Tier II Chemical Reporting in Washington: Who Files & How
Short answer: if your Washington 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 Washington you file through Tier Two Online, run by the Department of Ecology. 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 Washington.
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 Washington
The trigger is federal and applies the same way in Washington 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 Washington 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.
Washington's State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) is housed in the Washington Military Department's Emergency Management Division, but day-to-day Tier II reporting is run by the Washington State Department of Ecology, which operates Tier Two Online.
To use Tier Two Online you first create a Secure Access Washington (SAW) account and add Tier Two Online as a service. Filing online also counts as your SERC submission — Ecology: “You do not need to send copies to us.” It does not reach your LEPC or fire department: Ecology says you must also send your report to your Local Emergency Planning Committee and local fire department, either by downloading it from Tier Two Online and emailing it, or by printing and mailing it with a wet-ink signature. Details are on Ecology's Tier Two reporting page.
State systems and instructions can change year to year, so confirm current details with the Department of Ecology's EPCRA program before you file.
The deadline
Ecology: “Reports are due March 1 every year” — for the previous calendar year, the same as the federal date. If you do not yet have a Secure Access Washington account, set one up well before February. Build in time to gather quantities and have your preparer review them.
Are there Washington state fees?
No. Ecology: “Reporting is free. There are no fees to submit your Tier Two report.” Ecology also notes that there can be steep penalties for willful non-compliance with EPCRA, so the cost of Tier II in Washington is the work of getting the inventory right, not a filing charge.
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 Tier Two Online — 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 Washington?
Washington facilities file through Tier Two Online, run by the Department of Ecology, using a Secure Access Washington account. That online filing satisfies the SERC requirement, but you must also send your report to your LEPC and local fire department yourself, by email or by mail with a wet-ink signature.
When is the Tier II deadline in Washington?
March 1 every year, covering the prior calendar year. Ecology states that reports are due March 1 every 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 Washington state fee for Tier II?
No. The Department of Ecology states that reporting is free and there are no fees to submit a Tier Two report.