View source for Toxics Release Inventory

[[File:Production-Related Waste Managed by Industry-2015_TRI chart.png|thumb|Production-Related Waste Managed by Industry in 2015, reported to TRI]]
The '''Toxics Release Inventory''' ('''TRI''') is a publicly available database containing information on [[toxic]] [[chemical]] releases and other [[waste management]] activities in the [[United States]].

[[Image:TRI-ME2006.jpg|thumb|'''TRI-ME''', the TRI computer reporting program]]
==Summary of requirements==
The database is available from the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA) and contains information reported annually by some industry groups as well as [[Federal government of the United States|federal]] facilities. Each year, companies across a wide range of industries (including [[Chemical industry|chemical manufacturing]], [[Metal#Extraction|metal mining]], [[Fossil fuel power station|coal- or oil-burning electric utilities]], and other industries) that manufacture, process, or otherwise use more than a certain amount of a listed chemical must report it to the TRI. For most listed chemicals, facilities must report if they manufacture 25,000 pounds or process or otherwise use 10,000 pounds of the chemical, but some chemicals have lower reporting thresholds.<ref>{{cite web |title=Reporting for TRI Facilities |url=https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/reporting-tri-facilities |date=2022-03-10 |website=Toxics Release Inventory Program |publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref>

==Origins==
The inventory was first proposed in a 1985 ''[[New York Times]]'' op-ed piece written by David Sarokin and Warren Muir, researchers for an environmental group, [[Inform, Inc.]]<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sarokin |first1=David J. |last2=Muir |first2=Warren R. |title=Too Little Toxic-Waste Data |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/07/opinion/too-little-toxicwaste-data.html |date=1985-10-07 |work=The New York Times |department=Opinion}}</ref> [[United States Congress|Congress]] established TRI under Section 313 of the [[Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act]] of 1986 (EPCRA), and later expanded it in the [[Pollution Prevention Act of 1990]] (PPA).<ref>United States. Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. {{USPL|99|499}} Approved October 17, 1986.</ref><ref>United States. Pollution Prevention Act of 1990. {{USPL|101|508}}, title VI, §6602. Approved November 5, 1990.
</ref> The law was developed out of concern about [[Union Carbide|Union Carbide's]] releases of toxic gases in the 1984 [[Bhopal disaster]] (India) and a smaller 1985 release at its plant in [[Institute, West Virginia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=What is the Toxics Release Inventory? |url=https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/what-toxics-release-inventory |date=2020-09-29 |publisher=EPA}}</ref>

==Reporting requirements==
Facilities are required to report to the TRI if they meet all of the following requirements:
* The facility is included in a TRI-covered [[North American Industry Classification System]] (NAICS) code, or is a federal facility
* The facility has 10 or more full-time employee equivalents (i.e., a total of 20,000 hours or greater)<ref>EPA. "Toxic Chemical Release Reporting: Community Right-to-Know; Definitions." ''Code of Federal Regulations,'' {{USCFR|40|372|3}}</ref> and
* The facility manufactures (defined to include importing), processes or otherwise uses any EPCRA Section 313 chemical in quantities greater than the established threshold during a calendar year.

If certain criteria are met, the facility may be allowed to complete a "Form A" certification statement instead of the more detailed "Form R." Form A may only be used for chemicals that are not considered chemicals of special concern, for which amounts manufactured, processed, or otherwise used at the facility do not exceed 1 million pounds, and which do not exceed 500 pounds of annual reportable amount (i.e., total quantity released/disposed of, treated, recycled, and [[Waste-to-energy|combusted for energy recovery]]) in the calendar year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=TRI Reporting Forms and Instructions - Section B |url=https://ofmpub.epa.gov/apex/guideme_ext/f?p=guideme:rfi:::::rfi:2#2_6 |website=TRI Program |publisher=EPA |access-date=2022-03-10}}</ref>

Facilities must report quantities of listed chemicals released to the air through [[Flue-gas stack|stacks]] or [[fugitive emission]]s; quantities [[water pollution|directly discharged to water]] on-site or to a [[publicly owned treatment works]]; released or disposed of to land, such as in a [[landfill]] or [[injection well]]; and quantities of waste transferred off-site for disposal or release. The PPA added requirements for facilities to report information on quantities of production-related waste managed on- and off-site through recycling, combustion for energy recovery, treatment, and disposal of other releases, and to report information on quantities of waste managed due to one-time or non-production-related events. Facilities also report information on any [[source reduction]] activities undertaken to prevent pollution.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

==Accessing TRI data==
===TRI National Analysis===
Every year, EPA publishes the ''TRI National Analysis,'' which interprets the reported TRI data and examines trends in releases, waste management practices, and [[Pollution prevention in the US|pollution prevention]] (P2) activities. The National Analysis includes an analysis of trends in releases and waste management, as well as analyses of important industry sectors, chemicals of special concern, and a "Where You Live" tool that maps the data.<ref>{{cite web |title=Toxics Release Inventory National Analysis |url=https://www.epa.gov/trinationalanalysis |publisher=EPA |date=2022-03-03}}</ref>

===Data access===
The TRI data can be accessed in multiple ways through EPA's website.
* The TRI program home page includes a tool for searching recent years of data.<ref>{{cite web |title=Toxics Release Inventory Program  |url=https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program |date=2022-03-03 |publisher=EPA}}</ref>
* EPA also provides access to the raw data through its "Envirofacts" website.<ref>{{cite web |title=TRI Search |url=https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-search |website=Envirofacts |date=2021-10-20 |publisher=EPA}}</ref>
* Fact sheets and reports for all years are available through EPA's "TRI Explorer" website.<ref>{{cite web |title=Release Chemical Report |url=https://enviro.epa.gov/triexplorer/tri_release.chemical |date=2022-03-11 |website=TRI Explorer}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Pollutant release and transfer register]]
*[[Toxic Substances Control Act]] (TSCA)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/find-understand-and-use-tri EPA - Find, Understand and Use TRI]

{{Presidency of Ronald Reagan}}
{{Social accountability}}

[[Category:Government databases in the United States]]
[[Category:Hazardous waste]]
[[Category:Pollutant release inventories and registers]]
[[Category:Pollution in the United States]]
[[Category:United States Environmental Protection Agency]]
[[Category:United States federal environmental legislation]]