TRI Historical Archive

Here are some of the major events that have contributed to the creation and evolution of EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory program. Select the decade of major TRI milestones you wish to explore by clicking on the TRI timeline below.

TRI in 1990

1991

Beginning in 1991 - Covered facilities were required to report quantities of TRI chemicals recycled, combusted for energy recovery, and treated on- and off-site. TRI’s coverage of facilities was limited to the manufacturing sector (SIC codes 20-39), required to report under EPCRA section 313.

February, 1991- EPA establishes the 33/50 Program (PDF) (44 pp, 609K, About PDF). This program was EPA’s first voluntary initiative aimed at reducing the releases and transfers of toxic chemicals. The name is derived from the program’s goals: a 33% reduction by 1992 and a 50% reduction by 1995. It operated for 5 years.

Fall 1991 - EPA considers pursuing a three-phase approach to broaden the scope of TRI: phase 1: chemical expansion, phase 2: facility expansion and phase 3: chemical use reporting.

1993

August 3, 1993 - President Clinton signs Executive Order 12856 pledging the Federal Government to protect the environment by preventing pollution at the source. This executive order applies Federal Right-to-Know laws, including TRI reporting requirements to all Federal facilities beginning in 1994.

For 1993, TRI reporting is required for 316 chemicals and 20 chemical categories.

1994

November 30, 1994- TRI Phase 1: Chemical Expansion

The Phase 1 Expansion included two major actions. The first action occurred in 1993 with the addition of certain Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) chemicals and certain hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) to EPCRA section 313. On November 30, 1994, a Chemical Expansion Final Rule (59 FR61431) was promulgated, expanding TRI by 286 new chemicals and categories.

This expansion of the chemical list raised the number of chemicals and chemical categories reported to TRI to over 600.

1995

August 8, 1995 - President Clinton sends a memorandum to the EPA administrator, directing EPA to expedite TRI expansion efforts. The memorandum went on to direct EPA to develop "an expedited, open, and transparent process for consideration of reporting under EPCRA on information on the use of toxic chemicals at facilities, including information on mass balance, materials accounting, or other chemical use data".

October 18 and 19, 1995 - EPA held a 2-day public meeting to receive public comments on whether to expand the reporting requirements of the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) to include chemical use data. The meeting is intended to explore issues related to the possible collection of chemical use-related data, such as materials accounting, under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act or other appropriate Federal statutes. – August 11, 1995, 60 Federal Register 47174

August 8, 1995 - President Clinton, Vice President Gore and Administrator Browner traveled to Baltimore to announce the signing of Executive Order 12969 – on Federal Acquisition and Community-Right-to Know. This executive order requires government contractors whose facilities are covered under EPCRA section 313 to continue to file TRI reporting for the life of their contracts-

EPA issued Guidance Implementing Executive Order 12969; Federal Acquisition on September 29, 1995 - 60 Federal Register 50737

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1996

August 7 and 14, 1996 - EPA held two public meetings to discuss the Agency's proposal and options to add industry groups to the list of industry groups subject to reporting requirements under section 313 of EPCRA. The first meeting was held in San Francisco, CA on August 7, 1996. The second meeting took place in Washington, DC on August 14, 1996. June 27, 1996, 61 Federal Register 33619

1997

May 1, 1997 - TRI Phase 2: Facility/industry expansion
EPA undertook a detailed examination of other, non-manufacturing industries to determine which may be significant generators of toxic chemical releases and wastes. As a result of its assessments, EPA promulgated the Industry Expansion Final Rule (62 Federal Register 23834) which added seven new industry sectors.

EPA estimated that about 6,600 additional facilities would submit more than 37,000 additional Form R reports because of the addition of these industry groups.

May 16, 1997 - When EPA finalized the Industry Expansion Rule, the Vice President announced that the EPA would initiate an intensive stakeholder process to comprehensively evaluate the current reporting forms (Form R and Form A) and reporting practices relating to the TRI Program. The goals of this process were to improve the type of right-to-know information available to communities and to help streamline right-to-know reporting to ease the paperwork burden for businesses affected by the requirements. EPA used the Toxics Data Reporting Committee (TDR) of the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT) and additional public stakeholder meetings to obtain input from interested parties on these issues.

October 1, 1997 - TRI Phase 3 Chemical Use Reporting

Following three public meetings, extensive public dialogue, and publication of several issue papers, EPA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) - 61 Federal Register 51321-51330. The purpose of the ANPR was to describe the Agency’s plan to further evaluate these issues-phase 3.

TRI Phase 3 factsheet
TRI Phase 3 issue paper #1 - Chemical Use Expansion
TRI Phase 3 issue paper #2 - Expansion of the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) to gather chemical use information
TRI Phase 3 issue paper #3 - Expansion of the EPA Community Right-to-Know Program to increase the information available to the public on chemical use

1998

April 1998- EPA held five public meetings to solicit comments from stakeholders regarding the issues outlined above. These meetings were held in Washington, DC; San Francisco, CA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; and New York, NY. Announcement: February 3, 1998 - 63 Federal Register 5517-5518 and May 26, 1998 - 63 Federal Register 28509-28510

April 1, 1998 - As a part of EPA's 1994 regulatory review, the reporting requirements under section 8(d) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) were reviewed for burden reduction opportunities. As a result of this review, EPA revised its TSCA section 8(d) health and safety data reporting rule that requires chemical manufacturers (including importers) and processors of listed substances and listed mixtures to report unpublished health and safety studies. 63 Federal Register 15765-15774

April 22, 1998 - Deletion of Certain TRI Chemicals and Categories. EPA consented to delete dimethyldichlorosilane, methyltrichlorosilane, and trimethylchlorosilane (hereinafter collectively ''chlorosilanes'') from the TRI chemical list. 63 Federal Register 19838-19839

May 1, 1998 - EPA held a public meeting regarding the Agency's proposal to add dioxins and dioxin-like compounds to the list of chemicals. Announcement: April 6, 1998 63 Federal Register 16754-16755

May 19, 1998 - EPA announced Executive Order 13084 which was signed on May 14, 1998 to ensure Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments 63 Federal Register 27655-27657

June 15, 1998 - Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, EPA provided notice of a 2-day meeting of the Toxics Data Reporting (TDR) Committee of the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT). This was the sixth meeting of the Toxics Data Reporting (TDR) Committee, whose mission is to provide advice to EPA regarding the Agency's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program. 63 Federal Register 32655-32656

1999

January 26, 1999 - EPA announced it was holding three public meetings to obtain public comment on two specific draft documents developed as part of the Agency's Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxic (PBT) Pollutant strategy. The first meeting on EPA's PBT pollutant strategy took place in Washington, DC on February 16, 1999. The second meeting on EPA's PBT pollutant strategy took place in Chicago, IL on February 23, 1999. The third meeting on EPA's PBT pollutant strategy took place in San Francisco, CA on March 5, 1999. 64 Federal Register 3941-3942

November 1999 - The Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Project of the Forum on State and Tribal Toxics Action (FOSTTA) conducted an assessment on how states use the Toxic Release Inventory annually.

1999 State TRI Program Assessment (PDF) (12 pp, 206K, About PDF)
1999 State TRI Program Assessment Data Report (PDF) (47 pp, 206K, About PDF)