In 1986 Congress passed the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. This requires facilities employing 10 or more people and using or storing 10,000 or more pounds of any of the 300 listed toxic chemicals to report annually to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency their off-site releases of the chemicals. The TRI lists estimates, in pounds, the amount of each regulated chemical that a facility emits into either air, land, soil, or water, or ships off-site for treatment, storage, or disposal. Compiled TRI data can be obtained from U.S. EPA and N.C. state government.
In 1990, Congress passed the Pollution Prevention Act, which altered TRI reporting requirements to include efforts taken by regulated facilities to reduce TRI emissions and recycle chemicals. These provisions help to demonstrate what measures a company took to reduce TRI emissions. The new data lists the pounds of chemicals recycled, used for energy recovery, and treated on or off-site. Reductions can result from pollution prevention measures but also from decreasing production, recalculating emissions using different estimating techniques, or by having chemicals taken off of the TRI list (such reductions are not the result of pollution prevention measures).
The EPA is continually evaluating and revising the list of chemicals included in TRI. Citizens can petition EPA to add chemicals to the list.
FORMS IN WHICH YOU CAN RECEIVE TRI DATA:
NOTE: The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) Hotline (800/535-0202; fax 703/412-3333) distributes TRI publications and general information on TRI requirements and public access to data; advises the public on the best sources to approach for particular information needs; and helps industries comply with TRI requirements.
Printed data:
* EPA TRI-US (User Service) (202/260-1531): Provides both basic and extensive TRI information and can take requests by phone, mail, or fax. It can also assist you in determining which other forms of the data may be helpful if you need more extensive information and in using these other formats. Services are free.
* EPA TRI Information Management Branch (TS-793, 401 M St. SW, Washington, DC 20460; 202/260-6238; fax 260-4655): Handles requests for TRI information which are straightforward and specific. Provides data in paper format. Prefers to receive requests by fax or mail. Service is free up to 266 pages; copies are 15 cents each for 267+ pages.
* Office of Waste Reduction, N.C. DEHNR (3825 Barrett Dr., Ste. 300, Raleigh 27619; 919/571-4100) and Emergency Response Division, N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety (116 W. Jones St., Raleigh 27603; 919/733-3865): Printed data solely for N.C. is available for viewing at these agencies. Some information can be provided over the phone. Charges are assessed for photocopies.
Computer disks: Contain data on each facility in N.C.
* Government Printing Office (Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954; 202/783-3238): Sells IBM-compatible disks for $28.
* National Technical Information Service (U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161; 800/553-6847) : Sells disks for $55 + $3 handling. Three versions are available from NTIS: for dBase III (IBM compatible); Lotus 1,2,3 (IBM compatible); and Microsoft Excel (Macintosh compatible).
Compact disks - Read Only Memory (CD-ROM): Contain data for all states.
* Government Printing Office (Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954; 202/783-3238): Sells CD ROMs (price unavailable at time of printing).
* National Technical Information Service (U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161; 800/553-6847): Sells for $45 + $3 handling.
* Federal Depository Libraries across N.C.: Hold the disks as part of their reference collection (contact your local librarian for Depository locations).
Online data bases:
* RTK-Net (1731 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009-1146; dial-in number: 202/234-8494): An online database operated by two public interest groups, OMB Watch and the Unison Institute. You pay for the long-distance charges. The RTK-Net contains national TRI data as well as health fact sheets, census data, and information on hazardous chemicals.
* National Library of Medicine (NLM) Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET) (8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894; 301/496-6531): Contains national TRI data. NLM charges $18 per connect hour, and you must first apply for a TOXNET account through the mail before gaining access. National Technical Information Service (800/553-6847) sells Macintosh and IBM versions of Grateful Med ($29.95), a software package which allows you to search easily through TOXNET.