This is in response to your recent Guest Commentary by Mr. Jim Jonas regarding an Environmental Protection Agency penalty. The focus of the EPA”s enforcement programs is to improve the quality of the air, water and land in our communities by ensuring that everyone follows our nation”s environmental laws and regulations.
Communities can get involved in a number of ways, and one of the best ways is to find out about the potential chemical hazards in a community by looking at the EPA”s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act requires certain companies to report this information.
Through the TRI program, comprehensive chemical release information is publicly accessible on the web at any time. Failing to submit required information can compromise the information available to the public. To find out about the TRI program, your readers can visit: http://www.epa.gov/tri.
A broad range of the U.S. EPA”s environmental databases, including TRI data, can be accessed at: http://www.epa.gov/enviro. Other more detailed information provided by Local Emergency Planning Committees to emergency first responders, such as firefighters, is only accessible to the public by request.
Penalties are part of most enforcement programs to ensure that people and companies follow the law. For TRI violations, the EPA considers a number of factors to determine the appropriate fine, including chemical usage amounts, number of employees, and total corporate sales.
Generally, the EPA does not seek a civil penalty that exceeds the violator”s ability to pay. The EPA works closely with companies to ensure they have a full financial review (based on information they provide), and considers the results of this review in the penalty decisions. We work through the TRI program to ensure that companies subject to reporting requirements comply with the community”s right to know and provide important information to ensure we reduce risks to human health.
Enrique Manzanilla
Director, Communities and Ecosystems Division
U.S. EPA Pacific Southwest region
