Natural gas processing facilities now subject to TRI reporting

EPA has issued a final rule that adds natural gas processing facilities to the sectors covered by the reporting requirements of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), commonly known as the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), and the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA).

The rule applies for the reporting year beginning January 1, 2022, with the first reports from these facilities due on July 1, 2023. EPA says that this action will provide important additional information to nearby communities regarding what toxic chemicals are nearby and how they are being managed. This is particularly crucial for fenceline communities — according to EPA, approximately 1.4 million people live within three miles of at least one of the 482 natural gas processing facilities identified nationwide.

EPA describes natural gas processing facilities as those that “receive gas from off-site wells, and then further process the gas to meet industrial or pipeline specifications and extract heavier liquid hydrocarbons from the prepared field natural gas.” Some of these facilities were already covered under TRI, specifically those that primarily recover sulfur from natural gas. The finalized TRI reporting rule expands this coverage to all facilities that process natural gas, and it is estimated that at least 321 such facilities in the United States and its territories would meet reporting thresholds for at least one of the 21 TRI-listed chemicals typically involved in natural gas processing.

Key to remember: As of January 1, natural gas processing facilities must now comply with reporting requirements of the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), with first reports due July 1, 2023.