TRI and Beyond in the 2015 TRI National Analysis
The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is a powerful resource that provides the public with information about how toxic chemicals are managed by industrial facilities in the United States. However, there are many other programs at EPA that collect information about chemicals and our environment.
The next figure is an overview of some of the laws that EPA implements and the industrial activities or processes EPA regulates under these laws. While many programs at EPA focus on one area, TRI covers releases to air, water, and land; waste transfers; and waste management activities. As a result, TRI data are especially valuable, as they can be utilized with many other datasets to provide a more complete picture of national trends in chemical use, management and releases.
Throughout EPA, offices use TRI data to support their mission to protect human health and the environment. These uses include analyzing TRI data to inform decisions such as when setting program priorities, providing information to stakeholders such as when working with communities toward a common goal, and many others applications as shown in the table below.
Current Uses of TRI Data by EPA Offices and Regions
| EPA Office | Promote Pollution Prevention | Make Decisions | Add Context | Identify Potential Violators | Inform Stakeholders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air and Radiation | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Land and Emergency Management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Enforcement and Compliance Assurance | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| International and Tribal Affairs | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Water | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Inspector General | ✓ | ||||
| Environmental Information | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Regions | 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 | 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 |
This chapter highlights three thematic areas that use TRI data with other data sources:
- Climate Change:
- A comparison of TRI data and EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) data collected under the Clean Air Act (CAA)
- TSCA Work Plan (Priority) Chemicals:
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An example of how TRI data complements data collected under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
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- Ozone-Depleting Substances:
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An analysis of TRI air releases for a subset of chemicals further regulated under the Clean Air Act (CAA) to reduce the amount of ozone-depleting substances used in the U.S.
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Sections in this chapter
Comparing TRI and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
TSCA and TRI
Ozone-Depleting Substances
This page was published in January 2017 and uses the 2015 TRI National Analysis dataset made public in TRI Explorer in October 2016.