When Submittals Are Due

Substantial risk information that must be reported to EPA must be submitted immediately, a term that has no statutory definition in TSCA. In its 2003 Reporting Guidance, EPA stated that a person has immediately informed the Administrator if human health information is received by the EPA not later than the thirtieth calendar day after the date the person obtained such information. The EPA has said it is not sufficient for the submittal to be postmarked within thirty days, and it is up to the submitter to ensure that the EPA receives it within the required time frame. Emergency incidents of environmental contamination must be reported to the EPA by telephone as soon as the person has knowledge of the incident. That could be on the order of minutes or hours, but it would be difficult to argue that waiting a full day is contemplated. If the information is required to be, and has been, reported under another statute administered by EPA, such as CERCEA, the TSCA 8(e) report is unnecessary. Any supplementary information must also be reported immediately. 

The reporting clock starts when any officer or employee of the business who is capable of appreciating the significance of the information first comes into possession of the information. If a prudent person similarly situated could reasonably be expected to have or know the information then the person and the company will be deemed to have it that is, ignorance is not a complete excuse for failure to submit information tmder TSCA 8(e). 

To be in possession does not require having a written copy of the information. Knowledge of substantial risk information can be acquired through personal conversations, presentations, and telephone calls. 

A similar issue can occur in a corporate acquisition or merger. Toxicity data in the possession of an acquired foreign entity may come within the possession of a U.S. acquirer by virtue of a corporate stock or asset transaction thus triggering an obligation to immediately report substantial risk information concerning a chemical substance or mixture that the U.S. parent or affiliate manufactures, imports, or distributes in commerce. 

Section 8(e) reportable information may arise in a wide variety of settings, including draft, interim, or final written reports or verbal reports that involve 

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