The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is releasing the 2001 Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) today, June 30th, just one day shy of the July 1st reporting deadline for 2002 data. As part of the unveiling, EPA will also release their analysis of the latest TRI data and conduct various briefings for the press, congressional offices, environmental community and industry representatives. In addition to being the latest public release of TRI data the 2001 TRI also marks the first year that releases of lead will be reported and potentially the last year that mining companies report their toxic releases.

Under new reporting thresholds, the 2001 TRI is expected to reveal the generation and release of wastes containing lead at thousands of facilities across the country. In previous years of TRI reporting, companies only had to file if they manufactured or processed 10,000 pounds of a chemical; however in 2001, this threshold dropped to 100 pounds for lead. There is no safe exposure level for lead, which is reflected in previous policies to remove lead from gasoline and paint. Any generation or release of lead is of concern for public health and it is anticipated that many companies will be reporting some level of lead waste. The largest releases are expected to come from mining companies, which may no longer have to report all of their toxic releases to the public. A recent court decision allows mines to claim an exemption for "naturally occurring toxic substances" in waste rock. This means that potentially billions of pounds of metals like antimony, thallium, maybe even arsenic, would no longer be reported. Unless EPA issues a rule closing this court created loophole, the 2001 TRI will be the last complete reporting of the toxic wastes produced and released by mines.

In addition to problems getting the TRI program to track and report on all toxic wastes, the data has been plagued with release delays that prevent information from being used in a more timely and effective manner. Last year, the problem became so bad that John Graham, administrator of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, issued a "prompt letter" to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging the agency to find ways to speed up the annual release of TRI data, among other information improvements. Ironically, the year after the prompt letter urged EPA to expedite the TRI release process, the TRI has taken longer than ever to be made public. According to EPA the additional delay this year was caused by the additional burdens of the new lead reporting and other changes to the process.

The Right-to-Know Network (RTK NET), an online database service operated by OMB Watch, expects to have the 2001 TRI data available on its website, www.rtknet.org, the day after the EPA's official release. The slight delay is due to the EPA's refusal to allow RTK NET access to the data prior to the public release. It should also be noted that this year the EPA has refused to provide OMB Watch with the technical contact information filed by every facility reporting to the TRI program. OMB Watch has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain the data. Until we receive updated information RTK NET will continue to provide the technical contact information for each facility provided in last years TRI release. We estimate that over 75 percent of reported technical contact information does not change from one year to the next. Indeed, given the 18-month delay from the end of the reporting year to the release of the data, there has probably always been a degree of inaccuracy of the data due to employee turn over during the delay.