TSCA Mercury Inventory Reporting Deadline Looms

By John Kowalski, regulatory affairs lead, Supply Chain Team, UL Solutions

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to publish an inventory of mercury supply, use, and trade every three years. It also directs the EPA to identify any manufacturing processes or products that intentionally add mercury and recommend actions to achieve further reductions in mercury use.

In June 2018, the EPA finalized a rule under TSCA Section 8(b)(10)(D) to require reporting from persons who manufacture or import mercury or mercury-added products or otherwise intentionally use mercury in a manufacturing process. In November 2021, in response to a court order, the EPA amended the rule to eliminate an exemption for persons who import pre-assembled products that contain mercury-added components. As a result, those importers must now report. The rule, as amended, is codified at 40 CFR Part 713.

Under the amended rule, companies that first manufacture or import formulated products containing mercury or pre-assembled products that contain mercury-added components, such as watches that contain mercury-added batteries, are subject to reporting. However, companies engaged in the domestic manufacture of products that contain mercury-added components, who did not first manufacture or import those components, are not subject to reporting. Companies that purchase formulated products containing mercury or pre-assembled products containing mercury-added components from domestic manufacturers or distributors are also exempt.

Mercury reporting requirements

The EPA requires companies to submit their mercury information using the online Mercury Electronic Reporting (MER) application. The MER application utilizes a fill-in-the-blanks form with drop-down menus and lists of checkbox options. It is available through the EPA’s Central Data Exchange.

There are different requirements for different types of commercial activity and for companies that report mercury data under the EPA’s Chemical Data Reporting regulations or to the Interstate Mercury Education and Reduction Clearinghouse. In general, the data to report include:

• Amount of mercury manufactured, imported, stored, used, sold or exported;
• Types of products made;
• Types of manufacturing processes and how mercury is used;
• Business sectors to which mercury or mercury-added products are sold;
• Country of origin of imported mercury or mercury-added products; and
• Destination country for exported mercury or mercury-added products.

The reporting requirements apply to elemental mercury and mercury compounds including, but not limited to, those listed in the table at 40 CFR §713.5. Impacted consumer product categories include:

• Batteries;
• Formulated products (including cosmetics and pesticides);
• Lighting, lamps and bulbs; and
• Measuring instruments.

For a complete list of categories and subcategories of mercury-added products, see the table at 40 CFR §713.11(b).

Exemptions from mercury reporting

Companies do not need to report if:

• Their mercury activity is not for an immediate or eventual commercial advantage;
• They manufacture or import mercury only as an impurity;
• They engage only in the generation, handling, or management of mercury-containing waste, unless they recover mercury to place in commerce; or
• They manufacture assembled products in the United States that contain a component that is a mercury-added product, if they did not first manufacture or import the component that is a mercury-added product.

However, they must report to the EPA no matter how small the amount of mercury they manufacture, import or use. In other words, there is no de minimis amount or reporting threshold below which reporting is not required.

Mercury reporting deadlines

The Mercury Inventory Reporting rule requires reporting at three-year intervals. Companies subject to the rule must submit mercury information for calendar year 2024 by July 1, 2025.

Reference

40 CFR Part 713 - Reporting Requirements for the TSCA Inventory of Mercury Supply, Use, and Trade