Site Quantities & Reporting
Module: ChemIQ | Tier: Standard and Pro
Tellus calculates total chemical quantities at each site by breaking down products into their individual chemical components, converting units to a common standard, and aggregating across your entire inventory. This powers Tier II reporting, fire code compliance, and emergency planning — work that would otherwise take days of manual cross-referencing.
Why It Matters
Regulatory Requirements
| Requirement | Who Needs It | What Is Required |
|---|---|---|
| EPCRA Tier II Report | Facilities with hazardous chemicals above 10,000 lbs | Annual report to state/local emergency planning agencies (due March 1) |
| Fire Permits | Facilities storing flammable/combustible liquids | Maximum Allowable Quantities per International Fire Code |
| Emergency Planning | Facilities with Extremely Hazardous Substances | Chemical inventory data for Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) |
| Insurance | Many commercial operations | Underwriters often require chemical inventory summaries |
The Challenge Without Automation
Your inventory tracks individual products — "5 gallons of Product X" and "10 liters of Product Y." But regulatory reporting needs chemical-level totals — "How many pounds of acetone are on site across all products?"
This requires looking up each product's SDS composition, converting different units to a common standard, multiplying by concentration percentages, summing across all products containing the same chemical, and comparing totals against regulatory thresholds. Tellus does all of this automatically.
How Calculations Work
Step 1: Inventory Expansion
Each product in your inventory is broken down into its individual chemical components using SDS composition data. A single cleaning product with 3 chemical ingredients becomes 3 separate entries for aggregation purposes.
Step 2: Unit Conversion
All quantities are normalized to pounds (lbs) for weight and gallons (gal) for volume. Tellus handles conversions between ounces, kilograms, grams, liters, quarts, pints, fluid ounces, milliliters, and cubic feet.
For converting between weight and volume, Tellus uses chemical-specific densities when available, with water density (8.34 lbs/gal) as the default fallback.
Weight Conversions (to pounds)
| Unit | Conversion Factor |
|---|---|
| lbs | 1.0 |
| oz | 0.0625 |
| kg | 2.2046 |
| g | 0.0022 |
| mg | 0.0000022 |
| ton | 2,000.0 |
Volume Conversions (to gallons)
| Unit | Conversion Factor |
|---|---|
| gal | 1.0 |
| L (liter) | 0.2642 |
| qt (quart) | 0.25 |
| pt (pint) | 0.125 |
| fl oz | 0.0078 |
| mL | 0.000264 |
| cu ft | 7.4805 |
Step 3: Concentration Adjustment
Each chemical's contribution is adjusted by its concentration in the product. If a product contains 15% acetone, only 15% of the product's weight counts toward the acetone total.
Example: You have 3 bottles of a cleaner, each 1 gallon, and the SDS shows it contains 15% acetone:
- Total item quantity = 1 gal x 3 = 3 gallons
- Acetone contribution = 3 gal x 0.15 = 0.45 gallons
- Acetone in pounds = 0.45 gal x 6.56 lbs/gal (acetone density) = 2.95 lbs
Step 4: Aggregation by CAS Number
All contributions for the same CAS number are summed to get the site-level total for each chemical.
Step 5: Threshold Comparison
Totals are compared against Tier II thresholds and International Fire Code Maximum Allowable Quantities.
What You See
Chemical Summary Tab
Each row represents one unique chemical (CAS number) at your site:
| Column | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| CAS Number | The chemical's registry number |
| Chemical Name | Common name from SDS composition |
| Quantity (lbs) | Total pounds of this chemical at the site |
| Quantity (gal) | Total gallons of this chemical at the site |
| Containers | Number of containers holding products with this chemical |
| Products | Number of distinct products containing this chemical |
| Hazardous | Whether the chemical has GHS hazard classifications |
| Tier II | Whether the quantity exceeds the 10,000 lb threshold |
| Fire Code | Whether the quantity exceeds fire code limits |
Hazard Summary Tab
Chemicals are grouped by fire code classification (Flammable Liquid, Oxidizer, Corrosive, Toxic) and fire code sub-class:
| Column | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Hazard Category | Fire code category (for example, "Flammable Liquid") |
| Hazard Class | Sub-class (for example, "IA" — flash point below 73 degrees F, boiling point below 100 degrees F) |
| Quantity (lbs/gal) | Total for all chemicals in this hazard group |
| Chemicals | Number of unique CAS numbers in this group |
| Fire Permit Limit | Maximum Allowable Quantity from International Fire Code |
| % of Limit | How close you are to the fire code limit |
| Exceeds | Whether you have exceeded the limit |
Status Cards
Four summary cards at the top of the page give you the big picture:
- Total Chemicals — Unique CAS numbers at this site
- Hazardous — How many are classified as hazardous
- Exceeds Tier II — How many exceed the 10,000 lb reporting threshold
- Exceeds Fire Code — How many exceed fire code Maximum Allowable Quantities
Tier II Reporting Thresholds
EPA EPCRA Section 312 requires facilities to file annual Tier II reports for hazardous chemicals stored above these thresholds:
| Chemical Type | Threshold |
|---|---|
| General hazardous chemicals | 10,000 lbs |
| Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHS) | 500 lbs |
For Tier II reporting, Tellus tracks:
- Maximum daily amount — The highest quantity on site during the reporting year
- Average daily amount — The average quantity across the year
- Days on site — How many days the chemical was present
- Exceeds threshold — Whether any of these values trigger reporting requirements
Fire Code Thresholds
Based on the International Fire Code (IFC) Table 5003.1.1(1) — Maximum Allowable Quantities per control area for indoor storage:
Flammable and Combustible Liquids
| Class | Description | Max Quantity (gallons) |
|---|---|---|
| IA | Flash point below 73 degrees F, boiling point below 100 degrees F | 30 |
| IB | Flash point below 73 degrees F, boiling point at or above 100 degrees F | 120 |
| IC | Flash point 73 to 100 degrees F | 120 |
| II (Combustible) | Flash point 100 to 140 degrees F | 120 |
| IIIA (Combustible) | Flash point 140 to 200 degrees F | 330 |
| IIIB (Combustible) | Flash point at or above 200 degrees F | 13,200 |
Oxidizers
| Class | Max Quantity (lbs) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 4,000 |
| 2 | 250 |
| 3 | 10 |
| 4 | 1 (any amount requires a permit) |
The % of Limit shown in the Hazard Summary tells you at a glance how close each hazard category is to the fire code maximum. 50% means you are using half your allowable capacity. 100% means you have reached the limit.
Recalculation
Click the Recalculate button on the Site Quantities page to refresh all aggregations. This reprocesses your entire inventory with the latest SDS composition data, unit conversions, and density values. Recalculation is also triggered automatically when inventory changes are made.
Who Uses This
| Role | What You Can Do |
|---|---|
| Admin | View site quantities for all sites; trigger recalculations |
| Manager | View site quantities for managed sites; run recalculations |
| Program Coordinator | View site quantities; use data for Tier II and fire marshal submissions |
| Employee | Not available |
Tier Availability
| Feature | Starter | Standard | Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic quantity tracking | Included | Included | Included |
| Site-level aggregation | — | Included | Included |
| Chemical Summary tab | — | Included | Included |
| Hazard Summary tab | — | Included | Included |
| Tier II threshold alerts | — | Included | Included |
| Fire code compliance | — | Included | Included |
| Tier II report data | — | Included | Included |
| Recalculation | — | Included | Included |
Common Tasks
Related
- Chemical Inventory — The inventory data that feeds quantity calculations
- Compliance Center — Compliance dashboard and regulatory monitoring
- CAS Number & Regulatory Linking — CAS-level regulatory cross-referencing
- Regulatory Lists Guide — Details on Tier II, EPCRA, and fire code requirements