons or cubic feet using the density on the SDS.

The peak is usually the day a delivery landed on top of existing stock. We find it from delivery tickets, tank gauging records, purchase orders and the capacity of the vessels the chemical lives in. Where records are thin, we use the full capacity of the tank or the largest number of drums that were ever on hand, and we say so in the file. Overstating a peak is harmless. Understating it is the error that matters.

The report also asks for the number of days the chemical was on site and how it is stored (drum, tank, cylinder, bag and so on). It asks for the pressure and temperature conditions, and where in the facility it is kept. The storage locations are what the fire department actually uses, so we describe them plainly.

Step 5: Mixtures

Most products on a plant floor are mixtures. The rule lets you report a mixture under its product name, or report each hazardous component in it, as long as you are consistent. We generally report the product as it appears on the SDS, because that is what a responder will find on the label.

Extremely hazardous substances are the exception. The weight of an EHS has to be added up across every mixture and pure product that contains it, and compared with the EHS threshold. A facility can be under 500 pounds of sulfuric acid in any one place and over it across the site.

Step 6: Filing

In Arizona the report is filed through myDEQ, the online portal of ADEQ, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. It reaches the state emergency response commission, known as AZSERC, through that portal. The state charges a filing fee, paid through the portal. → Filing Tier II in Arizona: portal, fees and copies

We file in Arizona. For facilities in other states, we can advise on that state's portal and what it expects, since each state runs its own.

Step 7: Copies

The report is owed to the LEPC and the fire department as well as the state. Some Arizona agencies have signed an agreement to accept the electronic filing in myDEQ as their copy. Where yours has not, we send the copy directly and keep proof that it was sent. Facilities in the Gila River Indian Community send hard copies to the Community's emergency management office regardless.

Step 8: Recordkeeping

The Tier II rule does not set a records retention period, so we recommend keeping every year's filing, the inventory behind it and the proof of copies for as long as you operate. The files are small. You receive from us the report as filed, the chemical-by-chemical inventory with the basis for each peak amount, and the list of chemicals we evaluated and ruled out, with the reason for each.

That last item is the one that pays off. In the year someone asks why a chemical is not on your report, the answer is already on paper.

What happens the next year

The second year is faster. The chemical list and the storage descriptions carry forward, and the work is confirming what changed: new products, new tanks, chemicals you stopped using, and new peak amounts. If you want to take it in-house after the first year, the file we leave you is built for that.

If you also file Form R, the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) report due July 1, much of the same purchasing data feeds both. We tell you which chemicals cross from one report to the other. → Tier II and Form R compared