Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires electronic transmission of EPA reporting data in ACE, or required form images be uploaded to ACE
What’s being affected?
The EPA regulates a large number of goods to protect the environment and human health, but not all will be included in ACE import reporting requirements. The specific commodities which will have reporting requirements include commodities such as on-road and off-road vehicles and engines, pesticides, chemical products and ozone depleting substances.
Under authority of the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA), and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the EPA has different reporting requirements.
ACE EPA Impact: Vehicles and Engines
The EPA regulates the imports of motor vehicles and engines. This includes on-road (passenger vehicles, vans, light-trucks, motorcycles), heavy-duty vehicle (trucks and buses), recreational vehicles (dirt bikes, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles), non-road vehicles (fork lifts, generators and compressors), lawn and garden equipment, disassembled vehicles, kit cars, and engines (including marine watercraft and locomotive engines).
Nonconforming vehicles and engines may only be imported if they are modified, tested and certified by an Independent Commercial Importer (ICI), or if an EPA exemption letter is obtained.
Prior to ACE, electronic data was not required for vehicle-related data; paper forms were submitted to CBP on an as-needed basis. Under ACE, that data must now be transmitted electronically. The following forms are being replaced by Automated Broker Interface message sets:
- 3520-1 Importation of Motor Vehicles and Engines (On Road)
- 3520-21 Importation of Motor Vehicles and Engines (Off Road)
- Pre-approved Vehicle/Engine Exemption Letter issued by EPA
Under ACE, importers must provide the data elements currently existing on the EPA 3520-1, 3520-21, and exemption letters or letters of approval to their broker, where required. Additionally, contact information will be transmitted electronically for certain parties.
ACE EPA Impact: Pesticides Products
The EPA regulates the imports of pesticides and related products, including insecticides; fungicides; rodenticides; conventional pesticides; antimicrobial and biopesticides, as well as pesticide devices.
Under ACE, Notices of Arrival and data from the EPA 3540-1 form may be transmitted electronically, instead of filed on paper. Additionally, contact information will be transmitted electronically for certain parties, and a copy of the pesticide label will be required
ACE EPA Impact: Chemical Substances under TSCA
The EPA regulates the import of chemical substances subject to Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) requirements. Importers must certify compliance with TSCA requirements with either a positive certification (meet TSCA requirements) or a negative certification (not subject to TSCA) by completing a TSCA statement.
Under ACE, the TSCA statement and certifying contact information will be transmitted electronically for each affected product in an entry.
ACE EPA Impact: Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS)
The EPA regulates the import of ozone-depleting substances, including chloroflurocarbons (CFCs), hydrochloroflurocarbons (HCFCs), and methyl bromide. These are highly regulated and the importer has reporting requirements, which will not change.
Under ACE a TSCA statement and certifying contact information will be transmitted electronically for each ODS product.
Trust the U.S. Customs experts at Livingston
No one understands complicated entry requirements better than Livingston. With a full staff of U.S. regulatory affairs experts, we know the EPA requirements in detail, and are ready to help ensure your compliance is maintained.
We’ve spent months getting ACE-ready. Our people, processes and technology are in place and ready to support existing and new clients, whatever their EPA or ACE needs.
As part of implementing ACE for U.S. Brokerage, the volume of data that brokers must submit to Customs on behalf of clients has increased greatly. To mitigate the impact on release times, we built client facing data collection tool to make connecting to Livingston’s people and your trade data easier than ever. Read a brief overview of the ACE data collection web application and learn what details you need to provide.