Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is marking the 35th anniversary of the passage of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) that created the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), the first information collection and disclosure program of its kind in the world. For decades, the TRI has provided communities with information about how toxic chemicals are being managed in their neighborhoods, and facilities with opportunities to learn from each other's best practices for reducing chemical waste and pollution. Today, nearly 21,000 facilities report annually on the quantities of more than 760 chemicals they release into the environment or otherwise manage as waste. These data are reported to EPA by facilities in industry sectors such as manufacturing, mining, electric utilities, and commercial hazardous waste management. This year, EPA improved the TRI Program and expanded the public's access to environmental information in many ways, including: - Taking important steps to expand TRI reporting requirements to include certain contract sterilization facilities that were not previously required to report ethylene oxide releases (EtO) to TRI. Workers in facilities that use EtO and members of communities near these facilities, particularly children, are at the highest risk of exposure to this toxic chemical. These important environmental justice and children's health concerns make it imperative that EPA know where EtO is being released and in what amounts. Requiring additional reporting on this information and then making that information publicly available through the TRI will assist EPA in identifying and responding to any human health and environmental threats those releases cause.
- Releasing preliminary data for 2020 TRI reporting that includes the first-ever reporting on PFAS. The data collected, particularly on PFAS and EtO, are critical to inform and guide EPA's commitment to protect people from the potential health impacts of these chemicals.
- Continuing to add more chemicals to the TRI, including additional PFAS per the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act and the proposed addition of 12 other chemicals.
- Enhancing TRI search tools by adding a demographic map layer that allows users to view the average income, education level, and racial makeup of the areas surrounding TRI facilities.
- Releasing a Spanish-language version of the TRI website, making the most popular resources from the English version of the website available in Spanish for the first time.
To learn more about your "right to know" about the chemicals in your community, go to epa.gov/tri and use the TRI Search tool. Read more about TRI's 35th Anniversary. Catch up on EPA's TRI 35th Anniversary webinar series. | 
