Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 is a United States federal law passed by the 99th United States Congress located at Title 42, Chapter 116 of the U.S. Code, concerned with emergency response preparedness.

Community Right-to-Know Reporting Requirements (Sections 311-312) is to increase community awareness of chemical hazards and to facilitate emergency planning. This section applies to any facility that is required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under its Hazard Communication Standard to prepare or have available a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for a hazardous chemical or that has on-site, for any one day in a calendar year, an amount of a hazardous chemical equal to or greater than the following threshold limits established by the EPA:

·         10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) for hazardous chemicals; or

·         lesser of 500 pounds (230 kg) or the threshold planning quantity (TPQ) for extremely hazardous substances.

Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Reporting (Section 313) The data gathered will assist in research and development of regulations, guidelines, and standards. Under this section, The EPA is required to establish the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), an inventory of routine toxic chemical emissions from certain facilities. The original data requirements for the TRI, specified in SARA Title III, have been greatly expanded by the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990. The TRI must now also include information on source reduction, recycling and treatment.

To obtain this data, EPCRA requires each affected facility to submit a Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Form (Form R) to the EPA and designated state officials each year on July 1. A facility must file a Form R if it:

·         has 10 or more full-time employees;

·         is in a specified Standard Industrial Classification Code; and

·         manufactures more than 25,000 lb/year of a listed toxic chemical; or

·         processes more than 25,000 lb/year of a listed toxic chemical; or

·         otherwise uses more than 10,000 lb/year of a listed toxic chemical; or

·         manufactures, processes or otherwise uses a listed persistent bioaccumaltive toxic (PBT) chemical above the respective PBT's reporting threshold. PBT reporting thresholds can vary anywhere from 0.1 grams for dioxin compounds to 100 pounds (45 kg) for lead.