Tier II Overview
The Bureau of Occupational & Industrial Safety/Pennsafe Program in Pennsylvania is responsible for collecting Tier II reports from facilities owners and operators. These reports contain information about hazardous chemicals present at the facility in the previous year.
Pennsylvania facilities must submit their Tier II reports online through the Pennsylvania Tier II System (PATTS), as submitting through any other online or electronic reporting program does not fulfill the reporting requirements.
Tier II Report Process
In addition, the current data and attachments are rolled forward into the next year to make reporting faster and easier.
PATTS accommodates annual, initial, revision, and update reporting online. The Annual Report for the prior calendar year is due by March 1. A Revision Report is utilized when a facility needs to amend a prior annual report submission. An Update Report can be utilized for changing information that is not substance-related but could be important in the event of an incident at a facility, such as changes in contact personnel, phone numbers, or email addresses for facility contacts listed on Tier II.
Pennsylvania's Five-Day Initial Chemical Reporting Rule
In addition to the annual reporting, Pennsylvania facilities are required to report the presence of a new hazardous material within 5 business days of the hazardous material first being present at the facility at reporting quantity. Accordingly, facilities must submit an Initial Tier II Report, the accompanying Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for the substance and an updated site plan to the state, as well as to their LEPC and responding local fire department(s), if they bring onsite any new hazardous material meeting the established threshold requirements that had not been reported as being present during the previous calendar year.
An Initial Report can be easily filed in PATTS. Hazardous materials reported under this requirement must be reported again at the time of the next annual filing date with the appropriate fee payment. While the Annual Report identifies the total number of days each substance was onsite during the calendar year, an Initial advises the number of days that the new substance was onsite as of the report filing date.
Relevant Legislation
Reporting is required under federal SARA Title III, Section 312, and Pennsylvania's Hazardous Material Emergency Planning & Response Act (Act 165 of 1990). Pennsylvania adheres to the hazardous substance designations and quantities as established under EPCRA.
List: Chemicals considered hazardous under the federal OSHA Hazard Communication Standard.
Reporting Thresholds: Minimum thresholds have been established for Tier II reporting under Title III, Section 312. The federally established reporting thresholds are as follows:
For Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHSs) designated under section 302 of Title III, the reporting threshold is 500 pounds (or 227 kg.) or the threshold planning quantity (TPQ), whichever of those two amounts is lower. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) List of Lists should be consulted for the actual reporting quantities.
For all other hazardous substances for which facilities are required to have or prepare a Safety Data Sheet (SDS), the minimum reporting threshold is 10,000 pounds (or 4,540 kg.). Liquids must be converted from gallons to pounds for Tier II reporting.
On the Annual Report that is due March 1, a facility must report hazardous substances that were present at their facility at levels that equaled or exceeded these thresholds at any time during the previous calendar year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Any Pennsylvania facility that is required to maintain SDSs (previously known as MSDSs) under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations for hazardous chemicals stored or used in the workplace and meets any of the federal SARA Title III, Section 312 and/or Pennsylvania Act 165 of 1990, Section 207(c) criteria below:
1. For Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHSs) designated under section 302 of Title III, the reporting threshold is 500 pounds (or 227 kg.) or the threshold planning quantity (TPQ), whichever is lower.
- See EPA's List of Lists used to determine EHSs and the TPQs
- If an EHS meets the Threshold Planning Quantity, a 302 Notification letter must be sent to the SERC at PEMA, your LEPC/EMA Office, and Fire Department.
2. Gasoline and diesel fuel stored entirely underground at retail gas stations that comply with requirements for underground storage tanks (USTS). The thresholds for these products are as follows:
- Gasoline – 75,000 gallons.
- Diesel fuel – 100,000 gallons
3. For all other hazardous chemicals (including if SDS states Hazards Not Otherwise Classified): 10,000 pounds
- View EPRCA Sections 311-312 for reference
The following types of reports are required to be submitted:
1. Annual Tier II Report Requirements: A facility must file an Annual Tier II report listing the hazardous chemicals that were present at the facility at levels that equal or exceed these thresholds at any time during the previous calendar year. These annual reports and the related fees are due March 1. View Instructions on submitting an Annual Report.
2. Revision Tier II Report Requirements: A facility must file a Revision report to correct errors or omissions in previously submitted Annual Reports. Revision reports can be submitted to revise the most recently submitted Annual Report and/or for prior submitted Annual reports. View Instructions on submitting a Revision Report.
3. Initial Tier II Report Requirements: If a new hazardous chemical is brought onsite during the calendar year OR if the quantity of a hazardous chemical that was already onsite reaches the reporting amount, a facility is required to report that chemical within five (5) business days as an Initial Report. The fee for an initial chemical report will not be due until the next annual reporting cycle. You must add a new chemical in order for PATTS to allow you to submit the report. View Instructions on submitting an Initial Report.
4. Update Report Requirements: AN UPDATE REPORT SHOULD NOT BE SUBMITTED IN LEIU OF AN ANNUAL, INITIAL or REVISION REPORT. Update reports should be submitted to capture changes to facility contacts or chemical quantities/locations onsite during the current calendar year. Please note that if a chemical location changes, an updated site plan will also need to be attached to the Update Report.
Resources:
Substance Reporting Exemptions per CFR 40 Part 370
Section 311 (e) of SARA, Title III excludes the following substances:
- FDA Regulated Products: Any food, food additive, color additive, drug, or cosmetic regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.
- Articles: Any substance present as a solid in any manufactured item to the extent exposure to the substance does not occur under normal conditions of use.
- Household Packaged Products: Any substance to the extent it is used for personal, family, or household purposes, or is present in the same form and concentration as a product packaged for distribution and use by the general public.
- Substances used in Research and Development Labs, Hospitals or other Medical Facilities: Any substance to the extent it is used in a research laboratory or a hospital or other medical facility under the direct supervision of a technically qualified individual.
Any substance to the extent it is used in routine agricultural operations or is a fertilizer held for sale by a retailer to the ultimate customer.
For non-voluntary reports, PA Act 165 of 1990 charges $10.00 per chemical. County fees are separate from the state and vary per county. Contact the facility's LEPC for questions regarding county fees.
Review 1990 Act 165 for reference.
No, facilities must pay associated fees for chemicals noted as "Hazards Not Otherwise Classified" in its SDS.
The facilities would still need to report even though the physical and health hazards are noted only as "Hazards Not Otherwise Classified" and are subject to the chemical fees if at or over the 10,000 lbs. or the TPQ for EHS. Below is an EPA link I found that supports this guidance.
Review the Revised Hazard Categories for EPCRA 311-312 Reporting
The following items must be included in a site plan:
- File must be PDF or TIF <5MB
- Facility ID # as provided by Pennsafe
- Facility Name
- Facility Address (If no street address, include driving directions from the nearest intersection)
- Latitude/Longitude
- Directional North
- Show the actual street orientation
- Identify the location of each substance being reported or include a legend with the chemicals and location
Review Tier II Reporting in Pennsylvania for more information.
There are two ways to report Lead Acid Batteries.
The first method to report lead acid batteries is as follows:
1. The CAS # for a lead acid battery should be N/A. "Chemical Name" should state Lead Acid Battery.
2. Lead Acid batteries contain an EHS, so "Contains EHS" should be checked off
3. "Mix," "liquid," and "solid" should also be selected and the system will then provide you with the ability to enter the mixture components. Those mixture components should identify the Lead and the Sulfuric Acid and their percentages of the total weight, which you can find in your SDS.
The second method to report lead acid batteries is to report the lead and sulfuric acid separately. You would have to add each of those chemicals into the chemical inventory area of the report separately and then attach separate SDS's for each of those chemicals (One for Lead and One for Sulfuric Acid). EHS would need checked for Sulfuric Acid.
Typically, one lead acid battery has about 432 pounds of sulfuric acid and 1,690 pounds of lead. That means if you have two or more batteries on site, the sulfuric acid would need to be reported and if six or more batteries are on site, then the lead would need to be reported. When an EHS is reported over the Threshold Planning Quantity, a 302 Notification letterOpens In A New Window
must be sent to the SERC at PEMA, your LEPC/EMA Office, and Fire Department. If that was previously done, then it doesn't need to be done again. A copy of the most recent calendar year's Tier II report will need to be sent to your local Fire Department.
If chemicals were onsite at some point during the calendar year at reportable quantities, an Annual Report will need completed when that calendar year's Annual Report option is available in PATTS (usually by January 2 of the following year). Once that is completed and fees are paid, email ra-li-psaf-patts@pa.gov to request an Exemption Letter Form for you to complete and return. Pennsafe staff can then change the status of your facility to inactive and delete your username if you have no other facilities in your account.
Helpful Tip: Submit an Update Report and reduce the chemical amount to one pound if the facility closed, but you need to submit the future Annual Report.
Note: Please also contact your facility's LEPC if your facility plans to close or remove/reduce hazardous chemicals for any additional procedures they may have.
Review information for Facilities that Close During a Reporting Year.
You must submit the trade secret substantiation form with EPA. Review EPCRA Trade Secret Forms and Instructions for additional information.
Yes, any chemicals onsite at the Reporting Threshold or that meet the EHS TPQ and have SDS's stating physical and health hazards as "Hazards Not Otherwise Classified" are required to be reported in Tier II Reports. An SDS stating "Hazards Not Otherwise Classified" does not exempt a facility from reporting the chemical(s).
Review the Revised Hazard Categories for EPCRA 311-312 Reporting.