DETERMINING RELEASE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS UNDER CERCLA AND EPCRA

摘要

Under CERCLA, facilities are required to immediately notify the federal government whenever areportable quantity (RQ) or more of a CERCLA hazardous substance is released into the environment (air,water, or soil) unless the release is federally permitted. Under EPCRA, facilities are required toimmediately notify state and local authorities whenever an RQ or more of a CERCLA hazardous substanceor an EPCRA extremely hazardous substance (EHS) is released with exposure to an off-site environment.Facilities releasing hazardous substances or EHSs above the RQ can report a release either on a peroccurrence basis (e.g., an accidental spill) or as a continuous release (e.g., process equipment that operateson a continuous or routine basis). Federally permitted releases are exempt from reporting under CERCLAand EPCRA, and the EPA has developed guidance on what releases are considered federally permittedreleases.This paper provides a summary of the CERCLA and EPCRA release reporting requirements (includingcontinuous release reporting), discusses federally permitted releases and EPA’s 2002 federally permittedrelease guidance, and presents information on how to determine the reporting requirements for a typicalpulp and paper mill.