EPA Working on Rule to Expand Toxics Reporting to More Industries

Date: June 28, 2011

Source: News Room

The US EPA is crafting a proposed rule to expand the number of industries required to report chemical releases to the agency's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), including municipal waste incinerators. The new proposal will "add or expand" coverage for six sectors: iron ore mining, phosphate mining, municipal waste incineration, industrial dry cleaning, petroleum bulk storage and steam-only production from fossil fuels. EPA last expanded the list in 1997, according to an abstract in the Action Initiation List. That rule imposed TRI reporting requirements on several sectors: metal mining, coal mining, electric utilities, commercial hazardous waste treatment, wholesale chemicals and allied products, wholesale petroleum bulk terminals and solvent recovery services. According to the Action Initiation List, EPA is crafting the expansion "[i]n support of the goal to provide comprehensive toxic chemical release and other waste management information to communities." EPA last expandedthe list in 1997 to impose TRI reporting requirements on several sectors: metal mining, coal mining, electric utilities, commercial hazardous waste treatment, wholesale chemicals and allied products, wholesale petroleum bulk terminals and solvent recovery services.

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