Pesticide and Environmental Update
States
sue EPA over Toxic
Release Inventory Downgrade
On November 28, New York and 11 other states sued the
U.S. EPA over plans
to exempt some 6,700 chemical facilities from complying with the Toxic
Release Inventory. The TRI was passed in the aftermath of the Bhopal
gas disaster in 1984 and chemical release at a Union Carbide plant in West
Virginia
The TRI was created in 1986 to monitor nearly 600
industrial chemicals. California Attorney General Jerry Brown accused the
EPA of "subverting a key public safety measure that helps communities
protect themselves from toxic chemicals." The EPA claimed the new
rules would "provide incentives for facilities to improve
environmental performance," but Emily Rusch of the California Public
Interest Research Group warned the rollbacks "set a dangerous
precedent that undermines two decades of public access" under the
Community Right-to-Know Act.
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