EPA Rule Lowers Thresh-old on Reporting Lead.

The IPC's (Northbrook, IL) Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Committee has announced the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) finalization of a lead reporting rule that could impact U.S. printed wiring board (PWB) and electronics manufacturing services (EMS) companies.

The final rule changes the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting threshold for lead and lead compounds from 25,000 pounds per year to 100 pounds per year. "IPC believes this rule offers no environmental benefit," said Denny McGuirk, IPC president.

This new rule is retroactive to January 1, 2001, requiring companies to begin tracking and reporting all lead and lead components used during the 2001 calendar year. The EPA calculates the rule will cost the industry $80 million for the first year and $40 million per year in subsequent years. The electronics industry alone is expected to submit more than 3,500 reports at a cost of more than $25,000 per company for the first year, and more than $12,000 per company each year following.

Companies with 10 or more employees that use or process 100 pounds of lead, or more than 350 pounds of eutectic tin-lead solder per year, will be affected the most.

The IPC is currently pursuing all available avenues in continued efforts to halt the implementation of this rule. However, facilities are advised to begin immediately tracking their lead use for the record-keeping process. The full text of EPA's final TRI rule can be found on the EPA's Web site at www.epa.gov/tri.