Over the last two to three years there have been numerous investigations into the use of lead-free solders in electronics manufacturing. The primary driving force behind these investigations is legislative pressure from both Europe (in the form of the European Commission (EC) on Waste and Electronic Environment Directive),

and Japan (in the form of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) legislation). Manufacturers in North America were not under any "local" legislative pressure to use lead-free solder, but due to the nature of the global market, many have started to investigate implementing lead-free processes. Although the U.S. does not currently have any laws that prohibit or restrict lead use in electronics, a new

Under the new TRI ruling, the EPA estimates that any company currently using over 250 pounds of eutectic solder can expect spend 110 hours year tracking and reporting their lead use.

U.S. Environmental P r o t e c t i o n Agency (EPA) ruling will require more paperwork for the manufacturers who do use lead. On January 8, 2001, the EPA published a final ruling changing the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting threshold for lead and lead compounds from 25,000 pounds per year to 100 pounds per year. Beginning January 1, 2001, any company that uses more than the new threshold amount of lead must report all off-site waste transfers to the EPA and local agencies by July 1, 2002. The EPAwill then post this data on its website for targeting by environmental groups.< This new EPA rule is particularly burdensome to small businesses. Most large companies already perform reporting of hazardous waste. As of January 31, 2001, President George W. Bush has delayed implementation by 60 days and it is unclear at this point if this delay will affect the July 1, 2002 reporting deadline for all lead used in 2001.

RULE REQUIREMENTS:
• All facilities that have more than ten total employees throughout the year and use or process, on a yearly basis, an aggregate amount of lead above the threshold limit of 100 pounds are required to report. For eutectic tin-lead solder, approximately 250 pounds of solder is equivalent to 100 pounds of lead.

• The new rule is effective immediately and will apply to all lead releases and waste management during 2001.

• The EPA generally considers everything not in a product to be waste.

• Facilities are required to annually track and report all lead usage and off-site transfers.

• TRI for 2001 emissions are due to the EPA by July 1, 2002.

• Reports must be submitted to both local emergency planning agencies and the federal government.

The EPA came under fire on many fronts with the development and passage of this rule in areas such as: the rule's questionable scientific basis, the fact that EPA ignored the House Commerce Committee's bipartisan request that EPA have the rule reviewed by its Science Advisory Board (SAB) before publication, and EPA's rush to promulgate during which the agency overlooked statutory requirements under the Small Business and Regulatory Enforcement Act (SBREFA) to conduct appropriate outreach to small businesses. WHAT IS TRI? The lead and lead compounds reporting requirements of the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) were established under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) of 1986. The rule is part of the EPA's efforts to expand the public's access to information about chemicals, especially those considered to be persistent bio-toxins (PBTs). Shortly after receipt, the EPA posts the results on the internet so that national and community environmental groups can target the offending facilities.

The author would like to thank IPC’s Director of Environmental Policy Fern Abrams for her help in writing this article.

For more information concering Lead Free processes and surrounding issues, please stop by ACI's new Lead Free Manufacturing Page to download articles contributed to ACI by some of the industry's most knowledgable individuals and organizations, as well as material generated by ACI, and documents on the legislation surrounding the Lead Free issue.