Oxford News

Rules on pollution info may be eased

Washington — The government is proposing to relax rules that require companies to issue annual reports on the quantity of toxic substances they release into the air, water and soil.

The Environmental Protection Agency will accept public comment until Friday before deciding on changes to the federal Toxic Release Inventory, changes largely opposed by environmentalists.

The inventory, an annual report that the EPA has been required since 1986 to publish, discloses the amounts of carcinogens and other pollutants released into the environment by polluters, both nationally and in individual communities.

"Regardless of where you work or live, the changes affect you and your community," said Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, which has spearheaded efforts to defeat the rule change. "This is about knowing what's in the air we breathe and water we drink," Bass added in a release.

The EPA says the rule change would have a minuscule effect on the amount of information provided to the public about pollutants. The inventory, known as the TRI, is compiled from annual reports that companies are required to send to the agency.

The rule changes, proposed Oct. 5, would change the TRI in several ways:

• The threshold above which a company is required to make detailed disclosures would be increased tenfold, from 500 pounds of pollutant per year to 5,000 pounds.

• Companies would report every other year, rather than annually.

• Reporting requirements for "bioaccumulative" toxic substances, such as mercury, that are not released into the environment would be loosened. Companies now must report if they produce more than 500 pounds of this type of waste annually, even if they recapture or recycle the material. That threshold also would be increased to 5,000 pounds under the proposed rule.

The EPA said the changes would save industry 165,000 hours of paperwork a year and still ensure that more than 99 percent of toxic releases are reported in detail.

But nearly all of the 1,479 individuals or organizations that have already contacted the EPA about the proposed rule don't appear to find that argument convincing.

"EPA should not restrict the public's access to information on toxic releases," said John O'Sullivan, professor of human ecology at Gainesville (Ga.) State College. Supplying the information is not a "burden," he said. "It is good business to look out for the health and safety of workers and communities."

Karen Hadden, executive director of the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development Coalition in Austin, Texas, said that more information, not less, about toxic pollution should be made public.

"We have all seen the compelling images of the toxic pollution left behind on sidewalks and in homes from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina," she said. "Our right to know about pollution and waste should not be sacrificed to save companies the few pages of paperwork."