The following questions were submitted during the January ...€¦ · The XML schema format did not...

1

ThefollowingquestionsweresubmittedduringtheJanuary262017webinaronTRI-MEweb:

No. Question Response

1 We utilize the XML

upload method for our

reports, did the import

format change with

this redesign?

No. The XML schema format did not change for RY 2016 reporting. The

latest XML schema can be found at the Exchange Network. It is important

to check this site every year prior to starting TRI reporting as the schema

may change from year to year. We’ve made numerous improvements to

the enhanced XML Upload process. TRI‐MEweb includes a tutorial with

instructions for using the XML Upload tool. The tutorial can be accessed

from the Tutorials dropdown on the Form homepage:

2 If I have to correct an

error in a previous

year's report, will the

older report pull up

into the new

interface?

The process of correcting errors on prior years’ TRI submissions is known as

“revising.” TRI‐MEweb allows you to revise any previously submitted and

certified TRI form for your facility. These previously submitted forms are

available in TRI‐MEweb.

TRI‐MEweb includes a tutorial with instructions for revising prior years’ TRI

submissions. The tutorial is accessible from the Tutorials dropdown on the

Form homepage.

2


3 Is TRI reporting the

same as Tier II

reporting?

No. TRI Reporting is not the same as Tier II reporting. Tier II reporting is

required under Section 312 of the Emergency Planning and Community

Right‐to‐Know Act (EPCRA). More information on EPCRA Tier II reporting is

available on EPA’s EPCRA Sections 311/312 webpage. Submission of TRI

reporting forms is required under EPCRA Section 313. More information

about the TRI Program is available on the TRI Homepage.

4 Will the new Web app

allow us to download

the prior year's form?

Yes. You can download XML and PDF versions of facility and form eReceipts

for forms certified and submitted going back to Reporting Year 1991. For a

form recently submitted, eReceipts may show the form in pending status,

which indicates that EPA is still processing the submission.

You can use XML files to submit forms and revisions for the current

reporting year. The latest XML schema can be found on the Exchange

Network.

You can also import data from your facility’s prior year's forms to the

current reporting year. TRI‐MEweb includes a tutorial with instructions on

how to import your prior year data. This tutorial can be accessed from the

tutorials drop down on the Form homepage.

5 Is there a regulatory

basis for showing

release trends in TRI‐

MEweb?

Per EPCRA 313(h), it is statutorily required that EPA make TRI available “to

inform persons about releases of toxic chemicals to the environment; to

assist governmental agencies, researchers, and other persons in the

conduct of research and data gathering; to aid in the development of

appropriate regulations, guidelines, and standards; and for other similar

purposes.” The release trends graphic that is displayed on the TRI‐MEweb

application landing page (called the MY TRI page) is aimed at providing

useful information to stakeholders. The graphic shows the release trends

3


for the top five chemicals (based on quantity in pounds) reported by your

facility over the past four years.

For detailed information on release trends and other TRI data, visit the

Envirofacts site.

6 What does ESA stand

for?

The term ESA stands for Electronic Signature Agreement. An ESA is the

agreement that allows an authorized company official to electronically sign

and submit a document to EPA. The ESA is required under the Cross‐Media

Electronic Reporting Rule (CROMERR). More information on CROMERR can

be found on the CROMERR webpage.

7 Is the TRIFID the same

as the access key?

No, a TRI Facility Identifier (TRIFID) is a 15‐digit alphanumeric code assigned

by EPA to a facility’s physical location. TRIFIDs are location‐specific and do

not change with facility ownership or name changes. TRIFDS do not change

if the company moves to a new location.

An Access Key is a unique 6‐ or 7‐digit alphanumeric code used to gain

access to a facility’s reporting history record (to view/edit/withdraw any

forms submitted since Reporting Year 1991). If you are a new preparer or

certifying official and you want to access a facility’s reporting history, you

must have the Access Key for the facility.

Access keys can now be requested via email from within TRI‐MEweb. To

learn more about using TRIFIDs and Access keys in TRI‐MEweb, please view

the tutorial about how to add a facility to your TRI‐MEweb account. The

tutorial can be accessed from the Tutorials dropdown on the Form

homepage:

4


8 If a user is a certifying

official in the CEDRI

application, can I add

them to my facility

inside TRI without

having to reregister as

a certifying official?

If you have an existing CDX account and registered as a certifying official for

your organization for another EPA program (like the Compliance and

Emissions Data Reporting Interface (CEDRI)), you can add a TRI certifying

official role to your account. However, you will still need to sign a TRIFID

Signature Agreement for each of the facilities for which you will be

certifying reporting forms. The process for signing up as a TRI certifying

official for existing CDX users can be completed electronically. TRI‐MEweb

includes a tutorial to walk new TRI users with existing CDX accounts

through the process of registering as a certifying official.

9 Are we going to have

to add all facility

information or will

past information from

the old system be

transferred into the

new system?

The data that you have previously submitted using TRI‐MEweb has

migrated to the new TRI‐MEweb system and are available when you log in

to TRI‐MEweb.

There is no need for you to re‐add any facility or form information.

However, you can verify and edit your facility information at any time in

TRI‐MEweb. TRI‐MEweb includes a step‐by‐step tutorial of how to edit your

facility information, which can be accessed from the Tutorials dropdown on

the Manage Facilities page:

5


10 Will old ESAs and

other certifying official

data still be valid in the

updated TRI‐MEweb?

Yes, all preparer and certifying official information, along with their ESA

statuses, has migrated to the new TRI‐MEweb system. Certifying officials

can log in using their CDX ID and continue to certify TRI forms for the

facilities they have access to, as before.

TRI‐MEweb includes a tutorial explaining how to certify pending forms. You

can access it from the Tutorials dropdown on the My TRI homepage or

from the Pending Forms page.

11 When using the

“nominate a certifying

official” shortcut, does

the person being

nominated need a CDX

account?

Any newly nominated certifying official will eventually be required to set up

their own CDX account, add TRI‐MEweb to their CDX account, and digitally

sign a TRIFID Signature Agreement form for each facility account that is

added to the TRI‐MEweb reporting application.

However, you may nominate a new certifying official by entering the

person’s email address even if they have not started setting up their CDX

account. The newly nominated certifying official will receive an email with

instructions on how to add TRI‐MEweb and complete the ESA process if

they are existing users, and how to register for a CDX account as a

certifying official and sign an ESA, if applicable.

TRI‐MEweb includes a tutorial explaining how to nominate a certifying

official (“Managing Users”), which can be accessed from the Tutorials

dropdown on the Manage Facilities page.

6


12 Do existing users need

to do anything to

maintain facility access

in the new release?

Existing users aren’t required to do anything to access facility accounts and

forms that were previously loaded into the legacy TRI‐MEweb system. The

previously submitted data, including facility information and forms since

Reporting Year 1991, have been migrated to the new system and are

available when you log into TRI‐MEweb.

There is no need for you to re‐enter any facility or form information. If you

would like to add additional facilities to your account, TRI‐MEweb includes

a tutorial explaining how to add a facility to your account. It can be

accessed from the Tutorials dropdown on the Facility Management page

by selecting “Add Facility”:

However, if you do experience any technical difficulties please contact the

CDX Helpdesk:

7


By Chat Service: Via a chat link in TRI‐MEweb.

By telephone: Person‐to‐person telephone support is available

from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm (EST/EDT). Call our toll‐free line at 888‐

890‐1995, or +1 (970) 494‐5500 for international callers.

By E‐mail: Send an e‐mail to Technical Support at

[email protected].

13 Is it possible to upload

data from previous

years?

Yes, you can import data from your facility's prior year reporting forms

using TRI‐MEweb. Before you use the import feature, make sure your forms

can be imported. You cannot use the import feature if any of the following

is true:

The current reporting year form is pending certification.

The current reporting year form is already certified.

The chemical type is a mixture in the prior reporting year.

The current reporting year form is pending withdrawal.

The current reporting year form is already withdrawn.

To learn how to import your forms, access the Import Prior Year Data

tutorial from the Form homepage.

You can create forms for previous years (back to Reporting Year 1991)

manually using TRI‐MEweb. TRI‐MEweb includes a tutorial explaining this

process, and it can be accessed from the Form homepage.

However, if you do experience any technical difficulties please contact the

CDX Helpdesk:

8


By Chat Service: Via a chat link in TRI‐MEweb.

By telephone: Person‐to‐person telephone support is available

from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm (EST/EDT). Call our toll‐free line at 888‐

890‐1995, or +1 (970) 494‐5500 for international callers.

By E‐mail: Send an e‐mail to Technical Support at

[email protected].

14 While discussing the

“Add Form” section of

TRI‐MEweb, what do

you mean by reporting

mixtures?

“Generic chemical” forms for mixtures are created if the Emergency

Planning and Community Right‐to‐Know Act (EPCRA) Section 313 chemical

composition or concentration is withheld by the chemical supplier. If you

know the identity of your chemical, do not create a form using a generic

chemical name.

TRI‐MEweb allows you to either create a form by selecting a generic

chemical name previously used by your facility or create a form using a new

generic chemical name.

TRI‐MEweb includes a tutorial explain how to report a mixture. You can

access it from the Tutorials dropdown on the Form homepage.

15 Is there any kind of

look‐up tool for glycol

ethers? I have been

using the EPA

document "EPA 745‐R‐

00‐004" to look them

up manually.

There is no look‐up tool available for glycol ethers. The Certain Glycol

Ethers Category Guidance Document provides three lists of CAS numbers

and chemical names to aid the regulated community in determining

whether they need to report for the glycol ethers category. However, these

lists are not exhaustive. If a facility manufactures, processes, or otherwise

uses, in greater than threshold quantities, a glycol ether that meets the

category definition, whether or not that chemical is on this list, it must

9


report the chemical. This guidance document is available on TRI’s GuideME

website.

Note that there are two chemicals that are individually listed and,

accordingly, threshold determinations should be made for each of these

chemicals individually and separately from the glycol ethers category:

2‐methoxyethanol (CAS number 109‐86‐4)

2‐ethoxyethanol (CAS number 110‐80‐5).

16 Is this "re‐login"

something that will

happen to us often as

well?

No. A temporary outage occurred during the live webinar demonstration.

The only logout‐related prompt that you’re likely to receive when using TRI‐

MEweb would be a session timer that logs you out of TRI‐MEweb if you

have not been active for twenty minutes. Prior to being logged out, you will

receive a popup alert that allows you to reset the timer and remain logged

into the application.

17 Can EPA please

provide a PDF version

of the RY 2016

instructions?

The Reporting Forms and Instructions (RFI) guidance for Reporting Year

2016 is available as a PDF. Additionally, you can access it via GuideME and

the Reporting for TRI Facilities webpage. GuideME is a new website for

accessing TRI guidance materials. Each guidance document is available in a

searchable, linkable Web‐based format as well as a PDF.

18 If you import a prior

year form, do all of the

selections populate

too? For example, the

associated water

body?

Many elements of the TRI Reporting Form may be imported if you use the

prior year import option to start your form. However, the following

chemical‐specific information is not imported:

Section 5.3: Discharges to Receiving Streams or Water Bodies Release

quantity

o Basis of estimate

o Percent from Storm water

o NA checked value

Section 6.1: Discharges to Publicly Owned Treatment Works

o Release quantity

o Basis of estimate

o NA checked value

o Section 6.2: Transfers to Other Off‐Site Locations Total Transfer

o Basis of Estimate

o Treatment/Disposal/Recycling/Recovery Code

o NA checked value

Section 8.1 – 8.7: Production‐Related Waste Managed

10


o Current Year Total

o Future Year Total

o Second Future year total

Section 8.8: Non‐Production‐Related Waste

Section 8.9: Production Ratio or Activity Ratio

Section 8.10: Did Your Facility Engage in Any Newly Implemented

Source Reduction Activities for This Chemical During the Reporting

Year?

Section 8.11: Optional Pollution Prevention Information

Section 9.1: Miscellaneous Information

19 What is the user

indicating when they

select “mass balance”

as the basis for their

estimate?

A mass balance involves determining the amount of an EPCRA Section 313

chemical or chemical category entering and leaving an operation. The mass

balance is written as follows:

Input + Generation = Output + Consumption

where:

Input refers to the materials (chemicals) entering an operation. For

example, chlorine added to process water as a disinfectant would be

considered an input to the water treatment operation.

Generation identifies those chemicals created during an operation

(manufactured, including coincidental manufacturing). For example, when

nitrogen sources are used in biological wastewater treatment systems,

nitrate compounds and additional ammonia may be coincidentally

manufactured.

Output refers to the materials (chemicals) leaving an operation by various

avenues. Output avenues may include on‐site release and other on‐site

waste management activities; transfers off site for recycling, energy

recovery, treatment, storage, or disposal; or the amount of chemical that

leaves with the final product. In a printing operation, for example, pigments

in the ink may leave the operation as part of the product.

Consumption refers to the amount of chemical converted to another

substance during the operation (i.e., reacted).

11


The mass balance technique may be applied toward manufactured,

processed, or otherwise used chemicals. It is typically most useful for

otherwise used chemicals that do not become part of the final product,

such as catalysts. For large inputs and outputs, a mass balance may not be

the best estimation method, because slight uncertainties in mass

calculations can yield significant errors in the release and other waste

management estimates.

20 Will I need to migrate

forms from the old

version of TRI‐MEweb

into the new version?

All forms you have previously submitted for your facility back to Reporting

Year 1991 are available to you to in the updated TRI‐MEweb. There is no

action required on your part to move these forms. You may revise or

withdraw previously submitted data. You may also import your prior year

forms to begin your Reporting Year 2016 submission process. TRI‐MEweb

offers a tutorial that provides instructions on how to import your prior year

data. This tutorial can be accessed from the tutorials drop down on the

Form homepage in TRI‐MEweb.

21 Why would the order

of the treatment

methods matter?

The order of treatment methods can, among other outcomes, influence the

efficiency of the overall treatment.

22 Does EPA see or

review the comments

provided to data

quality errors, or will

just the certifying

official see the

comments?

Yes, EPA reviews the data quality comments provided by facilities. This

information helps, among other uses, with data quality efforts.

23 Does the certifier need

to re‐sign a TRIFID

No. You are only required to sign the TRIFID Signature Agreement once for

a facility.

12


signature agreement

each year?

If for any reason, if you had to delete and re‐add the facility to your

account then you are required to sign the TRIFID Signature Agreement

before certifying forms for the facility. By signing the TRIFID Signature

Agreement, certifying officials are confirming that they are

owner/operators or senior management officials for the reporting facility

and are authorized to certify forms for that facility.

You can check to see if you have a TRIFID Signature Agreement in place for

a facility under the “Signature Received” section of the Manage TRIFID

Signature Agreements page.

If you need to complete a TRIFID Signature Agreement, you can view a

tutorial on how to do so within TRI‐MEweb by accessing the Tutorials

dropdown on the TRI‐MEweb home page.

24 Can you demonstrate

how a certifier can

process more than one

Form R at a time?

TRI‐MEweb allows you to certify forms listed as either “Passed with

possible errors” or “Passed with no errors.” Forms waiting to be certified

are listed on the Pending Forms page. This page is visible only if you have a

certifying official role in TRI‐MEweb.

You can easily determine what role you have in TRI‐MEweb by viewing the

top banner. Next to your CDX login name, a tag will indicate whether your

role is a PREPARER or CERTIFIER.

When you are ready to certify your form, check the checkbox adjacent to

each form you want to certify and click certify. If you have multiple forms

ready for certification, you can choose to certify some or all of the forms.

13


TRI‐MEweb includes a step‐by‐step tutorial of how to certify your pending

forms, which can be accessed from the tutorials dropdown on the My TRI

homepage or from the Pending Forms page under the Forms tab.

25 How do I set up a new

facility?

There are three ways to add a facility to your account:

If you are a new preparer or certifying official for a facility and you

know that your facility has previously reported to TRI, you can choose

the “My facility has previously reported to TRI” button on the Add

Facility page to add your facility using the TRIFID, Access Key or

technical contact information. If your facility has not previously

reported to TRI, you must select the “My Facility has not previously

reported to TR”I button to add a new facility. You must first search to

see if your facility exists in the EPA database. EPA recommends

searching by address given that facility names can differ depending on

who provides the facility name. If you find a match from the search

results, you will then be able to select the facility. If you could not find

a matching facility, you can then create a new facility with your facility's

name and address.

If you are not sure whether your facility has previously reported to TRI,

you can search for your facility by name and address.

TRI‐MEweb includes a tutorial explaining how to add an existing facility to

your account or create a new TRI facility, which can be accessed from the

Tutorials dropdown on the My TRI home page.

14


The following questions were submitted during the January ...€¦ · The XML schema format did not...

Documents

Transcript of The following questions were submitted during the January ...€¦ · The XML schema format did not...