The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on July 29, 2021, the availability of the preliminary Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data on chemical releases, chemical waste management, and pollution prevention activities that took place during 2020 at almost 21,000 federal and industrial facilities in the United States. EPA notes that the preliminary data include the first-ever reporting on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) added to the TRI by the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The dataset is raw data and does not contain any summary or trend analysis. EPA plans to publish the updated TRI dataset in Fall 2021, and EPA will use it to develop the 2020 TRI National Analysis. EPA expects to publish the 2020 TRI National Analysis in early 2022. According to EPA, the public can use the preliminary data to identify facilities that report to TRI (for example, to locate facilities in a given ZIP code) and learn which chemicals facilities manage and in what quantities. Read more…
