Federal Register Notice: Compliance Date for Automated Export System (AES) Filing

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AES Filing Compliance Date

The AES filing compliance date for hazardous waste exports is December 31, 2017.

Starting on December 31, 2017, all U.S. exporters of manifested hazardous waste, universal waste, and spent lead-acid batteries for recycling or disposal, and all exporters of cathode ray tubes for recycling will be required to file EPA information in the Automated Export System or AESDirect for each export shipment. The AES resides in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CPB's) Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). Paper processes will no longer be allowed on or after the compliance date.

This new requirement is part of the changes made under the Hazardous Waste Export-Import Revisions final rule that became effective on December 31, 2016. In that action, EPA provided flexibility to the regulated community by establishing a transition period prior to the required filing of EPA information into the AES for export shipments within the scope of the rule.

EPA stated in the final rule that during the transition period, either paper or electronic processes at the port could be used until a future AES filing compliance date, which would be announced in a separate Federal Register notice. EPA announced the AES filing compliance date of December 31, 2017.

View the announcement in the Federal Register.

Frequent Questions about the AES Filing Compliance Date

The following are frequent questions about the AES filing compliance date.

What is the Automated Export System?

The Automated Export System is a joint venture between CBP, the Foreign Trade Division of the Bureau of the Census (U.S. Department of Commerce), the Bureau of Industry and Security (U.S. Department of Commerce), the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (U.S. Department of State), other federal agencies, and the export trade community.

It is the central point through which export shipment data required by multiple agencies is filed electronically to CBP, using the efficiencies of Electronic Data Interchange. AES provides an alternative to filing paper Electronic Export Information. Export information is collected electronically and edited immediately, and errors are detected and corrected at the time of filing. AES is a nationwide system operational at all ports and for all methods of transportation. It was designed to assure compliance with and enforcement of laws relating to exporting, improve trade statistics, reduce duplicate reporting to multiple agencies and improve customer service.

Does this compliance date have to be adopted by my state?

No, this announcement does not change regulatory text. The final rule established the regulatory requirements that go into effect on the AES filing compliance date of December 31, 2017. That final rule went into effect in all states on December 31, 2016, since import and export requirements are administered by the federal government as a foreign policy matter. But even though the federal government administers the import and export procedures, state programs are still required to adopt the provisions in the final rule to maintain their equivalency with the federal program.

What requirements are triggered by this announcement?

Starting on December 31, 2017, exporters of manifested hazardous waste under title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 262, universal waste under 40 CFR part 273 and spent lead-acid batteries for recycling or disposal under 40 CFR part 266 are required to comply with 40 CFR section 262.83(a)(6)(ii). Exporters of cathode ray tubes for recycling under 40 CFR part 261 are required to comply with 40 CFR section 261.39(a)(5)(v)(B). These sections require the exporter or a U.S. authorized agent to file specific EPA information for each export shipment in the AES along with the other information required under title 15 of the CFR section 30.6.

Additionally, after December 31, 2018, exporters of manifested hazardous waste under 40 CFR part 262, universal waste under 40 CFR part 273, spent lead-acid batteries for recycling or disposal under 40 CFR part 266 and cathode ray tubes for recycling under 40 CFR part 261 are required to submit electronic export annual reports using EPA’s Waste Import Export Tracking System (WIETS), or its successor system. Export annual reports are due by March 1 of each year, so 100 percent electronic submittal of export annual reports under 40 CFR section 261.39(a)(5)(x)-(xi) and 40 CFR section 262.83(g) will be required for the export annual reports due by March 1, 2019.

What specific information are exporters required to file in the AES starting on December 31, 2017?

Exporters must file Electronic Export Information (EEI) for each shipment to the AES or its successor system, under the International Trade Data System platform, in accordance with 15 CFR section 30.4(b), and include the following items in the EEI, along with the other information required under 15 CFR section 30.6:

EPA license code (i.e., “PGAEP1” and “Y” to indicate EPA license required);
Commodity classification code (called Schedule B or Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code) for each hazardous waste per 15 CFR section 30.6(a)(12) (e.g., “8548.10.0540” if you are shipping spent lead-acid storage batteries from autos for recycling);
EPA consent number for each hazardous waste (e.g., if your consent number for waste stream one is 007071/12E/13.001, you would remove special characters and provide 0070712E13001);
Country of ultimate destination code per 15 CFR section 30.6(a)(5) (e.g., “CA” for Canada);
Date of export per 15 CFR section 30.6(a)(2) (i.e., MMDDYYYY);
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste manifest tracking number, if required (e.g., the 12 alphanumeric identifier listed in Box 4 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act RCRA uniform hazardous waste manifest required for a shipment of manifested hazardous waste);
Quantity of each hazardous waste in shipment and units for reported quantity, if required reporting units established by value for the reported commodity classification number are in units of weight or volume per 15 CFR section 30.6(a)(15); or
EPA net quantity for each hazardous waste reported in units of kilograms if solid or in units of liters if liquid, if required reporting units established by value for the reported commodity classification number are not in units of weight or volume.

Where can I get help on how to file the required information in AES?

EPA held three webinars for exporters on how to file the EPA information in AES on January 18, 2017, May 8, 2017 and June 5, 2017. Materials and recordings of the May and June webinars are available at:

Click the "View Archive" button on these pages above to access the recordings of the webinars.

To request a conference call with EPA to test AES filing live with EPA on the line, contact Roy Chaudet. We recommend that you reach out in September to schedule a test filing before filing your first live export shipment in AES to minimize potential delays with your shipment at the border.

If you have any issues with AES filing, especially with specific commodity codes not being recognized as RCRA-subject codes, please email Roy Chaudet and Laura Coughlan for assistance.