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TRI Reporting Thresholds: When a Form R Is Required (SARA 313)
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TRI Reporting Thresholds: When a Form R Is Required (SARA 313)

TRI reporting thresholds under EPCRA 313: 25,000 lb manufactured or processed, 10,000 lb otherwise used, 100 lb for PFAS and lead, and when a Form R is due.

by iSi Environmental

Most facilities that decide they are exempt from the Toxics Release Inventory get there by comparing their chemical usage against 25,000 pounds. For much of what sits on a plant floor, that is the wrong number. A listed chemical that is otherwise used rather than built into product carries a Form R threshold of 10,000 pounds per calendar year, 60% lower than the manufacturing and processing number (40 CFR 372.25). Degreasers, parts-washer solvents and lubricants all land in that bucket. For chemicals EPA designates as chemicals of special concern, the threshold drops to 100 pounds (40 CFR 372.28).

⚡ In short: A Form R is owed under EPCRA Section 313 only if all three conditions in 40 CFR 372.22 are true in the same calendar year: 10 or more full-time employee equivalents, a covered SIC or NAICS code at 40 CFR 372.23, and an exceeded activity threshold for a listed chemical. The standard thresholds are 25,000 pounds manufactured or processed and 10,000 pounds otherwise used (40 CFR 372.25). Chemicals of special concern override those numbers: 100 pounds for PFAS and lead, 10 pounds for mercury and PCBs, 0.1 grams for dioxins (40 CFR 372.28). Forms are due July 1 following the reporting year (40 CFR 372.30(d)).

This post is the applicability-and-thresholds page. For PFAS-specific depth, go to EPA PFAS TRI reporting requirements for 2026. For Tier II chemical inventory reporting, a different section of EPCRA with its own forms and state portals, see multi-state Tier 2 reporting requirements.

Check the 100-Pound List First

The normal instinct is to work from 40 CFR 372.25 outward: 25,000 pounds, then 10,000 pounds, then the exceptions. That order produces wrong answers, because the chemicals-of-special-concern list at 40 CFR 372.28 replaces the standard thresholds rather than modifying them. A fabricator can be far under 25,000 pounds on everything in the building and still owe a Form R on 100 pounds of lead or of a listed PFAS.

Facilities surprised by a Form R obligation have almost always run the analysis in the other order.

What is the TRI reporting threshold for a listed chemical?

Under 40 CFR 372.25 the standard thresholds are 25,000 pounds manufactured or processed and 10,000 pounds otherwise used, per chemical per calendar year. Chemicals of special concern override these: 100 pounds for PFAS and lead, 10 pounds for mercury and PCBs, 0.1 grams for dioxins (40 CFR 372.28).

The 25,000 and 10,000 pound figures have not moved since reporting year 1989, and the special-concern thresholds at 40 CFR 372.28 are where the analysis gets decided in 2026. It carries 10 pounds for mercury, PCBs, chlordane, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene and toxaphene; 100 pounds for PFAS, lead (excluding lead in stainless steel, brass or bronze alloys), aldrin, methoxychlor, pendimethalin, trifluralin and tetrabromobisphenol A; and 0.1 grams for dioxin and dioxin-like compounds.

A threshold is a per-chemical, per-activity test, so a facility over threshold on four chemicals files four forms.

Does my facility have to file a Form R at all?

Only if all three conditions in 40 CFR 372.22 are met in the same calendar year: 10 or more full-time employee equivalents, a covered SIC or NAICS code under 40 CFR 372.23, and an exceeded activity threshold for a listed chemical. Fail any one and no Form R is owed for that year.

Each reporting year stands on its own, which is why applicability is worth documenting rather than assuming. A facility can be covered in 2025, drop below the employee test in 2026 after a layoff and owe nothing, or add a secondary operation with a covered NAICS code and become reportable with no change in chemical usage.

Government facilities reach EPCRA 313 by executive order rather than through 40 CFR 372.22, so federal sites file too.

What is the difference between “manufactured,” “processed,” and “otherwise used”?

Three separate threshold buckets with different numbers. Manufactured and processed share a 25,000-pound threshold; otherwise used triggers at 10,000 pounds (40 CFR 372.25). Otherwise used covers solvents, cleaners, lubricants and process aids consumed rather than incorporated into product. Each chemical is totaled in each bucket separately.

That separation is why the otherwise-used threshold catches facilities that do not think of themselves as chemical operations. A metal shop consumes its degreaser rather than processing it, so every pound goes into the 10,000-pound bucket.

Totaling across buckets is the most common arithmetic error in a determination. A chemical at 18,000 pounds processed and 7,000 pounds otherwise used is under both thresholds and owes no form. The same 25,000 pounds entirely in the otherwise-used column clears its threshold by 15,000 pounds.

When is the TRI reporting deadline?

July 1 of the year following the reporting year, under 40 CFR 372.30(d). Reporting year 2025 forms were due July 1, 2026; reporting year 2026 forms are due July 1, 2027. There is no extension mechanism in the rule and no filing fee, federal or in Oklahoma.

Submission is electronic, through EPA’s CDX and TRI-MEweb. Paper is not accepted for non-trade-secret forms, including late submissions, revisions and withdrawals. Only trade secret reports go in on paper.

One access item stops facilities at the certification step: CDX certifying officials must migrate to the ICAM-compliant authentication protocol, and first-time reporting year 2025 logins are prompted to do it (EPA, Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Reporting Forms and Instructions, Reporting Year 2025, March 24, 2026). An unmigrated certifier cannot certify, and that role usually belongs to someone other than the person assembling the data.

What is the PFAS reporting threshold, and why is it only 100 pounds?

100 pounds per calendar year, set by Congress for PFAS added under FY2020 NDAA sections 7321(b) and (c) and codified at 40 CFR 372.28. EPA designated these PFAS chemicals of special concern in a final rule effective November 30, 2023 (88 FR 74360), which also removed their eligibility for the de minimis exemption.

The number came from statute rather than from a per-substance risk calculation, which is why it sits three orders of magnitude below the ordinary otherwise-used threshold. EPA considered raising it and declined in December 2024 on the stated ground that it had not yet received enough reporting data, saying it would revisit after five years. The first NDAA section 7321(c)(2) review deadline was January 1, 2026, so treat 100 pounds as current rather than settled.

For the full PFAS analysis, including what counts as a PFAS for reporting purposes, see EPA PFAS TRI reporting requirements for 2026.

How do new PFAS get added to the TRI list?

Automatically, without rulemaking. NDAA section 7321(c) adds a PFAS on January 1 of the year after EPA finalizes a toxicity value, makes a covered Significant New Use Rule determination, adds it to a SNUR list, or designates it active on the TSCA section 8(b)(1) inventory. 205 PFAS were reportable for reporting year 2025; sodium perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS-Na, CASRN 82382-12-5) was added effective January 1, 2026.

There is no proposed rule, no comment period and no notice to affected facilities. A substance becomes reportable because EPA finished a toxicity value the previous year, and the obligation attaches on January 1 (EPA implementation notice for the reporting year 2026 additions, FR Doc. 2026-03944, February 27, 2026). For PFHxS-Na, supplier notification was required from January 1, 2026, and the first Form R is due July 1, 2027.

A facility therefore cannot rely on a chemical list it validated two years ago. The list grows on January 1 whether anyone tells you or not.

Can I still use the de minimis exemption?

88 FR 74360 removed the de minimis exemption for chemicals of special concern, so it does not apply to PFAS, lead, mercury or dioxins. Since reporting year 2024 it is also unavailable for supplier notifications for all special-concern chemicals, even below 1% concentration. The exemption survives for ordinary listed chemicals.

De minimis lets a facility disregard a listed chemical present below 1% in a mixture, or below 0.1% for a carcinogen. Removing it for special-concern chemicals changes the threshold math: trace lead or trace PFAS in a purchased mixture now counts toward the 100-pound threshold even though it was legitimately ignorable before reporting year 2024.

The supplier notification side is where this most often produces an unfiled obligation. A formulator previously below the de minimis cutoff on a special-concern chemical now owes a notification regardless of concentration.

Can I file the short Form A instead of Form R?

Form A is unavailable for PFAS and for lead above its 100-pound threshold (40 CFR 372.28). Form A is a certification that quantities fall under the alternate-threshold limits; chemicals of special concern are ineligible, and range reporting is also unavailable for them. For everything else, Form A eligibility turns on the alternate-threshold test.

A facility that has filed Form A for years on a special-concern chemical is the pattern worth checking. The eligibility change took effect for reporting year 2024, so the first bad filing may be two cycles back.

What is the penalty for failing to file a Form R?

$71,545 per violation for penalties assessed on or after January 8, 2025 (90 FR 1375), and each day a violation continues is a separate violation (42 U.S.C. 11045(c)(3)). In one EPA enforcement sweep, Section 313 penalties against individual facilities ranged from $12,639 to $82,700.

What EPA actually collects is the more useful figure for planning. In the eleven settlements EPA announced on September 30, 2024, Section 313 penalties landed mostly in the $30,000 to $75,000 range for ordinary non-filing: Purafil at $82,700, The Carlstar Group at $66,392, Nidec Elesys Americas at $34,730, Karnak-South at $12,639. That spread indicates EPA settled on a per-form basis rather than running the per-day multiplier 42 U.S.C. 11045(c)(3) permits.

No 2026 Section 313 action with a published penalty figure was located in this research, and no national trend line for Section 313 case counts was available from a primary source. The September 2024 sweep remains the most recent multi-facility action with per-company figures on epa.gov.

Do I have to submit TRI forms to my state as well as to EPA?

40 CFR 372.30(d) requires submission to EPA and to the state, or to the designated tribal official for facilities in Indian country. For states participating in EPA’s TRI Data Exchange, filing electronically through CDX/TRI-MEweb reaches EPA and the state node at the same moment, and EPA’s model memorandum of agreement states that the facility’s statutory duty has been met (TRI Data Exchange Model MOA v1.07, June 2026).

Verify that your state participates in the TRI Data Exchange before assuming one submission covers both obligations. Oklahoma does participate, routes TRI-MEweb filings to DEQ automatically, uses the federal July 1 deadline and charges no state fee. Missouri publishes its EPCRA guidance through the State Emergency Management Agency and the Missouri Emergency Response Commission rather than DNR, the routing detail facilities most often get wrong there. For Kansas, Texas and Nebraska, confirm current TDX participation with the state commission directly.

Only CDX submissions travel through the exchange simultaneously, and trade secret claims are handled outside it and are not transmitted to the state.

How are full-time employees counted for the 10-employee test?

40 CFR 372.22(a) sets the test at 10 or more full-time employees; the definition at 40 CFR 372.3 makes a full-time employee 2,000 hours per year of full-time equivalent employment, so the test runs on 20,000 hours worked during the calendar year across all employees. The count is full-time equivalents, not headcount. A facility running part-time staff or sustained contract labor can clear the threshold without 10 people on payroll.

This is the condition facilities most often get wrong in their own favor. A plant with seven people on payroll and two contract maintenance crews working most of the year is very likely over 20,000 hours. The determination runs on hours worked, from payroll and contractor invoices.

Which industries are covered besides manufacturing?

The 40 CFR 372.23 list reaches electric power generation, commercial hazardous waste treatment and disposal, solvent recovery, bulk petroleum terminals and wholesalers, chemical wholesalers, metal mining and coal mining alongside the manufacturing codes. Coverage attaches on the primary code or on the value of the establishments’ products and services.

Because coverage can attach on the value of an establishment’s products and services, a mixed-use site can be pulled in through a secondary operation. A distribution facility that added a solvent recovery line needs the NAICS analysis re-run rather than carried forward.

Two PFAS Reporting Rules Moving in Opposite Directions

Facilities regularly treat “PFAS reporting” as one obligation. There are two federal programs in play, and in 2026 they are moving in opposite directions.

TRI / EPCRA Section 313 is the program described in this post: an annual Form R obligation at 40 CFR Part 372, with a 100-pound PFAS threshold and no de minimis exemption for PFAS from reporting year 2024 forward (88 FR 74360).

TSCA section 8(a)(7) is a separate one-time retrospective PFAS reporting rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act. It is not EPCRA, it is not annual, and it has its own scope. EPA has proposed narrowing it, including exemptions for de minimis amounts and imported articles. A facility that carries “there is no de minimis for PFAS” from the TRI rule into a section 8(a)(7) determination will reach the wrong answer.

A third divergence is worth tracking. EPA published a rescission of regulatory determinations and removal of related provisions for four PFAS substances, including PFHxS, on May 20, 2026 (FR Doc. 2026-10085). PFHxS-Na was added to the TRI list effective January 1, 2026 on a finalized toxicity value. Those two actions coexist: the NDAA section 7321(c) addition is statutory and automatic, and nothing in the May 2026 rescission has been shown to reach the TRI listing. The federal posture on a single PFAS is not uniform across programs, so the only reliable question is which rule your facility is subject to.

The June 2026 EPCRA Rule That Is Not TRI

The live EPCRA rulemaking in 2026 is not a TRI rule. EPA published “EPCRA Hazardous Chemical Inventory Reporting Requirements: Conformity With the 2024 OSHA Hazard Communication Standard” on June 22, 2026 (FR Doc. 2026-12426). That rule sits in EPCRA Sections 311 and 312, which is Tier II chemical inventory reporting, and it has no effect on Form R thresholds or on 40 CFR Part 372.

It is the reason a lot of facilities started asking about chemical reporting this year, and the two get conflated constantly. Tier II has state-specific forms, portals, fees and in some states an earlier deadline; TRI has none of that, because the federal thresholds govern everywhere. Our Tier II coverage is separate for that reason: multi-state Tier 2 reporting requirements and the Tier II reporting deadline guide.

Three of Eleven: If the Tier II Determination Was Wrong, Check the TRI Determination

In EPA’s September 30, 2024 EPCRA sweep, three of the eleven settlements cited Sections 312 and 313 together: Purafil, Bharat Forge PMT Technologie and OFS Fitel. Tier II and TRI threshold determinations start from the same chemical inventory, so when the inventory is incomplete or the usage quantities are wrong, both determinations fail at once.

iSi sees them fail together for that reason. A facility that never captured its parts-washer solvent volumes has a gap in both analyses. If a Tier II determination has been corrected in the last two years, the TRI determination deserves a second look.

The Document an Inspector Asks For When There Is No Form R on File

The defense for not filing is the calculation showing no form was owed. Retain the determination itself along with the filed forms: chemical-by-chemical totals in each activity bucket, the hours-worked basis for the employee test, and the site’s NAICS determination. A facility with no Form R on file and no determination behind it has no record that the question was asked.

That documentation also makes year two a delta against year one rather than a rebuild, and turns the January 1 PFAS additions into a list check.

Where This Leaves Your Facility

Run the test in this order. Pull hours worked against the 20,000-hour basis (40 CFR 372.22(a)). Verify the facility’s NAICS codes, including secondary operations, against 40 CFR 372.23. Check every listed chemical on site against the chemicals-of-special-concern list at 40 CFR 372.28 before touching the standard thresholds, then total each remaining chemical separately as manufactured, processed and otherwise used against 25,000 and 10,000 pounds (40 CFR 372.25). Write the result down either way.

iSi’s environmental compliance team runs TRI applicability and threshold determinations, builds the recordkeeping file behind a no-form conclusion, and manages annual Form R submission from chemical inventory through CDX certification. We have worked 72 TRI engagements since 2010. To have a determination checked before the July 1 cycle rather than after an inspection, talk to an iSi environmental specialist. We respond the same day.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the TRI reporting threshold for a listed chemical?

25,000 pounds manufactured or processed, or 10,000 pounds otherwise used, per chemical per calendar year (40 CFR 372.25). Chemicals of special concern override those numbers: 100 pounds for PFAS and lead, 10 pounds for mercury and PCBs, and 0.1 grams for dioxins (40 CFR 372.28).

Who has to file a Form R?

Only facilities meeting all three conditions in 40 CFR 372.22 in the same calendar year: 10 or more full-time employee equivalents (20,000 hours), a covered SIC or NAICS code, and an exceeded activity threshold for a listed chemical.

When are TRI reports due?

July 1 of the year following the reporting year, filed electronically through EPA’s CDX and TRI-MEweb. There is no extension mechanism and no federal filing fee.

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