TSCA Reporting Requirements: Form U, PFAS Rule, and Penalties

If you manufacture or import chemicals for commercial purposes in the United States, TSCA reporting requirements likely apply to you in two distinct ways: the recurring Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) cycle, whose next submission window runs June 1 through September 30, 2028, and a separate one-time PFAS report under Section 8(a)(7).¹ Both obligations sit under the Toxic Substances Control Act, both are enforced by EPA, and both carry civil penalties that now reach $49,772 per day per violation.²

Who Has to File

TSCA defines “manufacture” to include importing a chemical substance into the United States, so importers carry the same obligations as domestic producers.³ Section 8(a) of the Act requires every person who manufactures or processes a chemical on the TSCA Inventory to keep records and submit reports as EPA reasonably requires.⁴

For CDR specifically, the general trigger is 25,000 pounds or more of a reportable chemical at a single site during any calendar year in the reporting period.⁵ The threshold is per site, not company-wide. If you run three plants, you evaluate each one independently. Volumes consumed entirely in on-site processes still count if they were manufactured at the site.

The threshold drops to 2,500 pounds per site for chemicals subject to certain TSCA risk-management actions, including Significant New Use Rules and orders issued under Sections 5(e) or 5(f).⁶

Which Chemicals Are In Scope

CDR applies to substances on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory, which is split into “active” and “inactive” designations. Active substances have been manufactured or processed domestically within a recent reporting cycle; inactive ones have not.⁶

Before you manufacture or import a chemical currently listed as inactive, you must file a Notice of Activity Form B. It can be submitted up to 90 days before the anticipated start date.⁷ Missing this step can draw an enforcement action before production even begins.

Some categories sit outside TSCA entirely. Pesticides, food additives, drugs, and cosmetics are regulated under other federal statutes and are not on the TSCA Inventory.⁸ Polymers and microorganisms appear on the Inventory but may have their own exemptions or reporting cycles.

What Form U Asks For

EPA Form U is the CDR submission vehicle. One Form U covers a whole site; every reportable chemical at that location goes on the same form.⁹ It collects two kinds of information.

Site and company identifiers. You must provide the legal name, street address, and Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S number for both the highest-level U.S. parent and each reporting site, plus the foreign parent’s D&B number if one exists. Neither D&B field can be left blank. Each site also needs a six-digit NAICS code and a named technical contact for EPA follow-up.¹⁰

Chemical-specific data. For the principal reporting year, you report total domestic manufacturing volume and total import volume of each reportable substance in pounds to two significant figures, along with volume used on site and volume directly exported. For each other calendar year in the reporting period, you report total combined volume.¹⁰ The form also asks whether the chemical goes into industrial, commercial, or consumer applications, the physical form in which it is distributed, and the number of workers reasonably likely to be exposed. If the chemical ends up in consumer products, you must indicate whether those products are intended for use by children.

How and When to File

All CDR data goes through EPA’s Central Data Exchange using the e-CDRweb tool.¹ You’ll need a CDX account with a username, password, and the eCDRweb passphrase for your company before you can submit.⁹ Set those credentials up well before the window opens.

The window opens every four years. The next one runs June 1 through September 30, 2028, covering data for calendar years 2024 through 2027.¹ An authorized company official must review and digitally sign the submission, certifying that it is true and complete. Once you submit, the system generates a timestamped Copy of Record with a unique identifier. Download and archive it right away; it is your proof of compliance.

If you find an error later, the e-CDRweb tool has an amendment function that runs through the same portal. You select “Complete an Amendment,” explain the change, and resubmit.

The Separate PFAS Report Under Section 8(a)(7)

TSCA Section 8(a)(7) imposes a one-time reporting obligation on anyone who has manufactured or imported perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) or PFAS-containing articles in any year since January 1, 2011.¹¹ Two features make it much broader than CDR.

The lookback stretches over a decade. You must report, for every year since 2011 in which you manufactured or imported a covered PFAS, the chemical identity, trade names, use categories, production volumes, disposal methods, known health and environmental effects, and the number and duration of worker exposures.¹¹ And there is no minimum volume. The CDR exemptions for small quantities, byproducts, or imported articles do not apply.¹²

The original start date was April 13, 2026. EPA has delayed it to 60 days after the effective date of a forthcoming rule revision that narrows the scope of reportable activities.¹³ That revision, which finalized in April 2026, proposes exemptions for PFAS present in mixtures or articles at concentrations below 0.1%, imported articles, certain byproducts, impurities, research-and-development chemicals, and non-isolated intermediates.¹⁴ Because the exact effective date and final exemption language may still shift, check EPA’s PFAS reporting page before you start preparing your submission.

Small manufacturers who report solely because they imported PFAS-containing articles get an additional six months beyond the general deadline.¹¹ Given the 15-year lookback, the data gathering is substantial. Companies that haven’t started pulling historical purchasing and import records are behind.

Confidential Business Information Claims

If you want to shield chemical identities, volumes, or other sensitive data from public disclosure, you have to assert a confidentiality claim at the time you submit. The claim must include a certification that you have taken reasonable steps to protect the information, that no other federal law requires its disclosure, that release would cause substantial competitive harm, and that the information cannot be easily reverse-engineered.¹⁵ For claims on a specific chemical identity, you must also supply a generic name that describes the structure as specifically as possible without revealing the confidential features.

Most claims expire ten years after the original submission. The first wave of post-2016 claims began expiring in June 2026. To keep protection in place, you must request an extension through CDX at least 30 days before the expiration date. If EPA doesn’t get a timely request, the agency is no longer required to keep the information confidential and may release it publicly without further notice.¹⁶

Who’s Exempt from CDR

Not every manufacturer or importer owes a CDR submission. The main carve-out is for small manufacturers, defined under a two-part standard.¹⁷

Under the first standard, your company’s total annual sales combined with any parent company’s sales are below $120 million, and you do not manufacture more than 100,000 pounds of any single reportable chemical at any one site.¹⁸
Under the second standard, your total annual sales including the parent company are below $12 million. Volume doesn’t matter here.¹⁸

The small-manufacturer exemption disappears for any chemical subject to a TSCA Section 4, 5(b)(4), or 6 rule, a Section 4 or 5(e) order, or relief granted under Sections 5 or 7. For those substances, small manufacturers report the same as anyone else.¹⁷

Several categories of activity are also outside CDR’s scope:

Chemicals manufactured in small quantities solely for research and development.
Byproducts and impurities not separated for commercial use.
Non-isolated intermediates that never leave the reaction vessel.

These CDR exemptions don’t automatically carry over to other TSCA obligations. Section 8(a)(7) PFAS reporting had no exemptions under the original rule, and the scope of any final exemptions in the revised rule should be verified separately.

Penalties

TSCA Section 16 authorizes civil penalties of up to $37,500 per violation per day as a base statutory amount.¹⁹ After required inflation adjustments, the current cap is $49,772 per day for each violation.² Each day counts as a separate offense, so exposure grows quickly.

EPA weighs the seriousness of the violation, the company’s ability to pay, its compliance history, and its degree of culpability when setting an actual penalty.¹⁹ A company that finds a missed filing and self-reports promptly faces a very different conversation than one that ignores the obligation for years. Penalties apply equally to CDR failures and to Section 8(a)(7) PFAS failures.

Recordkeeping

Every CDR reporter must keep the documentation supporting the information submitted to EPA. Records must be retained for five years starting from the last day of the submission period.⁵ Holding them through at least the next submission window is the safer practice, since audits and enforcement inquiries can surface well after the five-year minimum runs out.

1
US EPA. Overview of CDR Reporting
2
eCFR. 40 CFR 19.4 – Statutory Civil Monetary Penalties
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 2602 – Definitions
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 2607 – Reporting and Retention of Information
5
eCFR. 40 CFR Part 711 – TSCA Chemical Data Reporting Requirements
6
US EPA. Basic Information about Chemical Data Reporting
7
Federal Register. TSCA Inventory Notification (Active-Inactive) Requirements
8
US EPA. Summary of the Toxic Substances Control Act
9
US EPA. Completing Form U
10
eCFR. 40 CFR 711.15 – Reporting Requirements
11
US EPA. TSCA Section 8(a)(7) Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements for Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances
12
Environmental Protection Agency. Instructions for Reporting PFAS Under TSCA Section 8(a)(7)
13
US EPA. Update on Reporting Deadline for TSCA PFAS Reporting Rule
14
Federal Register. Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Data Reporting and Recordkeeping Under the Toxic Substances Control Act
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 2613 – Confidential Information
16
US EPA. CBI Claim Expiration
17
eCFR. 40 CFR 711.9 – Persons Not Subject to This Part
18
eCFR. 40 CFR 704.3 – Definitions
19
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 2615 – Penalties