EPCRA Tier II: who files, the thresholds, and the March 1 deadline
EPCRA section 312 applies to any facility that OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard requires to keep a safety data sheet, once a hazardous chemical is present at any one time at or above its threshold: 10,000 pounds for most hazardous chemicals, and 500 pounds or the threshold planning quantity, whichever is lower, for an extremely hazardous substance (40 CFR 370.10). The inventory report is due every March 1 for the previous calendar year and goes to the SERC, the LEPC and the local fire department. The federal minimum is Tier I; some states require Tier II every year under state law.
Verified against the eCFR and the Federal Register · September 26, 2026
At a glance
Who
Any facility that the OSHA HazCom Standard requires to prepare or have an SDS for a hazardous chemical, once that chemical reaches its threshold.
40 CFR 370.10(a)Most hazardous chemicals
10,000 lb present at any one time.
40 CFR 370.10(a)(2)(i)Extremely hazardous substances
500 lb or the threshold planning quantity (TPQ), whichever is lower.
40 CFR 370.10(a)(1)Deadline
On or before March 1 every year, covering the previous calendar year.
40 CFR 370.45Where it goes
The SERC, the LEPC and the fire department with jurisdiction over the facility.
40 CFR 370.44Tier I or Tier II
Tier I is the federal minimum. Tier II is due within 30 days of a request, and some states require it every year.
40 CFR 370.40(b), 370.45Who has to report
“You must comply with the reporting requirements of this part if the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) requires your facility to prepare or have available a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for a hazardous chemical and if either of the following conditions is met”
The test has two parts. First, OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard requires you to prepare or have an SDS for the chemical. Second, the chemical is present at the facility, at any one time during the year, at or above its threshold (40 CFR 370.10(a)). Tier II is EPA's rule, not OSHA's, but it starts from the same SDS library you already keep for HazCom.
A facility, for EPCRA, is all the buildings, equipment, structures and other stationary items on a single site, or on contiguous or adjacent sites, owned or operated by the same person (40 CFR 370.3). Part 370 has no exemption for a site because it is temporary. A jobsite with a bulk fuel tank, a staging yard or a chemical storage area deserves the same check as a plant.
Not counted (40 CFR 370.13, 42 U.S.C. 11047)
- Food, food additives, color additives, drugs and cosmetics regulated by the FDA.
- A substance present as a solid in a manufactured item, as long as normal use causes no exposure.
- A substance used for personal, family or household purposes, or present in the same form and concentration as a product packaged for the general public.
- A substance used in a research laboratory, hospital or medical facility under a qualified person's supervision, or in routine agricultural operations.
- Chemicals in transportation, including storage incident to transportation (EPCRA section 327).
Contractors: your jobsite is your facility
EPA answered the contractor question directly. A construction company brings hazardous chemicals onto a manufacturer's site, and only its own crews are exposed to them. Who reports? The contractor, because the contractor is the employer OSHA requires to have the SDS.
“The employer of the construction workers operates a facility during the construction phase and should, therefore, report on these hazardous chemicals if applicable thresholds are met.”
The same answer tells the site owner it does not add the contractor's chemicals to its own threshold math. For the contractor, the practical consequence is simple: the diesel, propane and coatings you stage on a project count toward your thresholds, project by project.
The thresholds
| Chemical | Threshold | 40 CFR | What it means on the ground |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hazardous chemical (any product that needs an SDS) | 10,000 lb | 370.10(a)(2)(i) | The line most jobsites cross first, with fuel, cement products or propane. |
| Extremely hazardous substance (EHS) | 500 lb or the TPQ, whichever is lower | 370.10(a)(1) | The EHS list and TPQs are in 40 CFR part 355, appendices A and B. Some TPQs sit far below 500 lb. |
| Gasoline at a retail gas station, in compliant underground tanks | 75,000 gal | 370.10(a)(2)(ii) | Retail stations only. A jobsite fuel tank uses the normal threshold. |
| Diesel at a retail gas station, in compliant underground tanks | 100,000 gal | 370.10(a)(2)(iii) | Same limit: retail stations and underground tanks only. |
| Any chemical, when the LEPC, SERC or fire department asks | Zero | 370.10(b) | A request for an SDS or for Tier II information has no threshold. |
How to count what you have
1. Take the peak, not the average
The threshold is about the amount present at any one time. The day every tank is topped off before a long weekend is the day that counts.
2. Add up the whole site
The same chemical in three storage areas on one facility is one total. For a mixture, you either add the chemical's share of every mixture to everything else on site, or report the mixture itself. An extremely hazardous substance inside a mixture always counts toward its own threshold (40 CFR 370.14). A component at 1% or less of the mixture, or 0.1% or less for a carcinogen, is not counted (370.14(c)).
Count the equipment that never leaves the site
EPA's answer on vehicles: “For example, hazardous chemicals in a forklift used only within the facility would need to be considered, while chemicals in delivery trucks parked occasionally at the facility for unloading would not.” Chemicals moving under transportation are exempt under section 327 (EPA, updated April 14, 2026).
3. Convert gallons to pounds from the SDS
Thresholds are in pounds; tanks are sold in gallons. Take the specific gravity from Section 9 of the SDS and multiply by 8.34 lb per gallon of water. A liquid with a specific gravity of 0.85 weighs about 7.09 lb per gallon, so roughly 1,410 gallons of it reach 10,000 lb.
Tier I or Tier II
What the federal rule asks
Every March 1, the inventory for the previous calendar year. Tier I, which groups chemicals by hazard category, is the minimum. Tier II, chemical by chemical, is due within 30 days when the SERC, the LEPC or the fire department asks for it (40 CFR 370.45). There is no extension: March 1 is written into the statute, and EPA says it “cannot grant extensions to the deadline” (EPA, updated April 13, 2026).
What your state may ask
EPA's rule itself notes that some states require Tier II every year under state law, and that some require electronic filing and certification. Contact your SERC for the format, the portal and any fee (40 CFR 370.40(b) and (c)). Below every threshold? Federal rules ask for nothing, but a state may require a negative report (EPA, updated March 24, 2026).
What a Tier II asks for each chemical (40 CFR 370.42(s))
- The chemical or common name and the CAS number, as the SDS gives them
- Solid, liquid or gas, and whether it is an EHS
- The hazard categories from Section 2 of the SDS
- The maximum amount on any single day, as a range code
- The average daily amount, as a range code
- The number of days it was on site
- The type of storage and the storage conditions
- Where it is stored at the facility
Most of it is already on your SDS and your chemical inventory. That is why the inventory is where Tier II starts.
Filing Tier II by state
Each state sets its own portal, format and fees. These pages quote the state's own filing instructions, with the source and the date it was read.
The one-time SDS filing (section 311)
Section 312 has a companion. Within three months of first crossing a threshold, the facility sends the SDS for each chemical, or a list of those chemicals grouped by hazard, to the LEPC, the SERC and the fire department (40 CFR 370.30, 370.32, 370.33). It is a one-time filing, updated when a new chemical crosses a threshold or when you learn significant new information about one already filed. An LEPC request for an SDS you haven't sent is due within 30 days.
The hazard categories change in 2028
EPA's rule 91 FR 37022, published June 22, 2026 and effective August 21, 2026, aligns the inventory forms with the hazard categories of the 2012 and 2024 HazCom Standard. The compliance date for the new hazard categories is January 1, 2028, and EPA expects them in the 2027 reports due March 1, 2028. The thresholds and the March 1 deadline do not change.
What a missed report costs
Section 312 inventory
$71,545
maximum civil penalty per violation, and each day it continues is a separate violation
Section 311 SDS filing
$28,619
maximum civil penalty per violation, per day
42 U.S.C. 11045(c); 40 CFR 19.4. Inflation-adjusted maximums in effect since January 8, 2025.
Tier II starts from an inventory you already keep
In HazComFast, every product on a jobsite sits on the inventory with its SDS, its quantity and its unit. The Tier II check reads that same record, jobsite by jobsite, so the name, the CAS number and the amount on the report are the ones your crew sees on the label.
Warned at 80%, not after the fact
Threshold alerts flag a product when a jobsite reaches 80% of its Tier II threshold, and again when it crosses the line. An extremely hazardous substance is measured against its own, lower threshold. From Starter: an obligation doesn't belong behind the top tier.
No density, no guess
Gallons only turn into pounds with the product's confirmed density. Until you enter it, the app shows the quantity as an estimate and never calls the product under the threshold.
The report, checked before it leaves
On Pro, the Tier II report comes out per jobsite and per year as an Excel workbook, a CSV and a PDF summary. A missing address field or a missing density stops the export until it is fixed.
- Chemical inventory by jobsiteFrom Free
- Threshold alertsFrom Starter
- Tier II reportFrom Pro
- Full record export, any timeEvery plan
Tools, guides and the rule
Free tools
- Tier II Threshold Screener
One chemical, one quantity: reportable or not.
- Tier II Builder
Draft the chemical pages of the report.
- Chemical Inventory Template
The inventory that feeds the report.
In-depth guides
EPCRA Tier II FAQ
Who has to file an EPCRA Tier II report?
Any facility that the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard requires to prepare or have available an SDS for a hazardous chemical, when that chemical is present at any one time at or above 10,000 lb, or at or above 500 lb or its threshold planning quantity (whichever is lower) for an extremely hazardous substance (40 CFR 370.10). The report covers the previous calendar year and is due March 1.
Does a construction site count as a facility?
Yes, for the contractor. EPA's answer on chemicals a construction company brings onto a client's site: "The employer of the construction workers operates a facility during the construction phase and should, therefore, report on these hazardous chemicals if applicable thresholds are met." EPCRA defines a facility as the stationary items on a single site owned or operated by the same person (40 CFR 370.3), and Part 370 has no exemption for a temporary site.
Who reports the chemicals a contractor brings onto a client's site?
The contractor. EPA's answer is that the employer of the construction workers is the one OSHA requires to have the SDS, so it reports those chemicals if a threshold is met, and the site owner does not add them to its own threshold calculations.
Does fuel in equipment and forklifts count?
Equipment used only within the facility counts. EPA: "For example, hazardous chemicals in a forklift used only within the facility would need to be considered, while chemicals in delivery trucks parked occasionally at the facility for unloading would not." Chemicals in transportation, including storage incident to transportation, are exempt under EPCRA section 327.
Can I get an extension on the March 1 deadline?
No. The date is set by EPCRA section 312 itself, and EPA states: "Since this is a statutory provision, EPA cannot grant extensions to the deadline."
Do I have to file if I'm under every threshold?
Not under federal rules: EPA says there is no negative reporting requirement. Your state may require one, or set lower thresholds and extra chemicals, so check with the SERC.
Is Tier II required, or is Tier I enough?
Under the federal rule, Tier I is the minimum annual report and Tier II is due within 30 days of a request from the SERC, the LEPC or the fire department (40 CFR 370.45). EPA's own rule notes that some states require Tier II every year under state law, and tells you to contact the SERC for the state's format (40 CFR 370.40(b) and (c)).
How do I count a chemical that is in several mixtures?
You may add up the chemical's quantity across every mixture and every other container on the site, or report the mixture itself. For an extremely hazardous substance, the EHS quantity inside mixtures always counts toward its own threshold (40 CFR 370.14). Volumes convert to pounds with the density from the SDS.
What changes with the 2026 EPA rule?
EPA's rule 91 FR 37022, published June 22, 2026 and effective August 21, 2026, aligns the inventory forms with the 2012 and 2024 HazCom hazard categories. The compliance date for the new hazard categories is January 1, 2028; EPA expects them in the 2027 reports due March 1, 2028.
What is the penalty for not filing Tier II?
A violation of the section 312 inventory requirement carries a civil penalty of up to $71,545, and each day it continues is a separate violation. For the section 311 SDS filing the maximum is $28,619 (42 U.S.C. 11045(c); 40 CFR 19.4).
Is Tier II an OSHA requirement?
No. Tier II is EPA's rule under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, enforced by EPA and the states. It rides on OSHA's HazCom Standard: only chemicals that need an SDS under HazCom count, and the hazard categories come from Section 2 of the SDS.
Sources
- ecfr.gov/current/title-40/part-370
- ecfr.gov/current/title-40/part-355
- ecfr.gov/current/title-40/section-19.4
- govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title42/html/USCODE-2023-title42-chap116-subchapIII-sec11045.htm
- federalregister.gov/documents/2026/06/22/2026-12426/epcra-hazardous-chemical-inventory-reporting-requirements-conformity-with-the-2024-osha-hazard
- epa.gov/epcra/reporting-responsibility-hazardous-chemicals-brought-site-contractors
- epa.gov/epcra/are-there-tier-ii-deadline-extensions
- epa.gov/epcra/should-hazardous-chemicals-present-vehicles-be-considered-present-facility
- epa.gov/epcra/tier-ii-negative-reporting
40 CFR part 370 and 19.4 read on the eCFR, 42 U.S.C. 11045 and 11047 on govinfo.gov, 91 FR 37022 on the Federal Register and EPA's EPCRA answers on epa.gov, all on September 26, 2026. General guidance, not legal advice. Your state may add filing requirements.
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