The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notified the Office of Management and Budget in October that it will consider requiring industries to report releases of certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to air, land, and water.
Requiring industries report releases of certain PFAS to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is the first step in the EPA’s rulemaking process and considered the first major action under its PFAS Action Plan.
TRI tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. U.S. facilities in different industry sectors must report annually how much of each chemical is released — emitted to the air or water or placed in some type of land disposal — in the environment or is being managed through recycling, energy recovery, and treatment.
The notice didn’t say which PFAS the EPA might include, but it identifies industries that might be affected: fiber mills, carpet and upholstery, petroleum refiners, chemical manufacturing, and home-furnishing wholesalers.