42 U.S.C. § 13106 — Source reduction and recycling data collection

(a) Reporting requirements: Any facility that must file the annual toxic chemical release form under section 11023 must also file, with that same filing, a toxic chemical source reduction and recycling report for the previous calendar year. The report must cover every toxic chemical the facility reported on its section 11023(c) release form. This section started with the report filed for the first full calendar year after November 5, 1990. (b) Items included in report: For each toxic chemical, on a facility-by-facility basis, the report must include: (1) How much of the chemical entered a waste stream or was otherwise released into the environment before recycling, treatment, or disposal that year, and how that amount changed from the year before. This number leaves out anything reported under item (7) below. If a facility cannot measure the amount directly, it may use a reasonable estimate based on good engineering judgment. (2) How much of the chemical was recycled, at the facility or elsewhere, that year, how that changed from the year before, and what recycling process was used. (3) What source reduction practices (practices that cut the chemical at its source, before it becomes waste) the facility used that year. These must be sorted into categories: (A) changes to equipment, technology, process, or procedure; (B) reformulating or redesigning products; (C) substituting raw materials; or (D) improving management, training, inventory control, materials handling, or other operations — unless the EPA Administrator sets different categories. (4) What the facility expects to report under items (1) and (2) for the next two years, shown as a percentage change from this year's numbers. (5) The ratio of the facility's production this year to its production last year, calculated to best reflect activities involving the chemical. If some other factor besides production (like feedstock use) really drives the chemical's waste levels, the facility may report an index based on that factor instead. The EPA is encouraged to build voluntary production indexes for industries to use. (6) What techniques the facility used to find ways to cut the chemical at the source — for example, employee suggestions, internal or external audits, team management, or material balance audits. Each reduction practice reported under item (3) should be linked to the technique or techniques used to find it. (7) The amount of any toxic chemical released into the environment because of a one-time event — a disaster, a cleanup action, or similar — that was not part of normal production that year. (8) How much of the chemical was treated, at the facility or elsewhere, that year, and how that changed from the year before. For a facility's very first year of reporting, it only has to compare to the prior year if that information is actually available. (c) SARA provisions: Sections 11042, 11045(c), and 11046 apply to these reports the same way they apply to the section 11023 reports. The EPA Administrator may change the section 11023 reporting form to add the extra information this section requires. (d) Additional optional information: A facility filing a report under this section may also include extra information about source reduction, recycling, and other pollution control efforts from earlier years. (e) Availability of data: Subject to section 11042, the EPA Administrator must make the data collected under this section available to the public, the same way data collected under section 11023 is made public.