IUR
Petition
for
Consideration
for
Inclusion
in
the
Specific
Chemical
Substances
Partial
Exemption
Docket
Cover
Sheet
The
Environmental
Protection
Agency
(
EPA)
has
received
a
petition
dated
December
31,
2003,
from
Celanese
Chemical,
to
exempt
Formaldehyde
(
CAS
No.
50­
00­
0)
from
the
reporting
of
processing
and
use
elements
of
the
EPA
Inventory
Update
Rule
(
IUR),
40
C.
F.
R.
710.
This
docket
contains
the
petition,
EPA's
decision
document,
and
other
support
documents.

What
is
the
Inventory
Update
Rule?

The
TSCA
Inventory
Update
Rule
(
IUR)
requires
the
submission
of
basic
production
data
every
four
years
on
chemical
substances
manufactured
(
including
imported)
for
commercial
purposes
in
amounts
of
25,000
pounds
or
more
at
a
single
site.
Out
of
80,000
chemicals
on
the
TSCA
Chemical
Substance
Inventory,
reports
are
required
for
approximately
9,000
substances.
For
those
substances
with
annual
volumes
of
300,000
lbs
or
more
per
site,
reporters
also
submit
chemical
processing
and
use
information.
To
learn
more
about
the
IUR,
access
http://
www.
epa.
gov/
opptintr/
iur/.

What
is
the
"
low
current
interest"
partial
exemption?

Certain
chemicals
for
which
the
IUR
processing
and
use
information
is
of
"
low
current
interest"
are
now
partially
exempt
from
reporting
and
manufacturers
and
importers
of
such
chemicals
are
not
required
to
report
processing
and
use
information
for
that
chemical;
see
40
C.
F.
R
§
710.46(
b)(
2).
EPA
has
determined
that,
at
this
time,
the
IUR
downstream
information
associated
with
the
listed
chemicals
is
of
low
current
interest.
EPA
may
amend
the
list
of
partially
exempt
chemicals
on
its
own
initiative
or
in
response
to
a
request
from
the
public.
This
petition
is
a
request
from
the
public
for
a
chemical
to
be
added
to
the
partial
exemption.

In
making
its
determination
of
whether
this
partial
exemption
should
apply
to
a
particular
chemical
substance,
EPA
will
consider
the
totality
of
information
available
for
the
chemical
substance
in
question,
including
but
not
limited
to,
one
or
more
of
the
following
considerations:

(
A)
Whether
the
chemical
qualifies
or
has
qualified
in
past
IUR
collections
for
the
reporting
of
the
information
described
in
§
710.52(
c)(
4)
(
i.
e.,
at
least
one
site
manufactures
300,000
pounds
or
more
of
the
chemical).

(
B)
The
chemical
substance's
chemical
and
physical
properties
or
potential
for
persistence,
bioaccumulation,
health
effects,
or
environmental
effects
(
considered
independently
or
together).

(
C)
The
information
needs
of
EPA,
other
federal
agencies,
tribes,
states,
and
local
governments,
as
well
as
members
of
the
public.

(
D)
The
availability
of
other
complementary
risk
screening
information.

(
E)
The
availability
of
comparable
processing
and
use
information.

(
F)
Whether
the
potential
risks
of
the
chemical
substance
are
adequately
managed
by
EPA
or
another
agency
or
authority.

How
will
the
Agency's
decision
be
made
known?

Petition
status
will
be
listed
on
EPA's
website.
Access
http://
www.
epa.
gov/
opptintr/
iur
for
further
information
concerning
this
petition.
