Tier II Chemical Reporting in Wisconsin: Who Files & How

Short answer: if your Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin you file through WHOPRS with Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM), which acts as the State Emergency Response Commission, and pay a state inventory form fee. 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 Wisconsin.

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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 Wisconsin

The federal trigger applies in Wisconsin: 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.

Wisconsin also names public and private agencies among those who must submit: WEM's EPCRA information guide covers facilities required to keep safety data sheets “OR that is a public or private agency as defined by s. 323.60(1)(h) or (i), Wis. Stats.” Quantities are the maximum present at any one time, aggregated across the facility.

Where Wisconsin 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.

In Wisconsin the state program is run by Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM), which describes itself as “Wisconsin Emergency Management/ State Emergency Response Commission (WEM/SERC).” Reports are filed through the Wisconsin Hazmat Online Planning and Reporting System (WHOPRS); WEM's guide also refers to hard-copy submissions, which its staff enter into the system.

Unlike many states, filing in WHOPRS covers your local copies. WEM's guide: “When entered into WHOPRS, the info will be available to LEPCs and local Fire Depts.; this will meet the requirement to provide the information to those two entities.” Start from WEM's EPCRA page.

State systems and instructions can change year to year, so confirm current details with Wisconsin Emergency Management before you file.

The deadline

Wisconsin Administrative Code WEM 1.04(1) requires a Tier II inventory form, a site plan, an inventory form fee statement and the inventory form fee each year, and says the documentation and fees “must be received physically or electronically by the division on or before March 1.” Note that the site plan and fee are part of what must arrive by the deadline, not just the inventory.

Are there Wisconsin state fees?

Yes, and it is one of the higher state fees. WEM 1.04(7) sets the inventory form fee by the number of hazardous chemicals on the form and whether the cumulative maximum daily amount is under or at least 100,000 pounds:

• 1 chemical: $275 (under 100,000 lb) / $330 (100,000 lb or more)
• 2–10 chemicals: $550 / $655
• 11–100 chemicals: $825 / $990
• 101–200 chemicals: $1,010 / $1,210
• 201–300 chemicals: $1,195 / $1,430
• 301–400 chemicals: $1,380 / $1,650
• 401–500 chemicals: $1,560 / $1,870
• Over 500 chemicals: $1,745 / $2,090
• Temporary construction facilities and batch plants: $35

The fee schedule applies “except as provided under s. WEM 1.07,” which sets exemptions from the inventory form fee. Check whether one applies to you with WEM before you pay.

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 WHOPRS — 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

Educational information only, not legal or compliance advice. Tier II thresholds, deadlines, submission methods, and any state fees change, and Wisconsin's specific process is set by the state. Verify your obligations with Wisconsin Emergency Management, and with EPA's EPCRA resources at epa.gov/epcra, before you file — and consult a qualified professional for your situation.