Toxics Release Inventory data currently available to the general public
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting requirements mandate that covered industries report annually to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) releases of some 650 substances. Releases include actual releases, transfers, and waste generated. Weights of releases of the specific substances to all media are reported, provided the facilities exceed certain thresholds for the substances. The combined weight of all releases is often reported in the press, regardless of the mode of release, likelihood of exposure, or toxicity. EPA, local agencies, environmental groups, and others analyze and combine the data using statistical techniques, and present the data at state-level, by geographical regions, by industry sector, and in other combinations. Recent regulatory action expanded the list of covered industries, and will cause the total reported releases to increase significantly, even though actual emissions by the reporting sources may in fact have decreased. As the TRI data are made available to the general public, EPA, the states, and the newly reporting industries will communicate with the public the significance of the new reported quantities. In preparation for these communication programs, reporting industries need to be cognizant of existing communication sources and vehicles. In an earlier time, government and corporate direct communications and press coverage constituted the majority of information flow. Today, many data sources are available on the Internet to anyone who is interested. Communication plans to discuss TRI releases need to consider the types of information already available to the average citizen. This paper describes some of the data and interpretive information currently available to the public and examines the type of data which is likely to become available in the near future.
- Research Organization:
- Public Service Electric and Gas Co., Newark, NJ (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20002229
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-990608-; TRN: IM200002%%229
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Air and Waste 92nd Annual Meeting and Exhibition, St. Louis, MO (US), 06/20/1999--06/24/1999; Other Information: 1 CD-ROM. Operating Systems: Windows 3.1, '95, '98 and NT; Macintosh; and UNIX; PBD: 1999; Related Information: In: Air and Waste 92nd annual meeting and exhibition proceedings, [9500] pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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