RIGHT-TO-KNOW INFO SHRINKS
CHERYL HOGUE · Chemical & Engineering News · 2007
THOUSANDS OF INDUSTRIAL facilities will provide far less information than previously required about their annual toxic releases under a rule the Bush Administration unveiled on Dec. 18, 2006. About one-third of the 24,000 facilities that file Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reports each year are now eligible to submit less data on one or more chemicals, according to EPA. Environmental groups say the change limits the public's right to know about releases of hazardous chemicals into the environment. Some congressional Democrats, including Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), have pledged to overturn the rule. EPA Deputy Administrator Marcus Peacock says the new reporting requirements will encourage companies to become cleaner and more efficient. This is because if a facility cuts its releases of TRI chemicals, it can file less information with the agency than it does now. The new rule changes the criteria for determining which of two standard TRI forms facilities must fill out and return each ...