Compliance Guide Reporting Requirements for Mercury Inventory

COMPLIANCE GUIDE
Reporting Requirements
for the Mercury Inventory
of the Toxic Substances Control Act

March 2019
EPA-740-B-19-002

Who Should Use This Guide?

About This Guide

This guide is intended for companies,
organizations, and individuals who are
required to submit information to EPA for
the national inventory of mercury supply,
use, and trade. The requirements apply to
those who manufacture or import mercury
or mercury-added products, or otherwise
intentionally use mercury in a manufacturing
process. The purpose of the guide is to
help potential submitters, including small
businesses, determine whether or not they
are subject to EPA’s mercury inventory
reporting requirements.

THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT INTENDED,
NOR CAN IT BE RELIED UPON, TO
CREATE ANY RIGHTS ENFORCEABLE BY
ANY PARTY IN LITIGATION WITH THE
UNITED STATES.

The term “mercury” means elemental
mercury and mercury compounds. For
those that must comply, the guide generally
explains what information to report, how to
submit information in the Mercury Electronic
Reporting (MER) application and when
information is due to be reported.

The statements in this document are
intended solely as guidance to aid in
complying with the mercury reporting
requirements in Section 8(b)(10)(D) of the
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and
the implementing rule in 40 CFR part 713.
EPA may decide to revise this guide without
public notice to reflect changes in EPA’s
approach to implementing TSCA or to
clarify and update text.
To determine whether EPA has revised
this guide, consult the EPA’s mercury
website at www.epa.gov/mercury. The full
texts of TSCA Section 8(b)(10)(D) and the
implementing regulations are also available
on this website.

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice: This collection of information is approved by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq. (OMB Control No. 2070-0207; EPA ICR No. 2567). The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this
collection of information is estimated to average 32 hours per response. Burden is defined in 5 CFR 1320.3(b). Responses to this collection
of information are mandatory (40 CFR 713). An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to, respond to a
collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. You may send comments regarding the EPA’s need for
this information, the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent burden, including
through the use of automated collection techniques to the Director, Collection Strategies Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(2822T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW,Washington, D.C. 20460. Please include the OMB Control No. in any correspondence. Send only
comments to this address. Mercury Inventory data must be submitted electronically through the MER application.

2

Contents
Background....................................................................................................4
• What Does this Guide Cover?..........................................................................................................................4
• What is the Mercury Inventory Reporting Regulation?.........................................................................4

• How Will EPA Use My Information?..............................................................................................................5

Who Must Report and What Information Is Required?..............................6
• Possibly Affected Business Sectors.................................................................................................................6

• Types of Submitters.............................................................................................................................................7
• Manufacturers and Importers of Mercury..................................................................................................9
• Manufacturers and Importers of Mercury-Added Products................................................................10

• Other Manufacturers........................................................................................................................................11

How Do I Comply?.........................................................................................12
• Submit Information to EPA............................................................................................................................12
• Keep Records.......................................................................................................................................................12
• How Is My Compliance Determined, and What Happens if the Agency Discovers a
Violation?..............................................................................................................................................................12

When Do I Need to Submit Information to EPA?........................................13
Where Can I Find More Information?...........................................................14
• General Information on Mercury.................................................................................................................14
• Information on Mercury Inventory Reporting Requirements...........................................................14

• Information on How to Report under the Rule......................................................................................14
• Where Can I Go If I Have Questions or Need Further Assistance for Reporting?.......................14

Appendix: Explanation of Key Terms..........................................................15

3

Background
What Does This Guide Cover?
This guide explains the requirements for
manufacturers and importers to report
information about the supply, use, and trade of
mercury to EPA. The guide provides an overview
of the legal requirements and an explanation of
how the Agency intends to use the information
it collects. Diagrams and examples are provided
to help companies in determining whether
they must report information about mercury to
EPA. Based on business activities, companies
that must report will find the applicable list of
reporting requirements, as well as reporting and
recordkeeping timelines, explanations of key
terms, and links to additional resources to support
reporting under the rule.

Important Note

Throughout this guide, the term mercury when
used alone means both elemental mercury and
mercury compounds.
For the purposes of this guide, to manufacture
mercury means to produce or recover it from
industrial wastes, air pollution control residuals,
scrap products, mining byproduct, or other
materials. A mercury compound can be
manufactured as a commercial chemical
product for sale. See 40 CFR part 704.3.
This guide explains compliance with respect to
mercury inventory reporting requirements by the
federal government. State and/or local mercury
reporting requirements that are different from
the federal requirements may also apply. If you
manufacture, import, or distribute mercuryadded products in certain states, you may be
required to notify the state and fulfill other state
requirements. For assistance in this area, contact
your state environmental agency or visit www.
newmoa.org/prevention/mercury/imerc.cfm.

What is the Mercury Inventory
Reporting Regulation?
The legal requirements for the mercury inventory
are in a federal law and an EPA rule (also called
a “regulation”). In 2016, Congress directed EPA
by law to produce an inventory of the supply,
use, and trade of mercury in the United States
every three years beginning in 2017. The mercury
provision is one of several recent amendments
to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
The law requires EPA to write a rule to collect
information for the inventory from “any person
who manufactures mercury or mercury-added
products or otherwise intentionally uses mercury
in a manufacturing process.” The law defines
“mercury” for purposes of the inventory as both
elemental mercury and mercury compounds. Visit
15 U.S.C. § 2607(b)(10)(D) to see the TSCA text.
EPA published its initial inventory report
(available online at www.federalregister.
gov/documents/2017/03/29/2017-06205/
mercury-initial-inventory-report-of-supplyuse-and-trade) in March 2017 and proposed
reporting requirements for the TSCA mercury
inventory in October 2017 (available online at
www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQOPPT-2017-0421-0001). The public submitted
comments on the proposal, which EPA considered
when finalizing the regulation in June 2018.
EPA’s final rule is called “Mercury; Reporting
Requirements for TSCA Mercury Inventory” which
this guide refers to as “the rule.” It is available
online at www.epa.gov/mercury/mercuryreporting-requirements-tsca-mercury-inventoryfinal-rule. It requires companies to submit their
mercury information using the online Mercury
Electronic Reporting (MER) application, which is
organized as a simple, fill-in-the-blanks form, with
drop-down menus and lists of check-box options.

4

Not all submitters will be required to report the
same kinds or amounts of data. Data required to
be reported include:
• Amount of mercury produced, imported,
stored, used, sold, or exported (no matter how
small the amount);
• Types of products made;
• Types of manufacturing processes and how
mercury is used;
• Business sectors to which mercury or mercuryadded products are sold;
• Country of origin of imported mercury or
mercury-added products; and
• Destination country for exported mercury or
mercury products.
The rule also requires that companies keep
records of the information they submit for three
years.
Reporting is not required for mercury waste
management (unless mercury is recovered for
re-use or sale), for assembled products where
mercury is present in a component that is a
mercury-added product, or if the mercury is only
present as an impurity. Companies do not need
to submit information on mercury activities unless
they are undertaken for the purpose of obtaining
an immediate or eventual commercial advantage
(for example, intended for sale or to reduce costs
during a manufacturing process).

In this guide, EPA uses the terms company and
business as shorthand for those who are required
to submit information in the MER application
because most submitters are expected to be
private sector firms. However, other organizations
and individuals may also need to report in the
MER application. The requirement in TSCA
directs EPA to require reporting from: “Any
person who manufactures (including imports)
mercury or mercury-added products or otherwise
uses mercury in a manufacturing process.” See
explanation of the word person in the glossary at
Appendix A.

How Will EPA Use My Information?
EPA will compile the information it receives
from submitters to estimate total quantities of
mercury in supply, use, and trade in the United
States. These totals are expected to assist EPA in
producing the triennial inventories of mercury
supply, use, and trade in the United States.
Figure 1 shows how EPA intends to categorize and
use various types of information.

Figure 1: How Information from Submitters Will Support EPA’s Mercury Inventory
Use

Supply

Trade

+
Manufactured
(producing) mercury
Stored mercury

+

Mercury Inventory

=

Distributed mercury

Import

Manufactured mercuryadded products

Export

EPA triennial
publication of mercury
inventory

Other manufacturing
processes

Background

5

Who Must Report and What Information Is Required?
Possibly Affected Business Sectors
This guide is designed to help companies, including small businesses, that may be required to submit
information to EPA under the mercury inventory rule (see 40 CFR part 713). Below is a list of business
categories that may be involved with mercury and subject to reporting.*
• Mining
• Mineral processing
• Mercury retorting, recycling, or recovery of mercury
• Importation of mercury
• Manufacturing that uses mercury in a process (other than making mercury-added products), such
as:
ºº Plastics and resins manufacturing and compounding, including polyurethane elastomers
ºº Chlor-alkali production
• Manufacturing or importation of mercury-added products, such as:
ºº  Measuring and scientific instruments or devices
ºº    Organic and inorganic chemicals, including commodity, specialty, and laboratory chemicals
ºº    Plastics, resins and compounds, including polyurethane elastomers
ºº    Health and fitness products
ºº    Pesticides, pigments, paints, coatings, and adhesives
ºº    Pharmaceuticals including veterinary medicines
ºº    Cosmetics
ºº    Switches, relays, industrial controls and current-carrying wiring devices
ºº    Semiconductors, HVAC systems, pumps, and environmental control devices
ºº    Fluorescent light bulbs, watches, and batteries
ºº    Analytical laboratory equipment and supplies
ºº    Automobile and aircraft parts
ºº    Vehicle stabilization equipment
ºº    Games, toys, shoes, and other children’s products
ºº    Accessories for small firearms and ordnance
ºº    Products for national security

*For a more comprehensive list of official industry classifications, see the rule at www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/06/27/2018-13834/mercury-reporting-requirements-for-the-tsca-mercury-inventory.

STOP! This is a list of examples only, so you may have to report to EPA even though your company

does not fit into any of these general categories. Also, note that not all companies in these categories
have to report. For more help determining if your company needs to report, see Types of Companies
on the next page.

6

Types of Submitters
In general, you must report mercury information to EPA if your company did any of the following with
any amount of mercury for the purpose of obtaining an immediate or eventual commercial advantage:
1. Manufactured (recovered) or imported mercury;
2. Manufactured or imported a mercury-added product; and/or
3. Otherwise intentionally used mercury in a manufacturing process.
For an explanation of terms, see Appendix A.
You do not need to report if:
• Mercury was present during your manufacturing process, but you did not intentionally add mercury
to your product or process;
• You manufacture mercury only as an impurity in your manufacturing process;
• All of the mercury you manufactured was handled as a waste;
• Your manufacturing activity was not undertaken for the purpose of obtaining an immediate or
eventual commercial advantage;
• You used, sold, conveyed, transferred, distributed, stored, or exported mercury or a mercury-added
product**, but you did not first manufacture or import it or use it in a manufacturing process;
• You imported an assembled product where mercury is present in a component that is a mercuryadded product; or
• You manufactured an assembled product where mercury is present in a component that is a
mercury-added product, but you did not first manufacture or import the component (e.g., you
purchased the component domestically).
Reporting requirements are different for submitters that report under the Interstate Mercury
Education and Reduction Clearinghouse (IMERC) or EPA’s Chemical Data Reporting (CDR). The legal
requirements for persons who must report can be viewed at 40 CFR part 713 (see www.govinfo.gov/
help/cfr).
** It is illegal to export elemental mercury from the United States. For more information, see www.epa.gov/mercury/environmental-laws-apply-mercury#ExportBan.

STOP! For more help determining if your company needs to report, see Figure 2 on the next page.

Who Must Report and What Information Is Required?

7

There are three broad categories of companies required to submit their mercury information using
EPA’s MER application, shown in three different colors in Figure 2. The same colors continue to
represent the three categories in the following pages to help guide you further.

Figure 2: Do I Need to Report?
Do you manufacture or
import mercury?

No

Do you manufacture or import mercury-added products?
Yes

Yes

Do you import an assembled product containing a
mercury-added component?

Only as an impurity?

Yes

No
Only as waste?

No

Yes

With the purpose of
obtaining an immediate
or eventual commercial
advantage?

Yes

Report
in MER.

No

and/
or

Do you make an
assembled product that
contains a mercury-added
component?

No

Yes
Yes

No

not
X Do
report.

No

Yes

Yes

No
Do you manufacture or
import a product where
mercury is intentionally
inserted into the item?

Do you use mercury in a
manufacturing process
other than adding
mercury to products?

With the purpose of
obtaining an immediate or
eventual commercial
advantage?

Yes

Report
in MER.

No

not
X Do
report.

Did you first manufacture
or import the mercuryadded product that is
used as a component?

Yes

No

With the purpose of obtaining an immediate or
eventual commercial advantage?

Yes

No

not
X Do
report.

Report
in MER.

X Do not report.

STOP! For more help determining if your company needs to report, see examples on the following
pages: Manufacturers and Importers of Mercury, Manufacturers and Importers of Mercury-Added
Products, and Other Manufacturers Using Mercury.

Who Must Report and What Information Is Required?

8

Manufacturers and Importers of Mercury
Examples of mercury manufacturers and importers
who must report in EPA’s MER application:
1. A gold mine that recovers elemental mercury
from its refining operation (unless the mercury
is waste).
2. A waste treatment company that recovers
elemental mercury from waste and sells or
stores it for more than 90 days.
3. A commodities broker that imports elemental
mercury and sells it in the United States.
4. A chemical manufacturing company that
produces mercury nitrate in bulk for export.*
5. A chemicals broker located inside or outside
the United States that imports mercury (II)
iodide into the United States and sells it to
chemicals distributors.
6. A chemical manufacturer that manufactures
mercury chloride and uses it to make another
chemical compound.

Examples of mercury manufacturers and importers
who do not report in EPA’s MER application:
1. A company that recovers elemental mercury
in the process of clearing natural gas pipelines
then manages the elemental mercury as a
waste (i.e., the mercury is not sold).
2. A waste management facility that imports
and treats (i.e., stabilizes) low-concentration
mercury waste.
3. A company that imports elemental mercury
waste for waste management only.
4. A producer of industrial inputs that include
trace amounts of elemental mercury.

* Certain mercury compounds, including mercury nitrate,
will be banned for export after January 1, 2020. View the
public notice Mercury Compounds; Prohibition of Export
in the Federal Register at www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/08/26/2016-20534/mercury-compounds-prohibition-of-export.

Find more examples online in EPA’s Frequent Questions at www.epa.gov/mercury/frequent-questionsabout-epas-mercury-inventory-reporting-rule.

What Information Do I Report as a Mercury Manufacturer or Importer?
For mercury manufacturers and importers who
do not report to CDR:
Amount of mercury manufactured (lbs.)
Amount of mercury imported (lbs.)

For mercury manufacturers and importers who
report to CDR:
N/A
N/A

Countries of origin for imported mercury

Amount of mercury exported (lbs.)

N/A

Countries of destination for exported mercury
Amount of mercury stored (lbs.)

Amount of mercury distributed in commerce (lbs.)

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes for mercury distributed in commerce

As applicable, identify mercury compound(s)

N/A

STOP! If you have determined that you must report in EPA’s MER application, please see the
How Do I Comply? section on page 12.

Who Must Report and What Information Is Required?

9

Manufacturers and Importers of Mercury-Added Products
Examples of mercury manufacturers and importers
who must report in EPA’s MER application:
1. A manufacturer of electrical components,
such as switches or relays, that contain added
mercury.
2. A company that imports mercury-containing
thermometers into the United States.
3. A company that places a mercury compound
into hearing aid batteries.
4. A vehicle manufacturer who imports mercuryadded light bulbs to install in cars.

Examples of mercury manufacturers and importers
who do not report in EPA’s MER application:
1. A vehicle manufacturer who purchases and
installs mercury-added light bulbs that are
manufactured in the United States.
2. A company that imports consumer electronics
devices with displays lit by fluorescent bulbs
(i.e., electronic devices are assembled products
and the bulbs are components that are
mercury-added products).
3. A consumer who purchases mercury-added
products for personal use from a company
outside the United States.

Find more examples online in EPA’s Frequent Questions at www.epa.gov/mercury/frequent-questionsabout-epas-mercury-inventory-reporting-rule.

What Information Do I Report as a Mercury Manufacturer or
Importer of Mercury-Added Products?
For product manufacturers and importers who do For product manufacturers and importers who
submit mercury information to IMERC:
not submit mercury information to IMERC:
Amount of mercury in manufactured products (lbs.)
Amount of mercury in imported products (lbs.)
Countries of origin for imported products

Amount of mercury in exported products (lbs.)

Countries of destination for exported products

Amount of mercury in products distributed in
commerce (lbs.)

N/A

NAICS codes for products distributed in commerce

As applicable, identify product categories and subcategories

STOP! If you have determined that you must report in EPA’s MER application, please see the
How Do I Comply? section on page 12.

Who Must Report and What Information Is Required?

10

Other Manufacturers
Examples of mercury manufacturers (other than
makers of mercury-added products) who must
report in EPA’s MER application:
1. A producer of chlorine and caustic soda that
uses elemental mercury as a cathode in a
mercury cell electrolyzer although the final
products contain mercury only as an impurity.
2. A chemical manufacturer that buys a mercury
compound to make another mercury
compound.
3. A company that uses mercury during the
polyurethane elastomer manufacturing
process.

Examples of mercury manufacturers who do not
report in EPA’s MER application:
1. A power plant that uses mercury
thermometers.
2. A facility that uses mercury in a closed-loop
system without the purpose of immediate or
eventual commercial advantage.

Find more examples online in EPA’s Frequent Questions at www.epa.gov/mercury/frequent-questionsabout-epas-mercury-inventory-reporting-rule.

What Information Do I Report as a Manufacturer that Uses Mercury?
For manufacturers who use mercury other than to make mercury-added products:
Identify manufacturing process

Identify use of mercury in manufacturing process
Amount of mercury intentionally used (lbs.)
Amount of mercury stored (lbs.)

Countries of destination for exported final products

NAICS codes for mercury in final products distributed in commerce

STOP! If you have determined that you must report in EPA’s MER application, please see the
How Do I Comply? section on page 12.

Who Must Report and What Information Is Required?

11

How Do I Comply?
1. Submit Information to EPA
Each company who is subject to the reporting
requirements must report to EPA via the Mercury
Electronic Reporting (MER) application, which is
accessed through EPA’s Chemical Data Exchange
(CDX) at cdx.epa.gov. Information must be
submitted during the appropriate reporting cycle
and can be reported as confidential business
information.

2. Keep Records
Each company who is subject to the reporting
requirements must retain records that document
any information reported to EPA. Records
relevant to a reporting year must be retained for
a period of 3 years beginning on the last day of
the reporting year. Submitters are encouraged to
retain their records longer than 3 years.

How Is My Compliance Determined,
and What Happens if the Agency
Discovers a Violation?
To maximize compliance, EPA implements a
balanced program of compliance assistance,
compliance incentives, and traditional
enforcement. As part of the compliance
assistance, EPA encourages businesses to
voluntarily discover, promptly disclose,
expeditiously correct, and take steps to prevent
recurrence of environmental violations. For more
information, visit EPA’s Audit Policy page at www.
epa.gov/compliance/epas-audit-policy.

discovery, prompt disclosure, and prompt
correction of violations. Included are guidelines
for the Agency to apply in reducing or waiving
penalties for small businesses that come forward
to disclose and make good faith efforts to correct
violations (see www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-200004-11/pdf/00-8955.pdf).
EPA’s enforcement program is aimed at protecting
the public by targeting persons or entities who
neither comply nor cooperate to address their
legal obligations. EPA uses a variety of methods
to determine whether businesses are complying,
including facility inspections, subpoenas, review
of records submitted to the agency, coordination
with U.S. Customs and Border Protection on
import compliance, and responding to citizen
tips and complaints. Under TSCA, EPA may file
an enforcement action against violators, seeking
penalties of up to $37,500 per violation, per
day, adjusted for inflation (see www.epa.gov/
enforcement/enforcement-policy-guidancepublications#penalty). The proposed penalty in a
given case will depend on many factors, including
the number, length, and severity of the violations,
the economic benefit obtained by the violator,
and violator’s ability to pay. EPA has policies in
place to ensure penalties are calculated fairly. In
addition, any company charged with a violation
has the right to contest EPA’s allegations and
proposed penalty before an impartial judge or
jury.

EPA has compliance and enforcement resources
specifically designed to meet the needs of small
businesses (see www.epa.gov/enforcement/
small-businesses-and-enforcement). EPA’s
Small Business Compliance Policy encourages
environmental compliance among small
businesses by providing incentives for voluntary

12

When Do I Need to Submit Information to EPA?
The following table provides a summary of the regulatory requirements and deadlines for
manufacturers and importers of mercury and mercury-added products and those who otherwise use
mercury in a manufacturing process. For more details, see How Do I Comply?

Reporting

Deadline

Submit mercury information for calendar year 2018

July 1, 2019

Submit mercury information for calendar year 2021

July 1, 2022

Submit mercury information for calendar year 2024 and
every three years thereafter

July 1, 2025 and every three years
thereafter

Recordkeeping

Deadline

Retain records that document information reported in EPA’s
MER application for reporting year 2018

At least three years following the end of
reporting year (2021)

Retain records that document information reported in EPA’s
MER application for reporting year 2021

At least three years following the end of
reporting year (2024)

Retain records that document information reported in EPA’s
MER application for reporting year 2024 and every three
years thereafter

At least three years following the end of
reporting year (2027), and every three years
thereafter

13

Where Can I Find More Information?
General Information on Mercury
• EPA’s Mercury Homepage: www.epa.gov/
mercury

• Export Ban on Elemental Mercury: www.epa.
gov/mercury/environmental-laws-applymercury#ExportBan

• Export Ban on Mercury Compounds:
www.federalregister.gov/
documents/2016/08/26/2016-20534/mercurycompounds-prohibition-of-export

Information on the Mercury
Inventory Reporting Requirements
• Frequent Questions on the Rule: www.epa.
gov/mercury/frequent-questions-about-epasmercury-inventory-reporting-rule
• Toxic Substances Control Act Amendments
Requiring the EPA Mercury Inventory and
Reporting by Manufacturers and Importers:
www.epa.gov/mercury/mercury-reportingrequirements-tsca-mercury-inventory-finalrule

Information on How to Report under
the Rule
• CDX User Guide: cdx.epa.gov/about/userguide
• MER Application User Guide: www.epa.gov/
mercury/resources-reporting-requirementsepas-mercury-inventory
• EPA’s CDX Application: cdx.epa.gov

Where Can I Go If I Have Questions
or Need Further Assistance for
Reporting?
For questions concerning the rule, please contact
EPA’s TSCA Hotline by telephone at (202) 5541404, by fax at (585) 232-3111, or by email at
tsca-hotline@epa.gov.
For questions concerning CDX or the MER
application, please contact the CDX Help Desk at
helpdesk@epacdx.net or call 1 (888) 890-1995.

• EPA Mercury Inventory Reporting Rule
(“Mercury; Reporting Requirements for the
TSCA Mercury Inventory”): www.federalregister.
gov/documents/2018/06/27/2018-13834/
mercury-reporting-requirements-for-the-tscamercury-inventory
• Codified Regulation (40 CFR part 713): www.
ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=b355ec0c51d02
feac07ffe946bcb18a6&mc=true&node=pt40.3
3.713&rgn=div5.

14

Appendix: Explanation of Key Terms
Acronym List
CDX
CDR
CFR
FR
IMERC

MER
TSCA

Central Data Exchange
Chemical Data Reporting
Code of Federal Regulations
Federal Register
Interstate Mercury Education
and Reduction Clearinghouse
Mercury Electronic Reporting
Toxic Substances Control Act

Important Note
EPA is providing explanations of terms in
informal language to make it easier for the
public to understand and comply with the
mercury inventory rule. These explanations are
not legally-binding on EPA. To see the formal,
legal usage of the terms in this appendix,
EPA recommends consulting the mercury
amendments to TSCA, the final mercury
inventory rule, and the citations provided for
some of the terms below.
In addition, the explanations in this appendix
apply to EPA’s mercury inventory reporting
rule and may vary from definitions for the
same terms used elsewhere by EPA. Examples
of such terms are: “component,” “import,”
“manufacture,” and “mercury-added product.”
Assembled product is a product that was
manufactured with the inclusion of a component
that is a mercury-added product. An example is a
vehicle containing a mercury-added fluorescent
light bulb.
Commercial advantage refers to activities
undertaken intentionally to create an immediate
or eventual benefit (e.g., sale of goods, generation
of profits, reduction of costs, etc.). If a company
manufactures mercury or a mercury-added
product, then uses it rather than placing it in
commerce, it may be considered to result in
a commercial advantage. See 40 CFR 704.3
for definition in the context of manufacturing,
importing, and processing “for commercial
purposes.”

Component refers to a mercury-added product
that is installed as part of the manufacture of an
assembled product. See 40 CFR part 704.3 and 83
FR 30061 (June 27, 2018).
Distribute in commerce means selling or
transferring mercury or mercury-added products
within the United States. Sales or transfers to
another country are considered exports. See 15
U.S.C. 2602(5).
Elemental mercury is a shiny, silver-white metal
that is liquid at room temperature; its Chemical
Abstracts Service Registry Number (CASRN) is
7439-97-6.
Export means to determine and control the
sending of mercury, mercury-added products, and
assembled products for a destination outside of
the customs territory of the United States. See 40
CFR 707.63(b).
Import means to bring mercury, mercuryadded products, and assembled products into
the customs territory of the United States. In
TSCA and the rule, import is a subset of the
term manufacture. For practical purposes, the
two terms are treated as separate activities in
the context of the MER application. For a more
complete definition, see 15 U.S.C. 2602(9).
Impurity refers to mercury that is present
unintentionally in a final product of a
manufacturing process.
Manufacture means to produce. The
manufacture of elemental mercury means
secondary production (recovery). Materials from
which elemental mercury is recovered include
byproducts from mining or mineral processing,
residuals from air pollution control, industrial
waste, contaminated media, discarded products,
and other materials. Other terms for recovery of
elemental mercury include reclamation, retorting,
distillation, separation, and purification. Recovered
elemental mercury may be a commodity or a
waste. If it is a waste, elemental mercury is not
reported in the MER application. A mercury
15

compound is generally produced as a commercial
chemical product. See also mercury-added
product.
Mercury means elemental mercury and mercury
compounds. The term “mercury” also includes
mixtures that include mercury and/or mercury
compounds. An example of a mercury compound
mixture is a vaccine containing Thimerosal. See
definition at 15 U.S.C. 2607(b)(10)(A).
Mercury-added product is an item to which
mercury is intentionally added when a product
is manufactured. The mercury remains present
in the final product for a particular purpose.
Examples are fluorescent light bulbs, thermostats,
medicines, and dental amalgam capsules.*
Mercury compound is formed when elemental
mercury reacts with another substance, either
in nature or intentionally by humans. A table of
mercury compounds subject to the reporting
requirements can be found at 40 CFR part 713.5.

* Use of the term “manufacture” when referring to a

mercury added product is similar, but not identical, to the
TSCA definition for “process,” which means “preparation of
a chemical substance or mixture, after its manufacture, for
distribution in commerce . . . in the same form or physical
state as, or in a different form or physical state from,
that in which it was received by the person so preparing
such substance or mixture, or . . . as part of an article
containing the chemical substance or mixture” (see 15 U.S.C.
2602(13)).

Otherwise intentionally use mercury in a
manufacturing process means to use mercury
to manufacture anything other than a mercuryadded product or a mercury compound. Examples
are use of mercury as a catalyst, cathode, reactant,
or reagent. It does not include the use of tools or
equipment that contain mercury or the installation
of a component that contains mercury as part of
the manufacture of an assembled product.**
Person refers to a number of entities defined by
EPA reporting regulations as “any individual, firm,
company, corporation, joint venture, partnership,
sole proprietorship, association, or any other
business entity; any State or political subdivision
thereof; any municipality; any interstate body; and
any department, agency, or instrumentality of the
Federal Government” (see 40 CFR part 704.3).

**To otherwise intentionally use mercury in a manufacturing
process is similar, but not identical to the TSCA definition
for “process,” which means “preparation of a chemical
substance or mixture, after its manufacture, for distribution
in commerce . . . in the same form or physical state as, or
in a different form or physical state from, that in which it
was received by the person so preparing such substance or
mixture, or . . . as part of an article containing the chemical
substance or mixture” (see 15 U.S.C. 2602(13)).

Appendix

16