Environmental Health and Safety Blog | EHSWire

Paula Kaufmann

If Company A contracts with Company B to manufacture more than 25,000 lbs of a CDR-reportable chemical in 2010 and 2011, which company should report the chemical substance on their 2012 CDR submission?

The TSCA CDR Rule includes specific information that addresses reporting for chemicals that are toll manufactured: The definition of “manufacture” includes a description of the issue of toll manufacturing or “co-manufacturing” (40 CFR 711.3 Definitions).

When a chemical substance, manufactured other than by import, is:

(1) produced exclusively for another person who contracts for such production,

and

(2) that other person specifies the identity of the chemical substance and controls the total amount produced and the basic technology for the plant process, then that chemical substance is co-manufactured by the producing manufacturer and the person contracting for such production.

So, for the purposes of CDR submissions, the EPA considers both Company A (the person contracting production) and Company B (producing manufacturer) to BOTH be the manufacturers (co-manufacturers) and both the contracting company and the toll manufacturer are liable if no report is made.

So, back to the original question: 

WHICH company is required to report the chemical production?

Answer: Either, but just one.

And a follow-up question:

What will be considered the SITE for the production if the contracting company reports the chemical volume?

Answer: It doesn’t matter WHICH company reports, the SITE of production is that where it is physically manufactured (40 CFR 711.3 Definitions).  The CDR Form U accommodates a “Parent Company” name and location (Form U Section 1.A) AND “Site Information” (Form U Section 1.B.). This format will allow the contracting company to report a chemical produced at the toll manufacturer’s site.

The EPA does not want both to report (referred to as “duplicative reporting”) and, as such, requests that the contracting company and the toll manufacturer should agree on who will submit a CDR for specific sites where the chemical is produced (40 CFR 711.22 Duplicative reporting). For those who are not sure who is going to file (Company A or B), we suggest that you determine as quickly as possible who will have this responsibility and how costs and responsibilities will be shared (or not). And, determine what will happen if the CDR is incorrectly or not filed by the responsible company. This division of responsibility has the potential to be a problem so addressing it early will allow enough time for the gathering of information and reporting.

If you have additional TSCA questions, please register for our Free TSCA Information Webinar on Dec 6 which will include an open Q&A session or contact Emilcott directly for assistance.