Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) recently reintroduced the Toxic Right-to-Know Protection Act (H.R. 776), which would restore the thresholds for reporting of toxic pollution under the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program. A 2006 rule from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) raised the thresholds significantly. An identical version of the bill failed to move out of committee in 2008.

In a press statement, Pallone said, "Communities have a right to know what kinds of chemicals are being dumped in their backyards. With the weakening of TRI rules under the Bush administration, communities have lost a lot of power to hold companies accountable. This legislation puts people before polluters, and once again arms communities with the information they need to protect their neighborhoods."

Since 1986, TRI has provided the public with data on releases and transfers of toxic waste at thousands of facilities nationwide. The list of reportable chemicals, as well as the covered industries, has grown over the life of the program. The 2006 TRI rule promulgated by the Bush administration was seen by numerous public health and environmental advocates as a major setback, harming citizens' ability to protect the health of their communities and families.

According to Pallone's office, "The Toxic Right-to-Know Protection Act will undo changes that have seriously undermined the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), a critical tool that has given communities access to an online database describing what toxic chemicals are being released from nearby plants and refineries. The TRI program has been extremely successful in empowering communities by ensuring that they know what chemicals and how much of these harmful chemicals are being released into the air, water and ground."

The EPA finalized the TRI rule in December 2006 despite enormous opposition. The rule raised the threshold for the amount of pollution facilities can release before they are required to report detailed data on the pollution. As documented in an OMB Watch report, of the more than 122,000 public comments submitted in response to EPA's plans to cut TRI reporting, more than 99.9 percent opposed the agency's proposals.

The introduction of legislation to strengthen the reporting thresholds coincides with the continuation of a lawsuit brought by thirteen states against EPA to restore the old reporting rules. It is unclear whether the new EPA leadership might pursue settlement of the suit. In a break from the Bush administration, the Obama administration recently announced its intention to end its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in defense of controversial Bush-era rules affecting mercury pollution from fossil fuel power plants. This action could be interpreted as a willingness to settle additional pollution-related lawsuits originally defended by the Bush Department of Justice.

The new bill is identical to legislation Pallone introduced in 2007, which would have restored the threshold for detailed reporting of releases to 500 pounds. The 2007 bill managed to get a hearing but never made it to a vote in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The same committee again has jurisdiction, but no plans for the new bill have been announced. Similar legislation in the Senate has not yet been introduced, and the Senate's plans for dealing with TRI are unclear.