Hazconnect Reduces EPCRA Business Compliance Costs

For states interested in promoting a more business-friendly regulatory environment, Hazconnect can be a significant asset. Hazconnect effectively reduces burdens on facilities and reduces compliance costs. This is advantageous for SERCs and LEPCs not only because it improves compliance, but reducing the level of effort to meet reporting obligations encourages facilities to engage more cooperatively with the SERC and LEPCs.

Obviously, the one-stop shop approach, with one submittal sent to a central system where SERCs, LEPCs, and fire department can all access the reports, is easier for businesses than sending reports to multiple locations. But the advantages of a Hazconnect system for businesses go far beyond one-stop reporting.

Several of the more time saving features for businesses involve the report management capabilities. Previously submitted reports are stored and remain available for access by the facility, essentially providing the facility with an archive that can be accessed anytime. Facilities can edit previous year reports to submit a revision if warranted. When they start work on a new submittal, the data from the most recent report is used to pre-populate their information for editing, which is a big time-saver! Here's another time-saving benefit of the system. Facility representatives responsible for completing the reports can change. Hazconnect allows previously submitted report records to be transferred from one user account to another. If facility representatives change, the new owner can pick up with all the previous history intact without ever re-entering data.

There is an easy set of steps for submitting reports. Dropdowns make it easy to select options and save time. For companies with multiple sites, contact persons already entered for another site can be re-selected to save data entry time. And the same can be said for chemical substances being reported. Built-in checks catch errors as they are entered saving time in corrections. Users are prompted to correct errors right when they are entered, rather than far later in the process.

If fee collection is involved, the system automatically calculates the fees due and provides an invoice for the facility. And the online payment process is made easy. If a company has multiple facilities, the system can prepare a combined invoice, so only one overall payment is needed rather than many separate payments per facility.

Companies with facilities in multiple states who use and compare Hazconnect (also known as TIER II MANAGER) against other approaches, have commented that they wish all states used the Hazconnect (also known as TIER II MANAGER) approach. Hazconnect simplifies the compliance process for Business, which has benefits for everyone involved.