Section 322 of the EPCRA provides for the protection of trade secrets from the reporting requirements. However, trade secret protection only extends to the specific chemical identity of the substance to be reported and to other information which would as easily identify it, such as the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number. The generic class of the substance, assigned by the EPA, must be reported. The conference committee commented as follows: The generic class or category of chemical may be defined as broadly as is needed to protect the specific chemical identity from disclosure, but, consistent with the purpose of this title to provide information to the community and the public, it should be defined no more broadly than necessary to afford such protection.
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