WASHINGTON, DC – The Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee today approved legislation to restore public access to information
about toxic chemical pollution in communities. The Toxic Right-to-Know
Protection Act (S. 595), sponsored by Senators Lautenberg and Boxer, would
rescind a recent EPA action curtailing the amount of information available on
the federal Toxic Release Inventory (TRI).
“EPA’s recent rule sets a dangerous precedent that
undermines two decades of public access to toxic pollution information,” said
U.S. PIRG staff attorney Alex Fidis. “Today the committee has recognized that
when it comes to toxic pollution, what we don’t know can hurt us, our families
and neighbors.”
The TRI provides information to the public about toxic
chemicals in communities by requiring industrial facilities to report their
toxic pollution and waste management activities. In December 2006, EPA
finalized a rule authorizing industrial facilities to withhold previously
submitted toxic chemical data.
TRI data is used by communities, emergency responders,
and public officials to understand and address both regional and parochial toxic
chemical health threats. This regulatory rollback was opposed by agencies and
officials representing 23 different states, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the
House of Representatives, more than 122,000 public commentors, and EPA’s own
Science Advisory Board.
EPA rationalizes the toxic pollution disclosure
rollbacks as a means of reducing burden on regulated industries. According to
the Government Accountability Office, however, the TRI rollbacks will result in
minimal burden reduction with facilities saving less than $900 a year, on
average. In exchange for this symbolic burden reduction, the GAO stated that
“the TRI reporting changes will likely have
a significant impact on information available to the public about dozens of
toxic chemicals from thousands of facilities in states and communities across
the country.”
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U.S. PIRG is the federation of state Public Interest
Research Groups. State PIRGs are non-profit, non-partisan public interest
advocacy organizations.
