UPDATE: US EPA codified the addition of seven PFAS to the Toxic Release Inventory, discussed below, on May 17, 2024. The action is published in the Federal Register at 89 FR 43331 (May 17, 2024), available here, and revises the regulations at 40 CFR § 372.65. US EPA did not make any changes to the announcement made on January 9, 2024.
On Tuesday, January 9, 2024, USEPA announced the automatic addition of seven PFAS to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Reporting on these seven additional PFAS is required for TRI Reporting Year 2024 (reporting forms due by July 1, 2025), which will bring the total PFAS subject to TRI reporting to 196. These seven PFAS were added to the TRI list pursuant to the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which provides the framework for the automatic addition of PFAS to TRI each year in response to specified EPA activities involving such PFAS.
Here is the list of 7 PFAS added:
- Ammonium perfluorohexanoate; Chemical Abstract Service Registration Number (CASRN) 21615-47-4
- Lithium bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl] azanide; CASRN 90076-65-6
- Perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA); CASRN 307-24-4
- Perfluoropropanoic acid (PFPrA); CASRN 422-64-0
- Sodium perfluorohexanoate; CASRN 2923-26-4
- 1,1,1-Trifluoro-N-[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl] methanesulfonamide; CASRN 82113-65-3
- Betaines, dimethyl(.gamma.-.omega.-perfluoro-.gamma.-hydro-C8-18-alkyl); CASRN 2816091-53-7
These newly added PFAS, along with the previous 189-listed PFAS, are subject to USEPA’s recently published final rule that removes burden-reducing reporting options for all TRI-listed PFAS beginning in TRI Reporting Year 2024. This rule eliminates the de minimis exemption for reporting TRI-listed PFAS and Supplier Notifications, which had previously allowed facilities and suppliers to avoid reporting on TRI-listed PFAS when used or supplied in sufficiently small concentrations.
Facilities subject to TRI-reporting requirements must use the best readily available information (e.g., Safety Data Sheets, supplier notifications, acquisition and procurement records, existing environmental permits, process engineering records, chemical composition sheets provided by suppliers, professional knowledge) to determine whether they manufacture, process, or otherwise use TRI-listed PFAS at their facility. Therefore, USEPA’s addition of seven new PFAS to the TRI list means there are seven new PFAS that facilities need to familiarize themselves with and be vigilant about identifying in their operations.
If you have questions about reporting requirements for TRI-listed PFAS, please contact Kristin Watt (klwatt@vorys.com), Brooke Zentmeyer (bnzentmeyer@vorys.com), or your Vorys attorney.