
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC11021]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
       CHAPTER 116--EMERGENCY PLANNING AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW
 
                  SUBCHAPTER II--REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
 
Sec. 11021. Material safety data sheets


(a) Basic requirement

                   (1) Submission of MSDS or list

        The owner or operator of any facility which is required to 
    prepare or have available a material safety data sheet for a 
    hazardous chemical under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 
    1970 [29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.] and regulations promulgated under that 
    Act shall submit a material safety data sheet for each such 
    chemical, or a list of such chemicals as described in paragraph (2), 
    to each of the following:
            (A) The appropriate local emergency planning committee.
            (B) The State emergency response commission.
            (C) The fire department with jurisdiction over the facility.

                        (2) Contents of list

        (A) The list of chemicals referred to in paragraph (1) shall 
    include each of the following:
            (i) A list of the hazardous chemicals for which a material 
        safety data sheet is required under the Occupational Safety and 
        Health Act of 1970 [29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.] and regulations 
        promulgated under that Act, grouped in categories of health and 
        physical hazards as set forth under such Act and regulations 
        promulgated under such Act, or in such other categories as the 
        Administrator may prescribe under subparagraph (B).
            (ii) The chemical name or the common name of each such 
        chemical as provided on the material safety data sheet.
            (iii) Any hazardous component of each such chemical as 
        provided on the material safety data sheet.

        (B) For purposes of the list under this paragraph, the 
    Administrator may modify the categories of health and physical 
    hazards as set forth under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 
    1970 [29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.] and regulations promulgated under that 
    Act by requiring information to be reported in terms of groups of 
    hazardous chemicals which present similar hazards in an emergency.

                      (3) Treatment of mixtures

        An owner or operator may meet the requirements of this section 
    with respect to a hazardous chemical which is a mixture by doing one 
    of the following:
            (A) Submitting a material safety data sheet for, or 
        identifying on a list, each element or compound in the mixture 
        which is a hazardous chemical. If more than one mixture has the 
        same element or compound, only one material safety data sheet, 
        or one listing, of the element or compound is necessary.
            (B) Submitting a material safety data sheet for, or 
        identifying on a list, the mixture itself.

(b) Thresholds

    The Administrator may establish threshold quantities for hazardous 
chemicals below which no facility shall be subject to the provisions of 
this section. The threshold quantities may, in the Administrator's 
discretion, be based on classes of chemicals or categories of 
facilities.

(c) Availability of MSDS on request

              (1) To local emergency planning committee

        If an owner or operator of a facility submits a list of 
    chemicals under subsection (a)(1) of this section, the owner or 
    operator, upon request by the local emergency planning committee, 
    shall submit the material safety data sheet for any chemical on the 
    list to such committee.

                            (2) To public

        A local emergency planning committee, upon request by any 
    person, shall make available a material safety data sheet to the 
    person in accordance with section 11044 of this title. If the local 
    emergency planning committee does not have the requested material 
    safety data sheet, the committee shall request the sheet from the 
    facility owner or operator and then make the sheet available to the 
    person in accordance with section 11044 of this title.

(d) Initial submission and updating

    (1) The initial material safety data sheet or list required under 
this section with respect to a hazardous chemical shall be provided 
before the later of--
        (A) 12 months after October 17, 1986, or
        (B) 3 months after the owner or operator of a facility is 
    required to prepare or have available a material safety data sheet 
    for the chemical under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 
    1970 [29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.] and regulations promulgated under that 
    Act.

    (2) Within 3 months following discovery by an owner or operator of 
significant new information concerning an aspect of a hazardous chemical 
for which a material safety data sheet was previously submitted to the 
local emergency planning committee under subsection (a) of this section, 
a revised sheet shall be provided to such person.

(e) ``Hazardous chemical'' defined

    For purposes of this section, the term ``hazardous chemical'' has 
the meaning given such term by section 1910.1200(c) of title 29 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations, except that such term does not include the 
following:
        (1) Any food, food additive, color additive, drug, or cosmetic 
    regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.
        (2) 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.
        (3) 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.
        (4) 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.
        (5) 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.

(Pub. L. 99-499, title III, Sec. 311, Oct. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 1736.)

                       References in Text

    The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, referred to in 
subsecs. (a)(1), (2)(A)(i), (B) and (d)(1)(B), is Pub. L. 91-596, Dec. 
29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1590, as amended, which is classified principally to 
chapter 15 (Sec. 651 et seq.) of Title 29, Labor. For complete 
classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out 
under section 651 of Title 29 and Tables.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 11022, 11041, 11042, 11043, 
11044, 11045, 11046, 11049 of this title.
