April 29, 2009—U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson has signed a final rule to reinstate stricter reporting requirements for industrial and federal facilities that release toxic substances that threaten human health and the environment. These changes will apply to all TRI 2008 reports, due July 1, 2009.
The final rule reinstates Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting requirements that were replaced by the TRI Burden Reduction Rule in December 2006, explains the EPA. The 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, signed by President Obama on March 11, 2009, mandated that prior TRI reporting requirements be reestablished.
TRI is a publicly available EPA database that contains information on toxic chemical releases and waste management activities reported annually by certain industries as well as federal facilities. For more details about TRI and the new requirements, visit the EPA TRI Web site. TRI-ME software and other reporting assistance materials are reportedly being revised and will be available soon.
