Environmental Right to Know

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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EPA's Science Advisory Board Opposes TRI Proposals

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board (SAB) recently sent a letter to the agency expressing concerns over its plans to reduce information collected under the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The SAB maintains that the proposed cuts would "hinder the advances of environmental research used to protect public health and the environment." SBA sent the letter detailing its concerns to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson on July 12.

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Senators 'Hold' EPA Nominee to Protest Cuts to Pollution Reporting

New Jersey Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D) and Robert Menendez (D) have placed a hold on a Bush administration nominee to protest a set of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposals to dismantle the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Last year, EPA proposed significant cuts to the TRI program, our country's most complete inventory of toxic pollution, that would according to Lautenberg, "deny thousands of communities - including 160 in New Jersey - full information about the release of hazardous toxic emissions in their neighborhoods."

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Employees Weigh in to Save EPA Libraries

Presidents of 17 Local Unions representing more than 10,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employees wrote to Senate appropriators on June 29 to protest deep cuts to EPA funding that would close the agency's libraries. The letter urges Congress to reinstate full funding to EPA libraries and explains how the cuts will impede EPA's ability to respond to public health, enforcement and homeland security emergencies and restrict public access to vital health and safety information.

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House Passes Right-to-Know Amendment to Save TRI

On May 18, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from rolling back reporting requirements for our nation's worst polluters. By passing the Pallone-Solis Toxic Right-To-Know Amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill, the House took an important step to preserve EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program, by prohibiting the agency from spending any money to finalize its plans to cut toxic chemical reporting requirements.

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House Passes Toxic Right-to-Know Amendment

Amid contentious debate over the Interior Appropriations Bill, the House of Representatives made an important stand for the environment and the public's right to know about toxic pollution.

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Congress Could Save TRI from EPA's Chopping Block

Congress is expected to vote on an amendment this week that would save the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) from changes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed in September 2005 and expects to finalize this December. The Pallone-Solis Toxics Right to Know Amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill would prevent the EPA from spending money to finalize the proposals. The amendment is welcome news to environmental, public health, first responder, and labor groups, who have mounted a campaign to compel the EPA to drop its plans to reduce information on toxic pollution.

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Path to Chemical Security Is Clear, But Overlooked

Approximately 284 facilities in 47 states have reduced risks to nearby communities from hazardous chemicals by switching to safer chemical processes or moving to safer locations, according to an Apr. 24 report by the Center for American Progress (CAP). Preventing Toxic Terrorism highlights the need for a national program to encourage thousands of other chemical facilities to become safer neighbors through the use of alternative, inherently safer chemicals and technologies.

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Experts to Senate: EPA's Pollution Plans Stink

An Apr. 20 Senate staff briefing brought to Congress's attention concerns over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposals to reduce Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) chemical reporting. A diverse panel of experts discussed how the changes proposed by EPA would cripple this successful environmental program, undermine first responder readiness, impede financial investment decisions and interfere with state and local programs. Panelist were:

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EPA Forced to Turn Over Documents on Controversial Mercury Program

A federal judge ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on April 13 to release documents related to an analysis of alternatives to its controversial power plant mercury 'cap and trade' program. After the agency rejected a July 2004 request for the documents under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly filed a lawsuit in March 2005 against EPA to obtain the information.

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EPA Releases 2004 Toxic Release Inventory, Draws Questionable Conclusions

Last week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publicly released 2004 data on releases and disposals of toxic pollution throughout the country. EPA stressed that overall the data shows a 4 percent reduction in total release and disposal of toxic chemicals. When examined more closely, however, the data reveals a number of troubling trends in the 2004 data. The data is available for searching on OMB Watch's Right to Know Network (RTK NET) as well as EPA's TRI Explorer.

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