EPA Revises Hazardous Chemical Inventory Reporting Regulations

A final rule published by EPA on June 22 amends the hazardous chemical inventory reporting regulations of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, or EPCRA, to conform with updates OSHA made to its hazard communication standard (HCS) in 2012 and 2024. EPCRA is intended to help communities prepare for chemical emergencies by requiring facilities to report on the storage, use, and releases of certain hazardous and toxic chemicals. The act, which stemmed from concerns related to what many have called the world’s deadliest industrial accident—the accidental release of methyl isocyanate from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, in 1984—was passed in 1986. 

Under the new rule, EPA will remove the term “material safety data sheet” or MSDS from applicable sections of EPCRA, leaving the term “safety data sheet” or SDS, a change that was among the 2012 OSHA HCS amendments. EPA will also revise the definition of safety data sheet to conform with OSHA’s standard. Further amendments made to the OSHA HCS in 2024 were intended to improve the amount and quality of information on SDSs and help workers and first responders act more quickly in emergencies. EPA’s new rule will “directly [incorporate] the OSHA hazard categories as the EPCRA hazard categories,” EPA states.

EPCRA’s hazardous chemical inventory reporting requirements are described in sections 311 and 312 of the act. These sections require facilities that handle or store hazardous chemicals to submit SDSs to their state emergency response commission, local emergency planning committee, and local fire department. Facilities are also required to submit an emergency and hazardous chemical inventory form to these entities.

EPA’s final rule will go into effect on Aug. 21, 2026. The agency expects facilities to use the new hazard categories by Jan. 1, 2028, and for hazardous chemical inventory forms submitted for the 2027 EPCRA section 312 reporting period, which are due March 1, 2028, to reflect these changes.

Further details can be found in the Federal Register and on EPA’s website.