Tier II Chemical Reporting in Maryland: Who Files & How
Short answer: if your Maryland facility stores a hazardous chemical at or above its EPCRA reporting threshold — generally 10,000 pounds, or as low as 500 pounds for an Extremely Hazardous Substance — you must file an annual Tier II chemical-inventory report by March 1, covering the prior calendar year. It goes to your State Emergency Response Commission (SERC), your Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), and your local fire department. In Maryland you file through MOTTRS, the Maryland Department of the Environment's online Tier II system, and pay Community Right-to-Know Fund fees. The hardest part is compiling an accurate inventory with quantities — which is exactly what SDSentry ($24 per location per month) keeps current for you year-round. Here is how Tier II works in Maryland.
Free, no signup: the SDS binder builder at sdsentry.0xpi.com/sds-binder.html turns a pasted list of the products you keep on site into one printable index of their current safety data sheets.
What Tier II is (and isn't)
Tier II is the annual chemical-inventory report required under Section 312 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Its purpose is to tell fire departments and emergency planners what hazardous chemicals are stored at your facility, in what quantities, and where, so responders know what they are walking into. It is a separate obligation from OSHA Hazard Communication — the same chemicals on your shelves, but a different law and a different audience. Meeting your HazCom duties does not satisfy Tier II, and vice versa.
Who has to file in Maryland
The trigger is federal and applies the same way in Maryland as everywhere else. You must file Tier II if any hazardous chemical for which you are required to keep a safety data sheet is present at your facility at or above its reporting threshold at any point during the year:
- 10,000 lbs for most hazardous chemicals (those that require an SDS).
- 500 lbs — or the chemical's Threshold Planning Quantity, whichever is lower — for Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHSs) on EPA's list.
Quantities are based on the maximum amount present at any one time, aggregated across the facility. A small clinic or shelter often stays under these limits, but bulk propane or diesel tanks, stored fuel, pool and spa chemicals, fertilizer, or a large supply of a single disinfectant can push you over — and EHS thresholds are low enough that a modest amount of the wrong chemical can trigger a report.
Where Maryland facilities submit
EPCRA sends every Tier II report to three places: your State Emergency Response Commission (SERC), your Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), and your local fire department.
The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) “is the designated repository for the SERC copy of the reports.” Maryland facilities file through the Maryland Online Tier II Reporting System (MOTTRS), built on Tier2Manager. Companies with several Maryland facilities file them as one group: “If a company has multiple facilities in Maryland all of those facilities must be part of the same group for billing purposes.”
MDE's page gives two signals about your local copies. It says MDE “shares electronic chemical inventory with all Maryland LEPCs,” but also: “Please contact your LEPC for instructions regarding Tier Two submissions to the local fire department,” and MOTTRS can print a hard copy “for submission to LEPC, local fire department, and for facility records.” Ask your LEPC how it wants the fire department copy handled. Details are on MDE's Tier II reporting page.
State systems and instructions can change year to year, so confirm current details with the Maryland Department of the Environment before you file.
The deadline
MDE: “Reports are due March 1st of each year.” MOTTRS calculates the fees at the same time, so have your facility grouping and billing contact settled before February.
Are there Maryland state fees?
Yes. Maryland's Community Right-To-Know Fund fees apply to Tier II filers (checked Oct 2026). MDE: “There is an application fee of $100 per facility for each type of report.” Inventory fees then depend on the EPA weight-range code of each chemical — for example, MDE's table lists $200 for a hazardous substance in the 10,000–24,999 pound range and $800 for an Extremely Hazardous Substance in the same range, with hazardous-substance ranges under 10,000 pounds at $0.
There is a cap: “Owner/Operators of one or more facilities in Maryland will pay no more than $1,000 annually to the fund,” and MDE says the average Section 312 facility pays about $300 a year. “Government agencies, charitable organizations, farmers, gasoline retailers, and marinas are not subject to the fees,” though they still file.
What to have ready before you file
The report itself is mostly a structured list. What slows people down is assembling accurate underlying data. Before you start, have on hand:
- A complete chemical inventory for the location, with the product name and chemical identity for each item.
- The maximum quantity on site during the year and the average daily quantity, with units.
- Storage details — container type, pressure, temperature, and the specific location or building.
- Hazard information from each product's safety data sheet.
- Facility identifiers, emergency contacts, and (where required) latitude and longitude.
If you keep a current SDS library and a per-location inventory with quantities throughout the year, the February scramble largely disappears. See our guide on building a chemical inventory from scratch for a starting point.
How SDSentry helps
SDSentry tracks quantity and unit per item in your per-location inventory, flags items over a threshold you set, and exports an EPCRA Tier II CSV so your preparer is not rebuilding the inventory by hand each February. It keeps a current SDS on file for every product, which is where most of the hazard and storage details on the report come from. It will not submit the report for you — you still file through MOTTRS — but it turns the worst part, compiling and maintaining the data, into a download. Pair it with our HazCom compliance checklist so your OSHA and EPCRA obligations stay covered at the same time.
Track inventory for Tier II — free trial
Frequently asked questions
Who do I send my Tier II report to in Maryland?
Maryland facilities file through the Maryland Online Tier II Reporting System (MOTTRS), run by the Maryland Department of the Environment, which is the repository for the SERC copy. MDE says it shares electronic inventory data with Maryland LEPCs, but also tells facilities to contact their LEPC for instructions on the fire department copy.
When is the Tier II deadline in Maryland?
MDE states that reports are due March 1st of each year.
What are the Tier II reporting thresholds?
You report if a hazardous chemical that requires a safety data sheet is on site at or above 10,000 pounds at any time during the year, or at or above 500 pounds — or the Threshold Planning Quantity, whichever is lower — for an Extremely Hazardous Substance. Quantities are the maximum amount present at any one time.
Is there a Maryland state fee for Tier II?
Yes. MDE charges a $100 application fee per facility for each type of report plus inventory fees based on each chemical's weight range, with a cap of $1,000 a year per owner or operator. Government agencies, charitable organizations, farmers, gasoline retailers and marinas are not subject to the fees.