SGCDpro testifies on TRI Lead rule burden reduction
Andy Bopp, SGCDpro's Director of Public Affairs, testified in May before the House Small Business Committee on EPA's efforts to reduce the TRI Lead rule reporting burden for small glass and ceramic decorators. The hearing focused on current efforts by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to work with federal agencies including EPA to minimize regulatory burdens on small business. House Small Business Committee Chairman Don Manzullo (R-IL) commented after Bopp's testimony that small American manufacturers including glass and ceramic decorators "should not have to fight their own government along with foreign competitors and foreign governments." He also demanded that EPA provide his Committee with details of its efforts to streamline the TRI reporting process for small businesses.
SGCDpro and others have pressed EPA for burden relief for TRI Lead reporters ever since the rule was issued in 2001. In SIC 32 which includes the glass and ceramic industry, 532 Form Rs for lead and lead compounds were filed for the 2001 reporting year. Of these submissions, 31% of companies reported 0 release to the environment, and an additional 16% of companies reported release between 0 and 1 pound. 57% of companies in SIC 32 reported less than 10 pounds of annual release to the environment. As SGCDpro has informed EPA, the majority of these companies are small businesses, and these results were not unexpected.
EPA has indicated that it hopes to issue a formal burden reduction rule by February 2005 after it completes an analysis of its recent Stakeholder Dialog. Options include the creation of a simple "Form NS" which small TRI Lead reporters could utilize to indicate that there had been no significant change in process or waste disposal from a baseline TRI reporting year as well as restored eligibility for "Form A" usage for other TRI Lead reporters. Contact Andy Bopp, 703-838-2810, for more details or for a copy of his Small Business Committee testimony.