If your facility stores hazardous chemicals in Louisiana, the state’s Tier II reporting requirements are stricter than the federal baseline: you must file an annual inventory with the Louisiana State Police Right-to-Know Unit by March 1 for any hazardous chemical held at 500 pounds or more during the prior calendar year, and send copies to your Local Emergency Planning Committee and local fire department. Reports go through the Louisiana Tier II Manager portal and cover the January 1 through December 31 period just ended.
Who Has to File
Any owner or operator of a fixed-site facility that manufactures, uses, or stores a hazardous chemical requiring a Safety Data Sheet under OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard has to check the thresholds. Federal EPCRA sets the general trigger at 10,000 pounds and drops it to 500 pounds (or the Threshold Planning Quantity, whichever is less) for Extremely Hazardous Substances.1Louisiana State Police. Brief Summary of Law on Chemical Inventory Reporting
Louisiana ignores that split. The state applies a single 500-pound threshold to every hazardous chemical, not just EHS.2Louisiana State Police. Most Commonly Asked Questions and Answers Facilities storing even common solvents or cleaning agents can be pulled into the program at quantities far below the federal floor. The trigger is based on the maximum amount on-site on any single day during the calendar year, so a single large delivery can create a reporting obligation even if your typical inventory sits well under 500 pounds.
To confirm whether a specific substance qualifies, cross-reference the EPA’s Consolidated List of Lists.3Environmental Protection Agency. Consolidated List of Lists For EHS, the exact Threshold Planning Quantity for each chemical appears in 40 CFR Part 355, Appendix A, with values that range from 100 pounds to 10,000 pounds.4eCFR. Appendix A to Part 355 – The List of Extremely Hazardous Substances and Their Threshold Planning Quantities
Retail Gas Stations
Retail stations that store all fuel in compliant underground tanks get higher thresholds. They are exempt unless they hold 75,000 gallons or more of gasoline (all grades combined) or 100,000 gallons or more of diesel fuel.5US EPA. Retail Gas Stations Are Not Exempt from Tier II Reporting6Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 30 RS 30-2370 The tanks must be entirely underground and must have met all UST requirements for the full preceding calendar year. Any above-ground storage or any UST compliance lapse during the year drops the station back to the standard 500-pound rule.
What You Don’t Have to Count
Louisiana RS 30:2370 excludes several categories of substances from the threshold calculation even when they would otherwise qualify as hazardous:6Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 30 RS 30-2370
- Food, food additives, color additives, drugs, and cosmetics regulated by the FDA.
- Substances present as a solid in a manufactured item where exposure does not occur under normal use.
- Substances used for personal, family, or household purposes, or held in the same form and concentration as a product packaged for the general public.
- Substances used in a research laboratory or medical facility under the direct supervision of a technically qualified individual. This does not extend to materials held in a separate warehouse or storage room.
- Substances used in routine agricultural operations, and fertilizer held for retail sale to the final customer.
- Hazardous materials already reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by licensed utilization facilities.
The exemptions are narrow. A hospital pharmacy doesn’t count FDA-regulated drugs toward its threshold, and a hardware store doesn’t count consumer-packaged products on its shelves, but a substance has to sit squarely inside one of these categories to be excluded.
What to Gather Before You File
The foundation of every entry is a current Safety Data Sheet. The SDS supplies the chemical name, the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number, and the physical and health hazard classifications under 40 CFR 370.66 that the portal asks you to select.1Louisiana State Police. Brief Summary of Law on Chemical Inventory Reporting7eCFR. 40 CFR 370.66 – Hazard Categories
For each chemical, calculate two numbers from your procurement records, usage logs, and delivery schedules: the maximum amount present on-site at any single moment during the year, and the average daily amount stored across the year. The maximum trips people up, because a single delivery can push the figure well above typical daily operations.
You will also need facility identifiers, including the full street address and the latitude and longitude of the site.8Louisiana State Police. Tier Two Filing Instructions For every chemical, describe the storage: container type (above-ground tanks, steel drums, standard shelving), pressure, and temperature. That storage profile is what emergency responders rely on if they come to the site.
How and Where to File
Reports go through the Tier II Manager portal maintained by the State Police Right-to-Know Unit.9Louisiana State Police. Louisiana State Police Right-to-Know Tier II Electronic Filing You enter facility identification, contact information for the person responsible for the filing, and then each chemical with its CAS number, hazard categories, quantities, and storage details. Container type, pressure, and temperature are drop-down selections rather than free text. A facility representative digitally certifies the submission, and the system returns a confirmation of receipt. Save it.
The portal submission satisfies your obligation to the Louisiana Emergency Response Commission. It does not satisfy the other two recipients the statute requires: the Local Emergency Planning Committee for your parish, and the local fire department with jurisdiction over the facility. You have to send them copies separately.10Louisiana State Police. How to Enter and Submit a Tier II Inventory Report Missing those two distributions is a separate compliance gap that surfaces during audits.
The March 1 Deadline
Tier II reports are due on or before March 1 each year, covering the inventory period from January 1 through December 31 of the preceding calendar year.11Louisiana State Police. Tier Two Instructions A report filed by March 1, 2026, covers chemicals stored on-site at any point during 2025.
Fees and Penalties
Louisiana charges filing fees tied to the number of chemicals reported, handled through the online portal. The amounts are set by the Louisiana Administrative Code and are updated periodically, so check the current schedule on the Right-to-Know filing portal before submitting.
Penalties under Louisiana RS 30:2373 are heavy. An owner or operator who knowingly fails to file an inventory form by March 1 can face civil penalties of up to $25,000 per hazardous material not reported. Small businesses with an omission from their reporting forms get a warning on the first offense, but that grace period applies only once. Knowingly failing to report a hazardous material release can bring penalties up to $25,000 per violation per day, and willful handling or storage violations that endanger human life can lead to both civil fines and criminal prosecution, including imprisonment.12Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 30-2373 In setting an amount, the department considers the financial situation of small business owners and whether the failure was willful.
Tier II Is Not the Toxic Release Inventory
Tier II and the Toxic Release Inventory are separate programs under different sections of EPCRA. Tier II (Section 312) covers the inventory of hazardous chemicals stored on-site. TRI (Section 313) covers quantities of certain toxic chemicals released into the environment or transferred off-site. The two have different chemical lists, different thresholds, different deadlines, and different submission systems, and filing one does not cover the other.13US EPA. Reporting for TRI Facilities If your facility triggers both, you file both.
Records to Keep
EPCRA sets no specific federal retention period for Tier II records, but holding submitted reports and supporting documentation for at least three years is standard practice. Keep the electronic confirmation from the State Police portal, proof that copies went to the LEPC and fire department, the Safety Data Sheets for each reported chemical, and the inventory calculations showing how you arrived at the maximum and average daily amounts. During a State Police audit or after a chemical incident, that paper trail is what separates a clean review from a violation finding.