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New Analysis Finds EPA Ruling on Toxic Releases Disproportionately Affects Minority and Low-Income Communities -- June 26, 2008

Researchers at the Children's Environmental Health Initiative have found that minority and low-income communities are more likely to be adversely affected by a 2006 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ruling that exempts some industries from reporting detailed information about the toxic chemicals they release into the environment.

The study, Environmental Justice Implications of Reduced Reporting Requirements of the Toxics Release Inventory Burden Reduction Rule was published online on June 26, 2008 by the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science and Technology. It was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Every year, approximately 26,000 industrial facilities across the United States are required to submit detailed information to the EPA about their releases of nearly 650 chemicals to air, land, or water. The facilities also must report the amount of chemicals contained in waste that is disposed of, burned, recycled or treated. The EPA makes this information available to the public through a database known as the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI).

Since 1987, the TRI has been an essential tool to alert communities, regulators, public health and safety officials, workers, and investors to the presence and use of chemicals by facilities in their communities. Since the database became publicly available in 1987, emissions of toxic chemicals in the U.S. have declined by 49 percent.

In December 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Toxics Release Inventory Burden Reduction Rule which exempts industrial facilities meeting certain higher reporting thresholds from filing detailed reports about the quantities of chemicals used, released, or managed as waste.

Using a spatial analytical approach, we examined the percent minority population, the percent minority population under age 5, and the percent of the population in poverty within a 1, 3, and 5 km buffer around each TRI facility in the U.S.

In contrast to EPA's findings, this study suggests that the TRI Burden Reduction Rule has environmental justice implications. We found that facilities that are eligible for reduced reporting are more likely to be located in neighborhoods where the proportion of minority and low income residents is significantly higher than neighborhoods hosting facilities that are still required report detailed information.

The complete study may be accessed here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es7028119

A 1-page fact sheet may be found here: TRI_BurdenReduction_1pager

The EPA's Final Toxics Release Inventory Burden Reduction Rule can be found here: http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-TRI/2006/December/Day-22/tri21958.htm

For more information contact: Marie Lynn Miranda (919) 613-8023, mmiranda@duke.edu, or Martha Keating (919) 613-8736, martha.keating@duke.edu

To find results of the study for an individual state, click the state on the map below or use the dropdown menu. Use the dropdown menu to find results of the study for EPA regions.

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