UCS Helps Curb Toxic Pollution
In May 2006, UCS and our supporters achieved an important victory: we helped preserve our right to know what toxic chemicals are being released in our neighborhoods.
Thousands of UCS activists urged House members to support amendments to the Interior Appropriations bill. One successful amendment preserved the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), an initiative that has helped make communities around the country safer and healthier by requiring companies to disclose their releases of toxic chemicals—such as mercury, lead, and dioxin—into our land, water, and air.
Your Right to Know About Toxics in Your Community
At the end of 2005, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced plans to significantly limit the information that companies are required to provide through the TRI about their release of toxic chemicals—like mercury, lead, and dioxin—into local communities.
Over the winter, 110,000 Americans submitted comments regarding the proposed change, with an overwhelming majority rejecting the proposal. 31,265 of these comments—more than one in four—came from UCS supporters.
Your comments helped encourage Congress to step in. Almost 15,000 UCS activists took the next step and contacted their representatives in support of an amendment offered by Representatives Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Hilda Solis (D-CA) that prevents changes to the TRI. The following week, a bipartisan group in the House of Representatives voted 231 to 187 in favor of the amendment to preserve this important public safety initiative.
This action was part of the UCS Scientific Integrity Program, which works to improve the way in which science informs policy making. Federal and state policy makers need access to adequate information if they are to make informed decisions that protect our health, safety, and environment. While the battle is not over, this is an important step in ensuring the TRI continues to assist communities in curbing toxic pollution.
