In a January 13, 2012, letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson, Representatives Fred Upton (R-MI), Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and John Shimkus (R-IL), Chair of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, asked EPA to postpone the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) implementation and compliance deadlines from February 1, 2012, to align it with the future CDR submission periods — June 1 to September 30, 2016. The letter is available online.
The Representatives note the following examples of questions that EPA personnel could not answer during a November 16, 2011, webinar and for which EPA had still not posted answers on its website:
- Must a manufacturer report on its entire byproduct stream or just on the amount sent for recycling?
- Must a metal extracted from a byproduct be reported under the rule?
- Is double reporting required for extracted substances if sold as individual chemicals?
- What is an “exporter” under the rule?
- Is reporting required if the same chemical changes concentration?
- Must a used solvent that is resold be reported?
The Representatives asked for a response by January 20, 2012. An EPA spokesperson said EPA could not immediately comment on the letter.
Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C) and B&C Consortia Management, L.L.C. (BCCM) have organized a workshop to review reporting obligations for byproducts and recycled materials under the CDR. B&C previously submitted to EPA specific case studies related to byproducts or recycled materials. The case study scenarios were compiled by BCCM and reflect real-life situations from multiple industry groups. In this workshop, we will review the case studies and EPA’s responses explaining CDR reporting requirements. EPA has been invited to present its responses for CDR reporting requirements for those case studies. A copy of the scenarios and questions submitted to EPA is available on B&C’s website.
The workshop will be held on January 19, 2012, at the George Washington University Law School Jacob Burns Moot Courtroom (716 20th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.). The University is about four blocks from the Foggy Bottom/GWU and Farragut West Metro stations, both of which are on the Metro’s Blue and Orange lines. An audio recording of the workshop will also be available on B&C’s website after the workshop for interested stakeholders that cannot attend in person.