Texas Tier 2 Reporting: Filing via STEERS, Fees, and Penalties

Texas Tier II reporting is an annual filing every facility that stored a hazardous chemical at or above the federal threshold during the previous calendar year must submit to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality by March 1. You file electronically through the State of Texas Environmental Electronic Reporting System (STEERS), pay a fee between $50 and $500, and send copies of the same report to your Local Emergency Planning Committee and the fire department with jurisdiction over your facility. The program runs under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act and Texas Health and Safety Code Chapters 505 through 507.1Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Tier II Chemical Reporting

Do You Have to File?

The test is simple. If your facility had a hazardous chemical on site at or above its reporting threshold at any single point during the past calendar year, you file. A substance counts as hazardous if OSHA requires you to keep a Safety Data Sheet for it.2Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Tier II Reporting: Am I Regulated?

Three thresholds govern most filings:

Facility size and industry do not matter. A warehouse that briefly held 10,000 pounds of a reportable chemical for one day in July has the same obligation as a refinery that stores it continuously.5Cornell Law Institute. 30 Texas Admin Code 325.3 – Reporting Requirements

Several substances do not count toward your thresholds even when they appear on a Safety Data Sheet. The main carve-outs are food, drugs, and cosmetics regulated by the FDA; substances locked inside manufactured items where no exposure occurs under normal use; consumer products in the same form and concentration sold to the public, or used for personal and household purposes; research and medical chemicals used in labs or hospitals under qualified supervision; and agricultural chemicals used in routine farming, along with fertilizer held for retail sale to end customers.6Environmental Protection Agency. EPCRA Sections 311 and 312 – Hazardous Chemical Inventory Reporting

These exemptions trip up more facilities than the thresholds do. Hospitals often assume their whole inventory requires reporting when most of it falls under the research or FDA exemptions. A farm supply store that stockpiles fertilizer for commercial distribution rather than retail sale cannot claim the agricultural exemption, and those quantities count toward the 10,000-pound threshold.

What Goes in the Report

For every chemical at or above threshold, your report has to include:

  • Chemical identification, including the name or common name from the Safety Data Sheet, the Chemical Abstract Service number, and whether the substance is pure or part of a mixture.
  • Maximum amount present at any point during the calendar year, average daily amount, and number of days on site.
  • Physical hazards (flammability, reactivity) and health hazards (toxicity, carcinogenicity) under current GHS-aligned categories.
  • Storage type (pressurized tank, drum, bin) and specific location within the facility, down to building names or storage areas.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 11022 – Emergency and Hazardous Chemical Inventory Forms

Precise storage locations matter more than any other field. When a fire crew pulls up and needs to know whether they are facing flammable solvents or corrosive acids behind a specific door, your Tier II entry is what they read. “Warehouse” costs minutes; “Building C, northeast corner, ground-level drums” does not.

You also need current contact information for the owner or operator, a 24-hour emergency coordinator, and the facility’s physical address and NAICS code. Gather all of this before you start entering data into STEERS.

Trade Secret Protection

If naming a chemical would expose a trade secret, you can withhold its identity from the public version of the report. You file a substantiation form with the EPA under 40 CFR Part 350 justifying the claim, along with a sanitized version for public release and an unsanitized version for agency records. The substantiation goes in at the same time as the annual Tier II report and must be re-submitted every year, even when nothing has changed.8US EPA. Substantiation Form Requirements for Tier II Trade Secret Reporting

How to File: STEERS, the Deadline, and Who Else Gets a Copy

Texas accepts Tier II reports only through STEERS. If this is your first filing, build in lead time. You create a personal STEERS account at the TCEQ portal and then request access to two program areas: the Tier II Core Data Application and the Tier II Reporting Application. The Core Data application is where you establish your facility’s TXT2 identification number and link it to your customer number; without that affiliation the Reporting application stays locked.9Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Step 2 – Setting Up STEERS

After access is granted, you complete a STEERS Participation Agreement to verify your identity. You can sign electronically using a valid Texas driver’s license (commercial driver’s licenses are not accepted) or print and mail the form. TCEQ staff then review and approve the account, which adds more lead time. Any later change to the authorized representative requires a new agreement.9Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Step 2 – Setting Up STEERS

Returning filers have it easier. STEERS retains facility data and the prior year’s chemical inventory, which speeds up updates. New annual reports become available to work on November 1, but the system will not accept submissions until January 1.1Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Tier II Chemical Reporting

Reports for the prior calendar year are due March 1. An authorized representative at the facility must complete an electronic signature inside STEERS to certify the report before submission.1Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Tier II Chemical Reporting

Filing with TCEQ handles the state. Federal law requires that the same information also reach two local recipients: your Local Emergency Planning Committee and the fire department with jurisdiction over the facility.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 11022 – Emergency and Hazardous Chemical Inventory Forms Many Texas LEPCs and fire departments pull reports from the TCEQ system directly, but others still want a separate copy by email, mail, or hand delivery. Confirm the local practice before assuming the state submission is enough. Missing this step is one of the most common compliance gaps and generates a separate violation.

Save every STEERS confirmation receipt. EPCRA does not set a specific federal retention period for Tier II reports, but keeping filed reports and confirmations for at least three years is standard practice and lines up with most environmental recordkeeping expectations.

What You Will Pay

Every facility that files owes a fee, and STEERS calculates it automatically at submission. The amount depends on facility type and number of chemicals reported.

Manufacturing facilities (NAICS codes 31000 through 33000) pay on a sliding scale:

  • 25 or fewer chemicals: $100
  • 26 to 50 chemicals: $200
  • 51 to 75 chemicals: $300
  • 76 to 100 chemicals: $400
  • 101 or more chemicals: $500

Non-manufacturing and public employer facilities (government entities and other tax-supported operations) pay less:

Government facilities and public schools are not exempt. They sit in the public employer category and owe the fee like anyone else, which surprises people who assume tax-funded entities get a waiver.

Payment comes due after submission. TCEQ’s ePay portal accepts credit cards and ACH transfers. If you prefer to pay by mail, TCEQ sends an invoice to your billing contact, payable by check or money order.11Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Step 5 – Paying Fees Unpaid balances can trigger late fees and interfere with future filings.

Penalties for Missing the Deadline or Filing Wrong

A late or inaccurate report draws enforcement at both the state and federal level, and the exposure escalates quickly.

Under Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 505, the TCEQ can impose administrative penalties of up to $500 per day for each day a violation continues, capped at $5,000 per violation. A facility that knowingly submits false information or negligently fails to disclose a required hazard faces civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. When a knowing failure to disclose actually causes an occupational injury or disease, criminal fines can reach $25,000.12Justia Law. Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 505

Federal exposure runs higher. Under 42 U.S.C. ยง 11045, a non-governmental violator faces civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation, and each day the violation continues counts as a separate violation.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 11045 – Enforcement A facility that misses the deadline by 30 days could theoretically face $750,000 in federal exposure. Actual enforcement rarely reaches the ceiling, but the arithmetic shows why March 1 is not a soft date.

Enforcement usually begins with a notice of violation and a chance to correct. Repeat offenders and facilities that ignore the initial notice face escalating action. The cheapest penalty is the one avoided by filing on time.