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Washington, D.C. --- The U.S. House of Representatives today approved an amendment offered by U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Hilda L. Solis (D-CA) to a must-pass appropriations bill that will protect a communities' right to know the amount of harmful chemicals released into the environment in their neighborhoods.
Pallone and Solis offered the amendment to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill that will prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from implementing plans to weaken toxic reporting requirements that have been in place for 20 years. The amendment was approved by a vote of 231 to 187.
Last September, the EPA announced plans to weaken reporting requirements for the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). TRI was developed by Congress as part of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) in 1986 after a tragic disaster at a Union Carbine facility in Bhopal, India killed thousands of people. Congress passed EPCRA to ensure that communities know how much of the most dangerous industrial chemicals are being released into the air, water and the ground.
The Bush administration is trying to undermine this critical program by: requiring that companies report once every two years instead of annually; eliminating detailed reports from more than 22,000 facilities that release up to 5,000 pounds of chemicals every year; and eliminating detailed reports from companies that release up to 500 pounds of the worst threats to human health, including lead and mercury.
"The House sent a strong message to the Bush administration today that it opposes efforts to hinder a communities' ability to know what toxic chemicals are being dumped in their backyards," Pallone said. "By agreeing to our amendment, the House prevents EPA from undermining a program that has played a pivotal role in protecting public health."
“Today’s amendment is a step in the right direction for protecting the health of our communities. While communities of color make up 32 percent of the U.S. population as a whole, they make up almost 44 percent of the population within one mile of the polluting facilities that would have had fewer protections and less information of toxic chemicals as a result of the Administration’s proposal,” Solis said. “I am proud that today’s amendment will protect their health and the health of communities across our country.”
Scientists have developed a large body of evidence indicating that exposure to industrial chemicals is widespread among Americans. A study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found over 100 chemicals present in blood and urine samples of average Americans. Furthermore, National Academies of Science panel found that 25 percent of developmental and neurological problems in children were due to the interplay between exposure to chemicals and genetic factors, and a full 3-percent of the problems were due to chemical exposure alone. |
