The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized its mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting rule. This new rule will require thousands of facilities to monitor and report their annual emissions of several major GHG. The registry should provide much of the detailed, facility-level information needed to develop policies to reduce emissions. Several major changes were made to the proposed rule, mostly in favor of industry. The changes appear to have reduced the amount of facilities covered and the amount of greenhouse gases tracked.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from several environmental groups, the EPA released a list of 584 coal ash dump sites around the country. Coal ash is the toxic leftover waste from coal-fired power plants. The list identifies wet coal ash dumps, which are more dangerous than dry landfills because they are more vulnerable to leaks, overflows, and failures. The information is central to protecting public health and the environment. Last December, a dike failed at a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) coal ash dump. The spill at the Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, TN sent more than 1 billion gallons of toxic sludge flowing into the nearby community and the Emory River.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reportedly negotiating a settlement in the multi-state lawsuit seeking to overturn the current reporting rules to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), according to Inside EPA (subscription required). The agency has requested and received a 60-day extension on the deadline for its response to the states' motion to throw out the current TRI reporting rules.

Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) has introduced a bill to reverse the rollback to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) set in place in 2006 by the Bush administration. The introduction of legislation to strengthen the rule coincides with the continuing lawsuit brought by thirteen states against EPA to restore the old reporting rules. Regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit, legislation to strengthen the TRI reporting process would be a welcome improvement.