EHS (the acronym)

Environment, Health and Safety, but also Extremely Hazardous Substance, which is a common source of confusion.

In most workplace contexts EHS means environment, health and safety: the discipline, the department, and the software category.

Under EPCRA it means something quite different: an Extremely Hazardous Substance, one of roughly 350 chemicals on EPA's Section 302 list.

The two appear in the same documents often enough that it is worth reading which is meant. A reference to an EHS list or an EHS threshold is the EPCRA sense; a reference to an EHS manager or EHS platform is the other.

Related terms

• Extremely Hazardous SubstanceA substance on EPA's Section 302 list, subject to lower reporting thresholds and emergency planning notification.
• Threshold Planning QuantityThe amount of an Extremely Hazardous Substance at which emergency planning obligations begin.

A plain-English explanation, not legal advice. Figures are the federal baseline; your state may differ, so see the state-by-state requirements.