EPA Plans to Increase Reporting Requirements for Toxic Chemicals

On April 29, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it plans to add certain chemicals to companies’ annual release reporting requirements. The Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) established the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) to track releases of certain chemicals that EPA deemed a threat to human health and the environment. EPCRA requires certain facilities to issue annual reports showing their releases of chemicals so that such releases can be included on the TRI.

EPA plans to require reporting on ethylene oxide and additional PFAS substances. EPA also announced that natural gas processing will be added to the list of industry sectors whose facilities are required to report releases. In addition to requiring reporting on these chemicals, EPA plans to make release reports more publicly available. For instance, EPA plans to include a “demographic profile” search tool, which would include information such as the income levels and racial makeup of particular areas.

 

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