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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

more news

NASA Launches New Disclosure Policy

The National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) released a new policy statement governing public dissemination of information from the agency. Released on March 30, the policy is an apparent response to allegations that the agency attempted to suppress scientific research on climate change that contradicted Bush administration policy on the issue. While the new policy does begin to clarify and establish official guidelines for release of information, it remains too vague and contains too many loopholes to fully function as a vehicle for public disclosure.

read in full

Senate Calls for Investigation of TRI Changes

A bipartisan group of senators has called for an investigation into the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposals to relax chemical reporting requirements for large industrial facilities. On March 27, Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Jim Jeffords (I-VT), and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), requesting the office investigate whether EPA had adequately considered how reducing Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) information would impact communities and data users, including federal and state programs that rely on TRI data.

read in full

There's a New Chemical Security Bill in Town

On March 30, Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Barack Obama (D-IL) introduced a new bill on chemical plant security, The Chemical Security and Safety Act, with a major improvement over current chemical security proposals: it includes a requirement that chemical plants consider inherently safer technologies. The bill also establishes a more active role for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the implementation of chemical security requirements.

read in full

Sunshine Week Marked by National Discussion, News Coverage

The public is growing weary and distrustful of burgeoning government secrecy--that's the message brought to the public last week during Sunshine Week (March 12-18th), an effort by the media, civic groups, libraries, universities and others to highlight the importance of open government.

read in full

Louisville Air Quality Program Threatened

Kentucky state lawmakers are considering a bill that would threaten the future of a fledgling air pollution program in Louisville. The program, called the Strategic Toxic Air Reduction (STAR) program, was passed unanimously by the Louisville Air Pollution Control Board in June 2005, and requires industrial facilities in the area to reduce emissions of 18 hazardous air pollutants.

read in full

Little Progress on Chemical Security

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded recently that, while some progress has been made on chemical security, hurdles and delays remain, including a lack of clear authority for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish requirements for chemical facilities. The GAO reported its findings in a report released Feb. 27 on the current status of chemical security at DHS. The GAO also found DHS resistant to involving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a review of inherently safer technologies that might reduce risks posed by chemical plants.

read in full

First Official Congressional Forum for TRI

A briefing for House congressional staff held on Feb. 23 to inform Congress about the dangers of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposals to reduce Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) chemical reporting was the first official forum of its kind. Staff from more than 30 offices heard from a diverse panel of experts on how the changes that EPA is proposing would undermine first responder readiness, harm worker safety, interfere with state programs and hinder cancer research. The briefing was sponsored by Reps. Stephen Lunch (D-MA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), and Hilda Solis (D-CA).

read in full

Agencies Mislead the Public on Katrina

State and federal government officials are misleading the public about potential health hazards from toxic contamination in New Orleans, according to a Feb. 23 report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Hurricane Katrina's winds and floodwaters released heavy metals and other industrial byproducts throughout the area, according to the report. These hazardous materials then deposited in homes, yards, and schools across the region, in what is now a cracked layer of toxic muck. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), however, state that contamination levels in the city pose no "unacceptable" health risks -- a statement disputed by the NRDC report using EPA's own data.

read in full

Dismantling the Public's Right to Know

TRI Under the Bush administration, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is slowly dismantling its flagship environmental information tool--the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). The program has been protected and improved for over the last 15 years, serving as a constant example of the vital role information plays in a democracy. Unfortunately, the program's success has made it a target for those that seek to reduce corporate oversight and accountability.

read in full

One in Five Women Carries Too Much Mercury

On Feb. 8, the Environmental Quality Institute (EQI) at the University of North Carolina-Asheville released the largest ever biomonitoring study of mercury levels in the U.S. population. Based on hair samples from more than 6,600 women, researchers found that 20 percent of women of childbearing age exceed the EPA's recommended mercury limit.

read in full