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Frequently Asked Questions
2012 Chemical Data Reporting

Determining If You Are a Manufacturer or Importer Required to Report

16. Small Quantities for Research and Development

16.1 If a company manufactures a small quantity of a chemical substances solely for research and development, is CDR reporting required?
No. A chemical substance manufactured solely in small quantities for research and development need not be reported under the CDR regulation (40 CFR 711.50(a)). However, the company must be sure that it can verify that this chemical substance is used solely for research and development.


16.2 A company manufactures 26,000 pounds of a chemical substance, uses 2,000 pounds for research and development, and sells the remaining chemical substances for industrial uses. Is CDR required?
Yes. A person is exempt from CDR requirements for a chemical substance manufactured for research and development only if they do not also manufacture the chemical substance for other uses (40 CFR 711.10(a)). The total amount of the chemical substance manufactured must be reported because, in this scenario, the reporting threshold is exceeded.


17. Articles


17.1 If a chemical substance is part of an article when it is imported, is the chemical substance reportable under the CDR regulation?
Maybe. If the chemical substance is imported solely as part of an article and is not intended to come out of the article during use, the chemical substance is exempt from CDR reporting. An article is defined in 40 CFR 704.3 as “a manufactured item (1) which is formed to a specific shape or design during manufacture, (2) which has end-use function(s) dependent in whole or in part upon its shape or design during end use, and (3) which has either no change of chemical composition during its end use or only those changes of composition which have no commercial purpose separate from that of the article, and that result from a chemical reaction that occurs upon end use of other chemical substances, mixtures, or articles; except that fluids and particles are not considered articles regardless of shape or design.” For example, a pen is considered an article and is not subject to reporting; the ink in the pen is not considered to be part of the article because it is intended to come out of the pen in order for it to be used and is subject to reporting.


17.2 If a company imports metal ingots that are melted and reshaped into finished products in the U.S., is the company required to submit a Form U for the ingots that are imported?
Probably, yes. Although chemical substances imported as part of an article are exempt from CDR reporting (40 CFR 711.10(b)), ingots typically do not qualify for this exemption. If an item is manufactured or imported in a particular shape for convenience during shipping and the shape of the item has no function in the end use, it would not be considered an article. A metal ingot is typically intended to be melted and extruded; the shape or design of the end use application is independent of the shape of the ingot. Consequently, the importation of chemical substances that are present in ingots must be reported for CDR.


17.3 If a company purchases metal ingots from a domestic supplier that are subsequently melted and reshaped into finished products, is the company required to submit a Form U for the ingots that are purchased from a domestic supplier?
No. Even though the ingots do not qualify for the article exemption, the company is not manufacturing (or importing) the metal ingots but is only processing them. The CDR rule applies only to manufacturers (including importers) of chemical substances.


17.4 A metal alloy disk containing iron, nickel, cobalt, and other metals is imported and subsequently machined to design specifications and assembled into the final product. The shape of the imported disk is commonly referred to as “near-final-shape,” in that its overall shape and dimensions are largely preserved following the machining process. Does EPA consider the metal alloy disk an article for CDR purposes?
An article is an item manufactured in a specific shape or design that has end use function dependent upon its shape or design. In addition, an article has either no change of chemical composition during its end use or only those changes of composition that have no commercial purpose separate from that of the article (40 CFR 704.3). In this fact pattern, the disk is imported in near-final-shape which is maintained as the part is machined from the disk, the use of the disk depends on the near-net shape of the disk, and the chemical composition of the article does not change during machining or use except for any unintended corrosion. Accordingly, the disk comports with the definition of an article and the chemical substances comprising the disk would not need to be reported under CDR.


17.5 Can imported metal powders ever be considered "articles" regardless of their end use?
Powders cannot be considered articles. See the definition of article in 40 CFR 704.3 and repeated above in response to D.4.b-1.

18. Impurities


18.1 Must impurities be reported under the CDR regulation?
No. Impurities are exempted from CDR requirements. See 40 CFR 711.10(c) and 40 CFR 720.30(h)(1). An impurity is defined as a chemical substance which is unintentionally present with another chemical substance (40 CFR 704.3). Impurities are not manufactured for distribution in commerce as chemical substances per se and have no commercial purpose separate from the substance, mixture, or article of which they are a part.


18.2 A company purchases Chemical X which contains impurities, and then uses Chemical X as a reactant to manufacture Chemical Y. The impurities that were present in Chemical X may then be present in Chemical Y and there may be other impurities in Chemical Y. Must the company now report the impurities in Chemical Y because they are present in a chemical substance that the company has manufactured?
If the impurities retain their status as impurities (i.e., they remain unintentionally present with Chemical Y) then they are not reportable. However, it should be noted that the company may possibly also have manufactured one or more reportable byproducts as part of making Chemical Y.


19. Non-Isolated Intermediates

19.1 Reactants C and D are charged to a vessel where they react to form Chemical P. Chemical E is then added to the reaction vessel and Chemical P is completely consumed in the formation of Chemical Q, which is then drummed for shipment. Is the manufacture of Chemical P subject to CDR requirements?
No it is not. In this example, EPA considers Chemical P to be a “non-isolated intermediate” because it is not stored in or intentionally removed from the reaction vessel in which it is manufactured and it is reacted in that vessel to form another chemical substance. Persons who manufacture chemical substances solely as non-isolated intermediates are exempt from CDR requirements for those chemical substances (40 CFR 711.10(c) which references 40 CFR 720.30(h)). Note, however, that Chemical Q is reportable if 25,000 pounds or more of this chemical substance are manufactured at the site during the reporting year.


19.2 Does sampling for quality control purposes negate the non-isolated intermediate status of a chemical substance?
No. Sampling for quality control does not negate the non-isolated intermediate status of a chemical substance.


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