Connecting Stovepipes: The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Experience

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Connecting StovepipesThe Toxics Release
Inventory (TRI) Experience
For Conference Purposes Only

• February 13, 2008
• Larry Reisman

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Connecting Stovepipes The TRI Experience
For Conference Purposes Only

• Panelists
• Larry Reisman
• OEI, Office of Information Analysis and Access
  (OIAA)
• Pat Garvey
• OEI, Office of Information Collection (OIC)
• Mike Barrette
• OECA, Office of Compliance (OC)
• Steve Wurtz
• Region 7, Air and Waste Management Division
  (AWMD)

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Connecting Stovepipes The TRI Experience
For Conference Purposes Only

• What do we mean when we say Connecting
  Stovepipes The TRI Experience?
• Comparing Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data to
  other EPA media-specific (i.e., air, land, and
  water) data to determine consistency and
  completeness of filings across programs.
• The purposes of connecting stovepipes are to
  enhance data quality, strengthen data
  integration, and support compliance/enforcement
  efforts.

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Connecting Stovepipes The TRI Experience
For Conference Purposes Only

• What is TRI?
• The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is a publicly
  available EPA database that contains information
  on toxic chemical releases and other waste
  management activities reported annually by
  certain covered industry groups as well as
  federal facilities.
• This inventory was established under the
  Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know
  Act (EPCRA) of 1986 and expanded by the Pollution
  Prevention Act (PPA) of 1990.
• Because TRI is multi-media in scope it is
  well-suited as a data source for comparing and
  drawing connections between the Agencys
  media-specific data.

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Connecting Stovepipes The TRI Experience
For Conference Purposes Only
Medium Media-specific data/source
Air Hazardous air pollutant (HAP) permit information from OECAs Air Facility System (AFS) and HAP air release amounts from OARs National Emissions Inventory (NEI)
Water Permit information from OECAs Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS) for toxic chemicals common to TRI and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
Land ID information from OSWs Resource Conservation and Recovery Act database (RCRAInfo)
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Connecting Stovepipes The TRI Experience
For Conference Purposes Only

• An example of one comparison analysis aimed at
  identifying potential inconsistencies between
  Clean Air Act (CAA) permit requirements and TRI
  reported releases of hazardous air pollutants
  (HAPs)
• A stationary source that emits or has the
  potential to emit 10 tons per year or more of a
  single HAP constitutes a major source under the
  CAA and this status should be reflected in AFS.
• A TRI data run identified TRI reports with gt10
  tons of air releases of a single HAP and no
  matching AFS ID as reflected in the Facility
  Registry System (FRS). For TRI facilities with
  gt10 tons of air releases of a single HAP one
  would expect an AFS ID indicating major source
  status.

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Connecting Stovepipes The TRI Experience
For Conference Purposes Only

• Example (cont.)
• OICs evaluation of the initial list of 200 TRI
  reports with gt10 tons of air releases of a single
  HAP and no corresponding AFS ID resulted in
  facility linkage improvements in FRS and a
  refined list of 40 TRI facilities with gt10 tons
  and no AFS ID. OECA evaluated this list of 40
  TRI facilities.
• Presently, the regions/states, in coordination
  with OECAs Air Enforcement Division (AED), have
  assessed penalties on two CAA enforcement targets
  located in Region 10 and work is continuing on 16
  remaining facilities identified by comparing TRI
  data to AFS data.

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Connecting Stovepipes The TRI Experience
For Conference Purposes Only

• Next Steps
• Continuing work on air permit (TRI / AFS), air
  release (TRI / NEI) and water permit (TRI /
  NPDES) comparisons and beginning work on land
  disposal comparisons (TRI / RCRAInfo).
• Working with OECA to capture the investigative
  approach and integrate search algorithms into
  OECAs Online Tracking Information System (OTIS),
  a web-based interface to the Integrated Data for
  Enforcement Analysis (IDEA) mainframe.
• The following slide illustrates a potential tool
  for TRI comparative analyses with the Agencys
  media-specific data.

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Connecting Stovepipes The TRI Experience
For Conference Purposes Only