Title 42The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§11022 Emergency and hazardous chemical inven­tory forms

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 116— - EMERGENCY PLANNING AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - REPORTING REQUIREMENTS › § 11022

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Owners or operators of facilities that must have material safety data sheets under the Occupational Safety and Health Act must prepare and send an emergency and hazardous chemical inventory form to three groups: the local emergency planning committee for the area, the State emergency response commission, and the fire department that covers the facility. They must send a basic (tier I) form by March 1, 1988, and every year after on March 1, covering the previous calendar year. If they instead send the more detailed (tier II) form by the same deadline for that year, they do not need to send tier I. For mixtures, the owner can list each hazardous ingredient once or list the mixture itself. The Administrator may set lower quantity limits that exempt some chemicals or places from these rules. “Hazardous chemical” means a chemical that must have a material safety data sheet under section 11021. Tier I gives category-level information: rough ranges for the maximum amount and the average daily amount of hazardous chemicals in each health/physical hazard category, plus general locations on site. Tier II (released only on request) gives more detail for each chemical: name, range for maximum and average daily amounts, brief storage description, exact location, and whether the owner is withholding location from the public under section 11044. State or local planners, fire departments, and certain officials can request tier II for a specific facility. Any person can request tier II in writing for the prior year; if the commission or committee does not already have it, they must ask the facility for chemicals stored above 10,000 pounds and share it under section 11044. For chemicals under 10,000 pounds the requester must state the general need and the commission or committee may ask the facility on their behalf. Requests must be answered within 45 days. Affected community water systems can also get tier II. Fire departments can ask to inspect the site and must be given specific location information on request. The Administrator was to publish a uniform form within three months after October 17, 1986; if no form is published, owners must send the required information by letter.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §11022

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The owner or operator of any facility which is required to prepare or have available a material safety data sheet for a hazardous chemical under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 [29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.] and regulations promulgated under that Act shall prepare and submit an emergency and hazardous chemical inventory form (hereafter in this chapter referred to as an “inventory form”) to each of the following:
(A)The appropriate local emergency planning committee.
(B)The State emergency response commission.
(C)The fire department with jurisdiction over the facility.
(2)The inventory form containing tier I information (as described in subsection (d)(1)) shall be submitted on or before March 1, 1988, and annually thereafter on March 1, and shall contain data with respect to the preceding calendar year. The preceding sentence does not apply if an owner or operator provides, by the same deadline and with respect to the same calendar year, tier II information (as described in subsection (d)(2)) to the recipients described in paragraph (1).
(3)An owner or operator may meet the requirements of this section with respect to a hazardous chemical which is a mixture by doing one of the following:
(A)Providing information on the inventory form on each element or compound in the mixture which is a hazardous chemical. If more than one mixture has the same element or compound, only one listing on the inventory form for the element or compound at the facility is necessary.
(B)Providing information on the inventory form on the mixture itself.
(b)The Administrator may establish threshold quantities for hazardous chemicals covered by this section below which no facility shall be subject to the provisions of this section. The threshold quantities may, in the Administrator’s discretion, be based on classes of chemicals or categories of facilities.
(c)A hazardous chemical subject to the requirements of this section is any hazardous chemical for which a material safety data sheet or a listing is required under section 11021 of this title.
(d)(1)(A)An inventory form shall provide the information described in subparagraph (B) in aggregate terms for hazardous chemicals in categories of health and physical hazards as set forth under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 [29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.] and regulations promulgated under that Act.
(B)The information referred to in subparagraph (A) is the following:
(i)An estimate (in ranges) of the maximum amount of hazardous chemicals in each category present at the facility at any time during the preceding calendar year.
(ii)An estimate (in ranges) of the average daily amount of hazardous chemicals in each category present at the facility during the preceding calendar year.
(iii)The general location of hazardous chemicals in each category.
(C)For purposes of reporting information under this paragraph, the Administrator may—
(i)modify the categories of health and physical hazards as set forth under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 [29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.] and regulations promulgated under that Act by requiring information to be reported in terms of groups of hazardous chemicals which present similar hazards in an emergency, or
(ii)require reporting on individual hazardous chemicals of special concern to emergency response personnel.
(2)An inventory form shall provide the following additional information for each hazardous chemical present at the facility, but only upon request and in accordance with subsection (e):
(A)The chemical name or the common name of the chemical as provided on the material safety data sheet.
(B)An estimate (in ranges) of the maximum amount of the hazardous chemical present at the facility at any time during the preceding calendar year.
(C)An estimate (in ranges) of the average daily amount of the hazardous chemical present at the facility during the preceding calendar year.
(D)A brief description of the manner of storage of the hazardous chemical.
(E)The location at the facility of the hazardous chemical.
(F)An indication of whether the owner elects to withhold location information of a specific hazardous chemical from disclosure to the public under section 11044 of this title.
(e)(1)Upon request by a State emergency response commission, a local emergency planning committee, or a fire department with jurisdiction over the facility, the owner or operator of a facility shall provide tier II information, as described in subsection (d), to the person making the request. Any such request shall be with respect to a specific facility.
(2)A State or local official acting in his or her official capacity may have access to tier II information by submitting a request to the State emergency response commission or the local emergency planning committee. Upon receipt of a request for tier II information, the State commission or local committee shall, pursuant to paragraph (1), request the facility owner or operator for the tier II information and make available such information to the official.
(3)(A)Any person may request a State emergency response commission or local emergency planning committee for tier II information relating to the preceding calendar year with respect to a facility. Any such request shall be in writing and shall be with respect to a specific facility.
(B)Any tier II information which a State emergency response commission or local emergency planning committee has in its possession shall be made available to a person making a request under this paragraph in accordance with section 11044 of this title. If the State emergency response commission or local emergency planning committee does not have the tier II information in its possession, upon a request for tier II information the State emergency response commission or local emergency planning committee shall, pursuant to paragraph (1), request the facility owner or operator for tier II information with respect to a hazardous chemical which a facility has stored in an amount in excess of 10,000 pounds present at the facility at any time during the preceding calendar year and make such information available in accordance with section 11044 of this title to the person making the request.
(C)In the case of tier II information which is not in the possession of a State emergency response commission or local emergency planning committee and which is with respect to a hazardous chemical which a facility has stored in an amount less than 10,000 pounds present at the facility at any time during the preceding calendar year, a request from a person must include the general need for the information. The State emergency response commission or local emergency planning committee may, pursuant to paragraph (1), request the facility owner or operator for the tier II information on behalf of the person making the request. Upon receipt of any information requested on behalf of such person, the State emergency response commission or local emergency planning committee shall make the information available in accordance with section 11044 of this title to the person.
(D)A State emergency response commission or local emergency planning committee shall respond to a request for tier II information under this paragraph no later than 45 days after the date of receipt of the request.
(4)(A)An affected community water system may have access to tier II information by submitting a request to the State emergency response commission or the local emergency planning committee. Upon receipt of a request for tier II information, the State commission or local committee shall, pursuant to paragraph (1), request the facility owner or operator for the tier II information and make available such information to the affected community water system.
(B)In this paragraph, the term “affected community water system” means a community water system (as defined in section 300f(15) of this title) that receives supplies of drinking water from a source water area, delineated under section 300j–13 of this title, in which a facility that is required to prepare and submit an inventory form under subsection (a)(1) is located.
(f)Upon request to an owner or operator of a facility which files an inventory form under this section by the fire department with jurisdiction over the facility, the owner or operator of the facility shall allow the fire department to conduct an on-site inspection of the facility and shall provide to the fire department specific location information on hazardous chemicals at the facility.
(g)The Administrator shall publish a uniform format for inventory forms within three months after October 17, 1986. If the Administrator does not publish such forms, owners and operators of facilities subject to the requirements of this section shall provide the information required under this section by letter.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, referred to in subsecs. (a)(1) and (d)(1)(A), (C)(i), is Pub. L. 91–596, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1590, which is classified principally to chapter 15 (§ 651 et seq.) of Title 29, Labor. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 651 of Title 29 and Tables.

Amendments

2018—Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 115–270, § 2018(b)(1), substituted “State emergency response commission” for “State emergency planning commission”. Subsec. (e)(4). Pub. L. 115–270, § 2018(b)(2), added par. (4).

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 11022

Title 42The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73