[Corporations] Alert: Protect your Right-to-Know from Bush

[Mike Ewall]

** TOXIC RIGHT-TO-KNOW ALERT **

The Bush administration is at it again.

This time they want to reduce your right to know about toxic chemical 
pollution in your community.

Please take a moment to send a quick comment to the Environmental 
Protection Agency by Wednesday (Feb 4th).

Go to: http://www.actionpa.org/tri/alert.html


OVERVIEW:

In the name of "burden reduction," the EPA is seeking to water down the 
nation's most important community right-to-know resource for toxic 
pollution -- the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI).  Any changes to TRI should 
be designed for the benefit of the public who use the TRI 
database.  Unfortunately, the only options outlined by EPA in this stage of 
the "stakeholder dialogue" are geared towards making life easier for polluters.

The Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) is a national database, started in 1987, 
where certain industries over a certain size have to report if they're 
releasing more than a certain amount of certain toxic chemicals (currently, 
612 chemicals and chemical groups out of over 80,000 chemicals in 
industrial use).  As you can see, it's fairly limited as is, yet it 
provides valuable information that has enabled people to bring attention to 
pollution sources in their community.

For the past several years, Pennsylvania has ranked as the 3rd to 5th most 
polluted state, based on the industry-reported TRI data.  Attention brought 
to polluters based on TRI data has caused companies to decrease their 
pollution.

The TRI system needs to be strengthened to reduce the toxic burden on the 
public, not weakened by reducing the paperwork burden on polluters.

For more information on TRI and TRI-reported toxic pollution in 
Pennsylvania, visit:
http://www.actionpa.org/tri/
[On this website, you'll find links to excellent sites where you can 
research toxics in your community.]

To email EPA your comments, visit:
http://www.actionpa.org/tri/alert.html


Feel free to use or change the default comments in the web page 
above.  You're also welcome to write your own comments.  You can draw from 
any of the language in this alert if you like, including any of the 
following...

To continue being a useful right-to-know tool, TRI must contain the most 
complete, most accurate and most up-to-date data possible.  Please do not 
make TRI reporting less frequent; do not lower reporting thresholds based 
on industrial sector, class of facility, business revenues or number of 
employees; do not allow facilities to report ranges of emissions in place 
of actual amounts; and do not allow facilities to skip reporting if their 
emissions are "basically the same" as the year prior.

No reporting required under the current TRI system is unreasonable.  EPA 
already provides industry with reporting exemptions; these exemptions have 
not been fully utilized.  The integrity and usefulness of the TRI to data 
users should be maintained, and expanded, to the fullest extent 
possible.  The American public deserves to know as much as possible about 
toxic chemicals being released into their communities.

It's not EPA's job to relieve polluting industries of their 'burden' to 
report to the public.  It's EPA's job to relieve communities of the burden 
of being polluted!

Please ensure that TRI data is checked for accuracy, that it's made 
available to the public in a more timely manner, and that it includes MORE 
industries (like waste incinerators and nuclear reactors) and MORE 
pollutants (including radioactive pollutants).

Additional, useful (and brief) comments can be found here:
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/article.cfm?ContentID=3495

Here's where you can find the official (and not-so-brief) EPA Proposal to 
Weaken TRI Reporting:
http://www.epa.gov/tri/phase2/phase_2.htm

For links on toxic chemicals and environmental health:
http://www.ejnet.org/toxics/


[Thanks to the Clean Air Council for alerting people to this issue.  The 
default language in the web alert and in some of this message is borrowed 
from their alert.]


Mike Ewall
215-743-4884
catalyst at actionpa.org