If your facility files Tier II reports — and you haven't looked closely at OSHA's 2024 Hazard Communication Standard yet — the EPA just handed you a deadline you can't ignore.
On June 22, 2026, the Environmental Protection Agency published a conforming rule in the Federal Register (Docket No. 2026-12426) that brings EPCRA hazardous chemical inventory reporting fully in line with OSHA's updated Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom 2024). This isn't a new program. It's a definitional realignment — but that distinction matters less than it sounds, because a definitional change can expand the universe of chemicals your facility is required to report.
In my experience working through HazCom transitions with regulated facilities, the ones who get caught off-guard are almost never the ones who ignored the rule entirely. They're the ones who read the OSHA update, assumed it was an occupational safety matter, and never connected it back to their environmental reporting obligations. That assumption is the compliance gap this article is about.
Why EPCRA Depends on OSHA's HazCom Definition
EPCRA Sections 311 and 312 require facilities to report hazardous chemical inventories to State Emergency Response Commissions (SERCs), Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs), and local fire departments. The threshold trigger for that obligation isn't defined independently by EPA — it flows directly from OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard. Under 40 C.F.R. § 370.2, a "hazardous chemical" means any chemical that OSHA's HazCom standard requires to have a Safety Data Sheet (SDS).
That cross-reference is the compliance seam. When OSHA changes its definition of what qualifies as a hazardous chemical — or adds new hazard categories that require an SDS — those changes ripple directly into your EPCRA Section 311 and 312 reporting obligations. EPA periodically issues a conforming rule to codify that ripple in the EPCRA regulatory text. That's exactly what the June 22, 2026 final rule does.
According to EPA's rulemaking, the agency is updating its EPCRA regulations to reflect both the 2012 HazCom revision (which introduced the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, or GHS) and the more recent 2024 HazCom amendments. The practical effect: the regulatory text now matches the current SDS format, updated hazard categories, and revised definitions that OSHA has required at the workplace level — with the full weight of the 2024 amendments now folded into your Tier II compliance picture.
What OSHA's 2024 HazCom Amendments Changed
To understand what this conforming rule does, you have to start with what OSHA changed in 2024.
OSHA's 2024 HazCom final rule aligned the United States with GHS Revision 7. The major substantive changes included:
New and revised hazard classifications. OSHA added desensitized explosives as a new hazard category. Aerosols were restructured from a single "flammable aerosols" class into two classes: flammable aerosols and non-flammable aerosols. A new "chemicals under pressure" category was introduced for chemicals that don't fit neatly into existing compressed gas definitions. These are not cosmetic changes — they alter which chemicals require an SDS and how those chemicals must be classified on it.
Updated physical and health hazard definitions. Several existing hazard classes were revised to align with GHS Rev 7 criteria, including updates to flammable liquids, reproductive toxicants, and skin and eye irritants. The criteria for what places a chemical into a given hazard class shifted in places.
Revised SDS content requirements. The 16-section SDS format was retained, but the content requirements for several sections were updated. Section 2 (Hazard Identification) and Section 9 (Physical and Chemical Properties) saw the most significant substantive changes.
Updated label requirements. Signal words, pictograms, and precautionary statements were revised for several hazard categories to align with the international standard.
OSHA set phased compliance deadlines, with chemical manufacturers and importers facing earlier obligations so downstream users would have updated SDSs in hand before their own workplace program deadlines arrived.
How the EPA Conforming Rule Changes Your EPCRA Obligations
Here's the practical question most facilities are asking: does this mean I have to report chemicals I wasn't reporting before?
The honest answer is: possibly yes.
If you have chemicals on-site that were previously unclassified under OSHA HazCom — or classified under a category that didn't require an SDS — and those chemicals now fall into a new hazard category under HazCom 2024, they now require an SDS. If they require an SDS, they are hazardous chemicals for EPCRA purposes. If you hold them above the applicable reporting threshold, they trigger Section 311 and Section 312 reporting obligations your facility may not currently be meeting.
The conforming rule also updates the regulatory text to use current GHS-aligned terminology. References to "Material Safety Data Sheets" (MSDSs) and legacy HazCom 1994 classification language that had persisted in the EPCRA regulatory text are being replaced with the SDS format and classification system that OSHA has required since 2012 — now with the 2024 amendments layered on top. Facilities that have been copying terminology from their older EPCRA submissions without updating it to reflect the current standard should treat this as a cue to clean up their documentation.
Approximately 300,000 facilities submit Tier II reports annually across the United States. For most of them, the EPCRA compliance program runs largely on autopilot — last year's report adjusted for whatever chemicals were added or removed. The 2024 HazCom conforming rule breaks that autopilot logic, because the definition of what's reportable changed. Facilities that treat this as a routine text-alignment update are likely to underestimate their actual exposure.
Effective Dates and Compliance Deadlines
The June 22, 2026 Federal Register notice establishes the effective date for EPA's conforming rule. Facilities should review the full regulatory text for specific compliance dates, as EPA typically provides a ramp-up period between publication and mandatory compliance.
For downstream deadlines, the most important date on your calendar is March 1, 2027 — the next annual Tier II deadline, covering calendar year 2026 inventory. If the conforming rule is effective during 2026, your CY2026 inventory should reflect the expanded hazardous chemical definitions. That gives facilities until year-end 2026 to complete their SDS and inventory review, which is a tighter window than it looks if you have a large or diverse chemical footprint.
Section 311 reporting operates on a different clock: within 90 days of first receiving a hazardous chemical above threshold, and upon any significant changes to a previously submitted SDS. The rule's effective date will determine when newly classified chemicals start that 90-day clock running.
Key compliance dates to track:
- June 22, 2026 — EPA's conforming rule published in Federal Register (Docket 2026-12426)
- OSHA HazCom 2024 manufacturer phase-in — Review your SDS library against supplier compliance timelines
- December 31, 2026 — Practical deadline for completing your updated hazard chemical inventory review
- March 1, 2027 — Next annual Tier II reporting deadline, covering CY2026 inventory
- 90-day rolling clock — Triggered upon first receipt of any newly classified hazardous chemical above threshold
Comparison: HazCom 2012 vs. HazCom 2024 — EPCRA Implications
| Feature | HazCom 2012 (GHS Rev 3) | HazCom 2024 (GHS Rev 7) | EPCRA Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aerosol classification | Flammable aerosols only | Flammable + non-flammable aerosols | Non-flammable aerosols newly require SDS → potential Tier II obligation |
| Desensitized explosives | Not a separate hazard class | New dedicated hazard category | Newly classified chemicals trigger EPCRA reporting |
| Chemicals under pressure | Classified under compressed gases | New standalone hazard category | Additional compressed chemicals may come into Tier II scope |
| Physical hazard criteria | GHS Rev 3 criteria | GHS Rev 7 (updated thresholds and definitions) | Boundary chemicals may be re-classified in or out |
| Health hazard criteria | GHS Rev 3 definitions | Updated for reproductive toxicants and irritants | Some previously exempt chemicals may now meet hazardous definition |
| SDS document terminology | SDS replaces MSDS | SDS retained; content requirements updated | EPA regulatory text now aligned; facilities should update their own documentation |
| OSHA manufacturer deadline | June 2015 | Phased through 2026 | EPA conforming rule follows OSHA phase-in; SDS library currency is critical |
The Compliance Gap You Need to Close Now
In my view, the most overlooked compliance risk here is the SDS audit gap. Facilities rely on chemical suppliers to provide updated SDSs. But supplier compliance with OSHA's 2024 HazCom amendments has not been uniform across industries, and you cannot assume that an SDS you received last year reflects the current HazCom 2024 classification requirements.
Here's what a practical pre-compliance review looks like:
Step 1 — Inventory your chemicals against the updated HazCom hazard categories. Focus especially on aerosols, compressed gases, and any explosives or explosive precursors. These are the categories where the 2024 amendments created new or significantly revised classifications.
Step 2 — Request updated SDSs from your suppliers. Confirm that each SDS reflects HazCom 2024 classifications. The SDS preparation date and the version of HazCom it references will tell you whether it's current.
Step 3 — Re-run your threshold analysis. For each hazardous chemical, confirm whether you hold it above the applicable EPCRA Section 312 reporting threshold. The standard threshold is 10,000 pounds. For Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHSs) listed under EPCRA Section 302, the threshold is the lower of 500 pounds or the Threshold Planning Quantity (TPQ).
Step 4 — Update your Tier II submission. If your analysis reveals chemicals that now trigger reporting obligations, file the updated Tier II through EPA's Tier2 Submit software or your state's equivalent platform. Most states accept amendments to prior submissions.
Step 5 — Update Section 311 SDS and chemical list submissions. If new chemicals cross the threshold, submit the updated SDS or chemical list to your SERC, LEPC, and local fire department within the applicable timeframe from the rule's effective date.
Who Bears the Most Risk
Not every facility is equally exposed to this conforming rule. The facilities I've seen carry the highest unrecognized risk tend to share a few characteristics.
Manufacturing facilities with diverse chemical inventories. The broader your chemical footprint, the more likely some portion of it touches the new or revised hazard categories. A facility running 50 or more active chemicals probably has at least a handful in the aerosol, compressed gas, or specialty chemical categories that were reclassified under HazCom 2024.
Facilities relying on outdated SDS libraries. If your SDS management system hasn't been refreshed to capture 2024-compliant SDSs from suppliers, you may be working from stale classifications. That's a data-quality problem before it ever becomes a regulatory one.
Facilities that separate OSHA and EPA compliance in organizational silos. If your EHS team handles OSHA HazCom on one side and your environmental compliance team handles Tier II on the other — and they don't compare notes — this is exactly the kind of rule that falls through the organizational seam. The connection between HazCom and EPCRA is not intuitive to everyone on the team.
Small and mid-sized facilities without dedicated EHS staff. OSHA's phased compliance timeline gave chemical manufacturers priority deadlines. Smaller downstream users often don't realize their SDS library needs to be updated until someone goes looking. And by that point, the Tier II deadline may be closer than comfortable.
Enforcement Stakes
EPA enforcement of EPCRA Section 311 and 312 violations has historically focused on threshold failures — chemicals above the reporting threshold that were never reported at all. That is precisely the failure mode this rule creates for facilities that skip a fresh hazard classification review. A chemical that didn't previously require an SDS now does. If you hold it above threshold and don't report it, you're in violation whether you knew about the classification change or not.
EPCRA Section 325 authorizes civil penalties of up to $37,500 per day per violation (adjusted for inflation under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act). Willful or knowing violations carry additional criminal penalties. EPA has historically resolved most Tier II non-compliance cases through consent agreements with reduced penalties, but systematic failures and high-volume unreported inventories draw a different kind of enforcement attention.
The conforming rule doesn't create new enforcement authority. It does create new grounds for a violation if your compliance program hasn't kept pace with the underlying HazCom definition it depends on.
What to Do This Month
This rule gives facilities a clear action path, and the timeline is workable if you start now.
Pull your current SDS library. Flag every chemical that falls into the new or significantly revised HazCom 2024 hazard categories — desensitized explosives, non-flammable aerosols, chemicals under pressure, and any chemicals where the 2024 updates to physical or health hazard criteria may have changed the classification. For each flagged chemical, check your on-hand quantity against the applicable EPCRA threshold.
If you find gaps — chemicals above threshold that aren't in your current Tier II — address them before year-end 2026. The March 1, 2027 Tier II deadline is the practical enforcement date, but getting ahead of it now means you're not rushing a threshold analysis under deadline pressure in January and February.
The Certify Consulting team has worked through both the 2012 and 2024 HazCom transitions with regulated facilities, and the compliance pattern is consistent: the facilities that treat HazCom updates as OSHA-only matters always end up doing remedial Tier II work later. It's a tighter process if you connect the two programs from the start.
If you'd like a structured review of your chemical inventory and Tier II obligations under the updated rule, reach out to Certify Consulting. Our team has helped more than 200 clients navigate regulatory changes like this, and our record of first-time compliance success is built on catching exactly the kind of cross-program definitional gaps this rule creates.
You can also review the full Federal Register text at federalregister.gov, Docket No. 2026-12426, published June 22, 2026. Read the preamble carefully — EPA's explanation of what changed and why is often more practically useful than the regulatory text itself.
Last updated: 2026-07-02
Jared Clark
Principal Consultant, Certify Consulting
Jared Clark is the founder of Certify Consulting, helping organizations achieve and maintain compliance with international standards and regulatory requirements.