Environmental Right to Know

Environmental Right to Know: News Background Analysis Gov Docs Links

Subtopics

TAKE ACTION: Stop EPA's Rollback of Toxic Pollution Reporting

TAKE ACTION: Promote Necessary Chemical Security Legislation

Read OMB Watch's comments on EPA's first TRI burden reduction rule.

The public has a right to know (RTK) about human health and environmental issues that affect it; it should never have to demonstrate a need to know information. Environmental right-to-know encompasses a number of issues dealing with environmental information initiatives and laws, and RTK language appears in many of these. The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), a database of chemical releases and some chemical uses, is one of the most well known depositories for environmental toxics information, although EPA maintains a number of other databases. OMB Watch monitors access that the government provides to environmental information, as well as how it disseminates and uses such information.

News

Fisheries Rule Cuts Public Participation 08/19/2008
A Commerce Department proposed rule governing fisheries management threatens to curb public participation in environmental reviews and give greater control to the fishing industry. The public comment period for the proposed rule ended on Aug. 12. Read More

EPA Launches Online System for Reporting Violations 08/19/2008
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently launched a pilot program to allow companies to electronically self-disclose violations of environmental laws. The new voluntary program, called eDisclosure, is designed to speed the processing times and reduce transaction costs for voluntary disclosures of violations under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Read More

Pesticide Problems Go Unnoticed by EPA 08/05/2008
The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) has discovered that two groups of common pesticides, generally considered to be "safer" chemicals, are responsible for one quarter of reported human pesticide poisonings, based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) own data. CPI spent several years demanding the release of the data through repeated Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. A trade association representing the interests of the consumer specialty products industry denounced the report. Read More

White House Climate Change Policy -- Delay, Delete, and Deny 07/22/2008
The Bush administration continues its strong efforts to censor climate change information that reaches the public and Congress. Recent reports indicate that the White House pressured the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make changes to its regulatory process regarding climate change and that Vice President Dick Cheney's office was responsible for suppressing key sections of the congressional testimony of a high-level official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Read More

EPA and Union Agree on Process for Reopening Libraries 07/22/2008
In response to a federal arbitrator's decision in February, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) recently signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) establishing procedures for the reopening of recently closed EPA libraries and bringing the union to the planning table for any future changes to the library network. Read More

EPA Asks Public, "What Do You Want to Know?" 06/10/2008
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has invited the public to participate in a week of online dialogue to develop ideas to improve access to environmental information. Read More

USDA Dropping Shroud over Pesticide Use Data 05/28/2008
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced May 21 that it is eliminating the only program that tracks pesticide use in the United States. The USDA claimed it can no longer afford the program, known as the Agricultural Chemical Usage Reports. Consumers, environmental organizations, scientists, and farmers oppose the move. Read More

Committee Passes Sewage Right-to-Know Bill 05/28/2008
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved the Raw Sewage Community Right-to-Know Act (H.R. 2452) May 15, bringing the American public one step closer to knowing when it is safe to swim in local waters. The bill amends the Clean Water Act to provide stricter standards for public notification of sewage overflows. Read More

Report Documents Political Meddling with Science at EPA 04/29/2008
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientists are faced with widespread political interference that has significantly increased under the Bush administration, a new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) shows. Hundreds of the scientists surveyed (60 percent) reported some degree of political meddling, ranging from unnecessary delays to forced resignations. Read More

EPA Submits Plan for Re-Opening Libraries 04/15/2008
Responding to congressional demands, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is re-opening libraries that the agency closed over the past several years. However, it appears that the content of the libraries will be more limited, and the facilities will be subject to stricter central supervision, raising concerns from critics about the role politics will play. Read More

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