In late 2006, the agency made a change to requirements for Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reports. The modification allowed more facilities to use a shortened form when filing annual TRI reports (C&EN, Jan. 1, 2007, page 10). The long form asks for the volume of the substance released and whether the chemical is released to air, water, or land; the short one does not require either piece of information.
For all industries, use of the TRI short form in 2006 was up 13% over 2005, according to the agency.
The rule change, championed by the Bush Administration, has drawn ire from Congress and environmental groups, who say it will reduce the amount of information available to the public about releases of chemicals. The Government Accountability Office determined that the rule change will cause the public to lose a substantial amount of information about chemical releases although facilities filing TRI reports will, on average, save only $900 a year (C&EN, Feb. 12, 2007, page 58).
"It is reasonable to assume that some of this change [in reporting] occurred as a result of the rule" allowing the use of the short form for releases or disposal of less than 2,000 lb of any chemical listed on TRI, the agency says in a statement. Previously, facilities could use the short form only if they released or disposed of less than 500 lb per year of a listed substance.." Facilities could have lowered their releases to have qualified to use the shorter form, the agency says.
