EPA Expands Toxic Chemical Reporting, Strengthening Transparency on PFAS Pollution

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today finalized a rule adding sodium perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS-Na) to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The TRI is a tool that tracks and shares information about chemical releases and pollution prevention activities by factories and other facilities.

 

Under this rule, businesses in covered industries must begin tracking and reporting any use or release of PFHxS-Na, a well-studied PFAS chemical. The first reporting period began January 1, 2026 and the first reports will be due to EPA by July 1, 2027. Because PFHxS-Na is classified as a chemical of special concern it is subject to a lower reporting threshold, in this case 100 lbs.

 

“This addition ensures communities have the right to know what chemicals are being used and released in their neighborhoods,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Doug Troutman. “Transparency is a critical step toward protecting public health and the environment and holding polluters accountable.”

 

PFHxS-Na is the latest PFAS chemical added to the TRI under a process established by Congress in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which directs EPA to automatically include new PFAS chemicals in the inventory each year. With this action, the number of PFAS substances tracked by TRI rises to 206.

 

PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals known for their persistence in the environment and the human body. Because they do not break down easily, PFAS can accumulate over time, prompting growing concern about their potential health and environmental impacts.

 

The TRI program enables Americans to see how facilities in their area handle toxic chemicals, supporting informed local decision-making and advancing EPA’s commitment to environmental transparency.

 

On Feb. 3, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.7148, which appropriated funds for the Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and several other departments, agencies, and programs through the remainder of fiscal year 2026. Federal agencies funded by this bill included NIOSH, OSHA, MSHA, and the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

 

NIOSH received $366.8 million, a modest increase over the $362.8 million allotted to the agency in FY 2025 and considerably more than the $73 million sought by President Trump’s FY 2026 budget request for HHS (PDF). A previous announcement by HHS said that the department would combine several agencies, including NIOSH, to create a new Administration for a Healthy America. The House budget bill appropriates no funds for an entity by this name. The funding increase, along with the reinstatement of hundreds of NIOSH employees, continues a shift in the agency’s fortunes since April 2025, when 90 percent of its staff received reduction-in-force notices.

 

The $629.3 million appropriated for OSHA for FY 2026 was slightly less than the $632.3 million received by the agency in FY 2025. However, OSHA’s FY 2026 funding was likewise markedly higher than the $582.4 million sought by the president’s DOL budget request (PDF).

 

MSHA’s funding, at $387.8 million, remained flat compared to 2025 levels. The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, an independent agency that resolves contested citations and penalties issued by OSHA to U.S. employers, received $14.4 million, slightly less than FY 2025’s $15.4 million.

 

Another OEHS-related agency, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), was funded not through H.R.7148 but a separate budget bill passed Jan. 23, which also funded the Department of the Interior and EPA. The $14 million appropriated for CSB under H.R.6983 is notable since the president’s budget proposal had sought to eliminate the agency. With only a little less than the $14.4 million received in FY 2025, CSB may continue its mission of investigating major chemical accidents and issuing safety recommendations throughout the rest of FY 2026, which ends Sept. 30.

 

The House and Senate appropriations bills for FY 2026 may be accessed via Congress.gov. Documents outlining presidential budget requests for the last several decades are available through GovInfo.

 

MSHA recently published a health alert about the hazards of ammonia exposure. According to the agency, ammonia is used on mining sites to process chemicals, in refrigeration systems, and as a neutralizing agent. Exposures can result from equipment leaks or malfunctions and the mixing or improper handling of chemicals.

 

Although ammonia’s odor can be detected at levels as low as 5 ppm, “smell alone cannot be relied upon for detection and appropriate warning,” MSHA explains. Industrial hygiene sampling is necessary to monitor ammonia levels and exposures. Ventilation and other engineering controls should be used, the agency states. In cases where miners are wearing respirators, the devices should have ammonia-specific filter cartridges. View the hazard alert on MSHA’s website.

 

Repeated exposure to ammonia can result in long-term respiratory tract irritation, chronic coughing, asthma, lung fibrosis, reactive airways dysfunction syndrome, and eye and skin irritation, according to CDC.

 

The NIOSH recommended exposure limit for ammonia is 25 ppm as a time-weighted average for up to a 10-hour work shift. The agency also has a short-term exposure limit (STEL) for ammonia of 35 ppm and an immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH) value of 300 ppm.

 

The ACGIH Threshold Limit Value and STEL for ammonia are 25 ppm (eight-hour TWA) and 35 ppm, respectively. OSHA’s permissible exposure limit is 50 ppm (eight-hour TWA).

 

AIHA’s Emergency Response Planning Guidelines specify an ERPG-1 value for ammonia of 25 ppm, the maximum concentration below which nearly all individuals could be exposed for up to one hour without experiencing more than mild, transient adverse health effects. The ERPG-2 and ERPG-3 values, which represent maximum concentrations for one-hour exposures without resulting in serious or life-threatening health effects, are 150 ppm and 1,500 ppm, respectively.

 

 

The latest volume of chemical incident reports was published yesterday by the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB). The new publication covers 13 incidents, including an argon gas release that resulted in the deaths of two workers at a facility where carbon fiber blocks were treated. Two other incidents that involved workers mistakenly disassembling the wrong equipment are also highlighted in this volume: one that resulted in an explosion and fire following the release and ignition of flammable hydrocarbons, and another that caused the release of approximately 8,000 pounds of chlorine gas. Together with others highlighted in the publication, these incidents collectively caused two deaths, 10 serious injuries, and more than $1 billion in property damage, according to CSB.

 

CSB’s incident reports summarize chemical incidents and identify their probable causes. The agency’s volumes of incident reports are based on information provided to CSB pursuant to its accidental release reporting rule, which went into effect in March 2020. The rule requires reporting of any accidental release that results in a fatality, a serious injury, or substantial damage to property. CSB intends for the volumes to “provide critical information to the public, industry, and emergency responders about serious chemical incidents and chemical safety issues,” the agency explains in a news release.

 

Volume 4 (PDF) is available from CSB’s website. The previously released volumes can be found on an agency webpage focused on the reporting rule. Volumes 1–4 cover a total of 81 chemical incidents in 31 states.

 

 

Federal safety inspectors have found a central Illinois grain company endangered workers and violated federal law by failing to properly guard and lockout/tagout dangerous machinery during grain bin entry, which led to a seasonal laborer suffering a serious foot injury.

 

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated an inspection into Alliance Grain Co. after learning that the seasonal laborer suffered the injury after stepping through an unguarded sump hole and onto a moving paddle style unloading conveyor.

 

OSHA issued two willful, one serious, and three other-than-serious citations for failing to lockout/tagout machinery, protect workers from stepping into the sump holes, and provide grain handling training to employees. Additionally, the employer failed to issue permits prior to bin entry, utilize an observer outside the bin, and ensure the bin’s atmosphere was tested before workers entered.

 

The agency has proposed $276,407 in penalties.

 

Alliance Grain Co. has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

 

OSHA's machine guarding, lockout/tagout and grain handling safety webpages provide information on what employers must do to limit worker exposures to machine hazards.

 

 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a unilateral administrative order (UAO) to Atlas Operating, LLC, following an estimated discharge of 33,600 gallons of a mixture of brine production water and crude oil from its facility into an unnamed tributary of the Chikaskia River and into the Chikaskia River.

 

EPA received notification from the National Response Center on the evening of Feb. 15 of a suspected discharge from an oil tank battery near Spivey, Kingman County, Kansas. An EPA On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) was dispatched that evening and arrived on-scene the following morning to assess the discharge and its impact on the Chikaskia River.

 

EPA and its local and state partners observed impacts 12 river miles downstream from the tank battery and immediately began working with the responsible party to strengthen containment efforts and begin preparing for oil recovery and cleanup.

 

Under the direction of the EPA OSC, the responsible party has been ordered to:

 

EPA is committed to ensuring the deliverables are met by the responsible party and work, as described within the order, is completed by March 13, 2026.

 

Discharges of oil and hazardous substances from onshore facilities are regulated by the Clean Water Act, as amended by the Oil Pollution Act.

 

 

FAA Proposes $2,839,900 Against PEMCO World Air Services for Aircraft Violations 

 

Which U.S. federal law gives the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency authority to regulate air pollutants, including sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants?