Correcting e-Manifest data: who fixes which field, and within how long
After the receiving facility signs and submits a manifest, each waste handler named on it can correct the fields it is responsible for, at any time. If EPA or an authorized state asks the receiving facility to correct the parts it is responsible for, it has 30 days from the request (40 CFR 264.71(l) and 265.71(l)).
Sources: eCFR, the EPA pages linked below and EPA's Inspector General, checked 16 October 2026. This guide is a summary, not legal advice.
What a correction must contain
- The manifest tracking number and the date the facility received the waste.
- The item numbers you are correcting.
- For each item, the data entered before and the corrected data.
- A certification that the corrections make the record true, accurate and complete, signed with a valid electronic signature. One certification can cover a batch upload of corrections.
The other handlers on the manifest get an electronic notice. They can reply with comments or send their own correction (264.71(l)(1) to (5)). Only users with the e-Manifest Certifier or Site Manager role for their site can correct data.
EPA charges no fee for corrections (EPA e-Manifest questions). The public generally sees manifest data 90 days after receipt.
Who corrects which field
EPA's correction requirements page (last updated 5 October 2026) assigns each field to one handler. In short:
| Item | Field | Who corrects it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Generator EPA ID | Designated facility |
| 3, 5 | Emergency phone; generator name, addresses and phone | Generator |
| 4 | Manifest tracking number | EPA only, on a valid request |
| 6, 7 | Transporter names and EPA IDs | Generator |
| 8 | Designated facility name, address and EPA ID | EPA, on a valid request. After a rejection or residue, the designated or alternate facility. |
| 9 to 13 | Waste lines: DOT description, containers, total quantity, unit, waste codes | Designated facility |
| 18, 19, 20 | Discrepancy, management method codes, receipt certification | Designated facility |
The table leaves out items 2 and 14 to 17. EPA's page lists who corrects those. If EPA or a state asks, the facility must also upload a scan of the paper manifest that shows the corrections.
What you can still change depends on how you submitted
RCRAInfo's correction help page lists what each manifest type allows:
- Paper with data: generator, transporter and waste information, special handling, certifications, international shipment details, discrepancies, the facility's phone, and a new scan.
- Electronic or hybrid: waste information, special handling, discrepancies, port of entry and the facility's phone.
- Image only: in the help page's words, “reload the paper manifest attachment and update the generator information. No other data may be revised or corrected.”
In e-Manifest itself, no user can change the tracking number or the facility that was invoiced. To ask EPA for those changes, the help page names e-manifestfinancialhelp@epa.gov.
The steps in e-Manifest
- Open the manifest from “Received” or “Paper Manifests (Image-Only)” on the e-Manifest dashboard.
- Click “Make Correction”. The status changes from Signed-Completed to Under Correction.
- Change the fields and click “Save”, or “Revert” to go back to the last signed data.
- One handler on the manifest re-signs. A broker can start a correction but cannot sign it. The status becomes Corrected.
Each correction creates a new version. Earlier versions stay in the manifest's history, and the latest correction counts as the final record.
The errors EPA's Inspector General found
The Inspector General's evaluation (report 26-E-0047, 11 August 2026) counted 99.6% of submissions from 2019 to 2024 as data + image manifests. On these, the facility types in the data from the paper form. Its examples of transcription errors:
- The unit typed wrong: pounds (P) on paper, tons (T) in the data.
- A decimal point lost, sometimes because it was faint on the paper.
- A quantity typed in pounds where the form's preprinted unit was tons. One record showed 193,850 tons instead of 96.925 tons.
- A waste line entered twice, the second time with the wrong unit.
Of about 356,000 different generator EPA IDs on 2022 to 2024 manifests, about 40% were invalid. Manifests with an invalid generator ID were 6% of all manifests. The report also said that, as of May 2025, EPA had not authorized any state to carry out the July 2024 rule that set the 30 days. Your state agency can tell you whether it requests corrections now. EPA plans a warning in e-Manifest when a quantity exceeds what the container can hold.
Checks before you submit
- Compare each unit with the paper form, including a preprinted unit.
- Look at every quantity over 1,000 tons against its container type and count. The report treated volumes over 1,000 tons as probable errors.
- Check decimal points against the scan, not only the typed copy.
- Count the waste lines on the paper and in the data, including continuation sheets.
- Look up the generator's EPA ID in RCRAInfo instead of typing a code such as “VSQG”.
Reading paper manifests into a spreadsheet
We offer a new service that reads scanned paper manifests into a spreadsheet. It marks fields where two readings differ and fields it reads as faint, handwritten or cut off. Your staff still check every field against the scan and enter the data in e-Manifest. It costs $5 a manifest after a free trial of 10 manifests. We delete scans and results within 30 days of sending the results back. Details, limits and our test figures are on the manifest data entry page.
Aoken Labs is a private company, not part of EPA.