Chromium Finishing Industry Data Collection (New)

As mentioned in Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15, published in January 2023, EPA plans to conduct a rulemaking to address Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) discharges from a subset of facilities in the Metal Finishing and Electroplating point source categories. Specifically, facilities performing certain chromium operations that employ hexavalent chromium (hereafter referred to as chrome finishing facilities), including chromium plating, chromium anodizing, chromic acid etching, and chromate conversion coating that use or have used PFAS to control hexavalent chromium emissions. These facilities are expected to be the predominant sources of PFAS discharges in the Metal Finishing and Electroplating point source categories. Publicly available data on such facilities, including whether they perform chrome finishing operations and use and discharge of PFAS at the national scale, are limited. EPA reviewed the 2017 National Emissions Inventory (NEI), Compliance and Emissions Data Reporting Interface (CEDRI), Environmental Compliance History Online (ECHO), and Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS), as well as data collected by several state environmental agencies. However, none of these data sources provide a complete population of chromium finishing facilities in the United States nor do they provide the detailed information on specific facility operations (including use of hexavalent chromium or PFAS), generation and management of wastewater, or wastewater characteristics necessary for the complex technical and economic analyses required for the review and development of ELGs. Therefore, this questionnaire and wastewater sampling program are necessary for EPA to determine if the current regulations remain appropriate and to develop new regulations if they are deemed to be warranted. EPA has identified and compiled mailing addresses for approximately 1,815 potential chromium finishing facilities in the United States. All active metal finishing and electroplating facilities that conduct or have conducted one or more of the specified chromium finishing operations will be required to complete the questionnaire.

The latest form for Chromium Finishing Industry Data Collection (New) expires 2026-11-30 and can be found here.