Dear Compliancenetters:

Yesterday, I received a letter from the U.S. EPA, ruling that when hydrochloric acid  (HCL) is sprayed in a closed-loop system (e.g., DES line), facilities only have to count the total volume of acid in the system one time for Toxic Release Reporting purposes.  

EPA had originally stated that each time HCL is sprayed, aerosol HCL is manufacturered.  Under this previous position, facilities could theoretically "manufacture" aerosol forms of HCL ad infinitum, thereby triggering TRI reporting thresholds-- even if the system originally contained only a small amount of non-aerosol HCL.   

The ruling states, "EPA did not intend to increase the reporting burden as a result of the addition of the acid aerosol qualifiers.  In addition, under EPA's general approach to reuse systems a toxic chemical is not counted toward thresholds each time it is reused but only once per reporting period, and that approach would apply to sulfuric or hydrochloric acid reuse systems....Rather than having facilities count all quantities of acid aerosol generated in such systems toward the "manufacture" and "otherwise use" thresholds, EPA will allow facilities to apply the total volume of acid in these systems only once to these thresholds.  For example, if an acid reuse system starts the year with 2000 pounds of acid and 500 pounds is added during the year then the toital amount applied toward acid aerosol thresholds would be 2500 pounds." 

If you would like a copy of this letter, please contact me at [log in to unmask]

Holly Lynch, Director of EHS Programs, IPC 

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