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Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:08:16 EST
Reply-To: MHall96162**At_Symbol_Here**AOL.COM
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: MHall96162**At_Symbol_Here**AOL.COM
Subject: Re: Tier 2 Reporting
Comments: To: AshbrookP**At_Symbol_Here**MISSOURI.EDU
2/13/07

Stefan,

I used to prepare Tier 2 reports as a consultant when it was first required 
(I think it was around 1986 or just before?) and until about three-four years 
ago when I became sensitized to chemicals and couldn't visit certain locations 
that needed to be visited before I would accept the responsibility to complete 
the reports. Most of my customers were from Louisiana, but I did reports in 
about six states. Louisiana now has electronic filing (not sure if this is 
common now in other states), so after I set companies up, it was easy for them to 
redo year after year.

Your question about what to report? I did extensive research on this years 
ago. According to the EPA regulations, you are required to report any product 
for which an MSDS is required under OSHA standards. NOW WHAT A LOADED ANSWER 
THAT IS!! 

I have called the EPA and they tell me no different from what I just wrote 
above. They said it is not up to the EPA to determine what products to report 
(except for EHS materials) and that you must file according to whether you 
maintain MSDSs on your site as required by OSHA. I think the EPA was smart enough 
to realize that this took any responsibility on "what to report" off their back.

I've called OSHA several times about what chemicals require an MSDS. They 
tell me that if a product can cause any harm, including "affecting the eyes and 
skin", there must be an MSDS. I mentioned that baby shampoo claims to be safe 
for the eyes. If I was making large quantities of baby shampoo for commercial 
use, would I need an MSDS? The answer was, "Yes, because even though the baby 
shampoo may not harm your eyes, if there is a chance that a user could have 
his/hers eyes affected by the shampoo, then that person has a right to have 
pertinent safety information and you must have an MSDS.

Go figure!

ALSO, I used to file reports for oil drilling operators in Texas and 
Louisiana. I was specifically told by both states (LA & TX) that sand contains silica, 
and silica can cause silicosis and other breathing problems. They said that 
sand must be reported. It's been a joke through the years that when we go to 
the beach at Destin, Florida, I have an MSDS on sand so as to "protect everyone 
on the beach". Just kidding, but people laugh about reporting sand as a 
"hazardous product" and then spending a week at the beach.

The Best One Yet: Louisiana used to publish a list of chemicals that were 
reported to the state and Louisiana assigned a special five digit number to each 
chemical submitted on Tier 2s, that must be listed on the report along with 
chemicals CAS number, if there is one. I believe this turned out to be a 
nightmare as so many companies listed brand names for blends of chemicals and due to 
other "problems" the list became unmanageable. If you listed a chemical 
without a state code number, the state would assign one to you for that chemical and 
it was to be listed the next year. The State stopped publishing such a list 
several years ago, NOW, the good part is that one year someone listed "water" 
on their Tier 2 and the state listed "water" on their list with its CAS number 
and LA. code number. LA did remove water from the list, but I still have the 
state supplied book with the list containing "water". 

Again, I used to joke that it is possible to drink too much water and 
possibly collapse your kidneys (or whatever) and that is why there was an MSDS 
available. By the way, a radio station recently had a contest concerning who could 
drink the most water within a certain time period. A female died from an 
"overdose" of water. The DJs who came up with the contest idea were fired.

I brought the water issue up at a Jefferson Parish, LA council meeting when 
they were discussing collecting a parish fee for filing Tier 2s. And since 
Louisiana's threshold reporting quantity is 500#, not 10,000# under the federal 
rules, you can imagine how many companies should be filing.

For example, I went to a local Louisiana Ace Hardware store and the manager 
was discussing the fact that they were filing Tier 2s. When I told him that 
consumer packaged products sold for household use, etc., were exempt from 
reporting, he informed me that they keep two 55-gallon drums of mineral spirits in 
the back to fill customer supplied cans. Louisiana law - over 500#, has a MSDS, 
is not consumer package - must be reported.

I have not kept up with the Tier 2 rules, either state or federal, but do 
know I went through the years when these agencies were trying to sort out 
problems. I'm not sure how or if things have changed. Also, each state looked at 
these reports with different scrutiny and each state usually gave me "their" 
interpretation of the law - and they were seldom the same interpretations.

I could go on and answer your other questions, but as you can tell, once I 
get started I don't easily quit. This e-mail is long enough as it is.

Mike Hall
Regulations Management
Covington, LA

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