UCS Success Stories
Toxics Release Inventory Strengthened
At the end of 2005, the EPA announced plans to significantly limit the information that companies are required to provide through the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) about their release of toxic chemicals--like mercury, lead, and dioxin-into local communities. Over the next couple months, 110,000 Americans submitted comments regarding the proposed change, with an overwhelming majority rejecting the proposal. UCS activists submitted 31,265 of these comments--more than one in four of all comments received.In transition meetings with the administration, UCS and its partner organizations stressed that the original reporting requirements of the TRI should be restored. In mid-March, the Obama administration rolled back the Bush changes, not only returning to the old reporting requirements but also requiring companies to fill in the gaps for the time that reporting requirements were relaxed.
