The requirements of section 311 apply to any facility that is required to prepare or have available a material safety data sheet (MSDS) for a hazardous chemical under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) and regulations promulgated under that Act. Approximately 500,000 products have MSDSs required by OSHA. These are referred to here as "OSHA hazardous chemicals." There is no list of these OSHA hazardous chemicals.

Sections 311 and 312 of SARA Title III require that owners or operators of facilities submit initial (section 311) and annual (section 312) reports of OSHA hazardous chemicals if the chemicals exceed certain thresholds. The thresholds refer to the total amount of chemical on site, in storage and in process, at any one given time. The thresholds for reporting under sections 311 and 312 follow:

• Extremely hazardous substances (EHS) = 500 pounds or the threshold planning quantity (TPQ), whichever is less.
• Gasoline at retail gas stations, if all gasoline is stored in compliant underground storage tanks = 75,000 gallons.
• Diesel fuel at retail gas stations, if all diesel fuel is stored in compliant underground storage tanks = 100,000 gallons.
• All other OSHA hazardous chemicals (except as stated below) = 10,000 pounds.
• The threshold for reporting in response to a request from the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC), Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), or local fire department = zero.

Note: To convert gallons to pounds, multiply the specific gravity times the weight of water.  The specific gravity, also called the relative density, is a unitless number and can be found on the MSDS.  The weight of water is 8.33 pounds/gallon.

The following substances are excluded from the hazardous chemical inventory reporting requirements:

·         Any food, food additive, color additive, drug or cosmetic regulated by the Food and Drug Administration;

·         Any substance present as a solid in any manufactured item to the extent exposure to the substance does not occur under normal conditions of use;

·         Any substance to the extent it is used for personal, family, or household purposes, or is present in the same form and concentration as a product packaged for distribution and use by the general public;

·         Any substance to the extent it is used in a research laboratory or a hospital or other medical facility under the direct supervision of a technically qualified individual;

·         Any substance to the extent it is used in routine agricultural operations or is a fertilizer held for sale by a retailer to the ultimate customer.

Section 311 requires that facilities submit an initial report of OSHA hazardous chemicals on site in amounts greater than the above thresholds to the SERC, LEPC, and local fire department. This one-time report must be submitted within 3 months after the chemical threshold is exceeded.

The initial report consists of either copies of the MSDSs or a list of the OSHA hazardous chemicals. If the facility owner or operator chooses to submit a list, then the list must include the chemical or common name of each substance and must identify the applicable hazard categories. These hazard categories are:

• Immediate (acute) health hazard;
• Delayed (chronic) health hazard;
• Fire hazard;
• Sudden release of pressure hazard; and
• Reactive hazard.

The SARA Title III Program in the Department of Environmental Quality accepts all reports required under SARA Title III on behalf of the SERC. Refer to Michigan SARA Title III Program for report submittal information.