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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Hilda L. Solis (D-CA) today introduced legislation that would permanently protect communities' rights to know the amount of harmful chemicals released into the environment in their neighborhoods. The Toxic Right-to-Know-Protection Act prevents the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from ever implementing their plans to weaken toxic reporting requirements that have been in place for 20 years.
In September 2004, the EPA announced a proposal 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.
Earlier this year, the House passed by a vote of 231 to 187 an amendment offered by Pallone and Solis to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill that prevents the administration from moving forward with their plans during the upcoming fiscal year. The Senate has yet to pass its own version of the Interior bill.
"The House is already on record opposing the Bush administration's efforts to hinder communities' abilities to know what toxic chemicals are being dumped in their backyards," Pallone said. "I hope that the final Interior bill will include our amendment, but we also need a permanent solution. We are introducing this bill to protect a program that has played a pivotal role in protecting public health well beyond the upcoming fiscal year."
“Low-income and communities of color deserve to know that their health and welfare will be permanently protected regardless of their proximity to polluting facilities,” Solis said. “I am proud of this bill and will continue to fight to ensure our most vulnerable communities have the protections they need and deserve.”
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, a 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. |
