§11021 Material Safety Data Sheets

Summary

Facility owners or operators who are required by OSHA to have a material safety data sheet (MSDS) must send either an MSDS for each hazardous chemical or a list of those chemicals to the local emergency planning committee, the State emergency response commission, and the fire department that covers the facility. The list must show chemicals grouped by health or physical hazard, give the chemical or common name, and note any hazardous components. The Administrator can change how hazards are grouped to cover chemicals that act the same in an emergency. For mixtures, the owner can list each hazardous ingredient or the mixture itself; if the same ingredient appears in more than one mixture, only one MSDS or listing is needed. The Administrator may set quantity thresholds, by chemical type or facility type, below which the rules do not apply. If a facility gives only a list, the local emergency planning committee can ask for any MSDS on that list and must make MSDSs available to the public under section 11044. If the committee needs a sheet it does not have, it will request it from the facility. The first MSDS or list had to be provided before the later of 12 months after October 17, 1986, or 3 months after the owner must have the MSDS under OSHA rules; any significant new information must be sent within 3 months. “Hazardous chemical” means the OSHA definition at 29 C.F.R. 1910.1200(c), except it does not include: food or FDA-regulated items; solids in finished products not normally exposed; products used for personal or household use or sold to the general public in that form; substances used in research labs or medical facilities under a qualified supervisor; or routine agricultural products and fertilizers sold to customers.