EPCRA Hazardous Chemical Inventory Reporting Requirements: Conformity With the 2024 OSHA Hazard Communication Standard
Key claim: The EPA is updating EPCRA hazardous chemical inventory reporting regulations to align terminology and reporting requirements with OSHA’s 2012 and 2024 Hazard Communication Standard amendments, improving clarity for facilities and first responders.
Abstract
(Rule · Environmental Protection Agency) The Environmental Protection Agency is conforming the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act hazardous chemical inventory reporting regulations to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Hazard Communication Standard amendments of 2012 and 2024. The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and its regulations rely on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) Hazard Communication Standard for the definition of a hazardous chemical and for the categories of health and physical hazards that must be reported under the hazardous chemical inventory regulations. This action conforms the terminology used and information that must be reported on the hazardous chemical inventory forms to the Hazard Communication Standard amendments. As a result, this action improves first responder and community safety, reduces discrepancies and confusion, prevents interpretation burdens on facilities when using (Material) Safety Data Sheets to complete annual hazardous chemical inventory reports, and enhances clarity.
Why this matters
EPCRA hazardous chemical inventory reporting is the primary information channel through which local emergency responders and communities learn what chemicals are stored at nearby facilities. Aligning EPCRA terminology with OSHA’s evolving Hazard Communication Standard reduces mismatches between workplace safety data and community right-to-know filings, which affects facility compliance burden and the accuracy of hazard information available to first responders.