Community right-to-know law up for debate

Late in 2006, the Bush administration weakened a critical right-to-know law. The Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) requires companies that release sizeable amounts of dangerous toxic chemicals to report these activities to a publicly searchable database. By forcing companies to disclose their pollution, the federal TRI has provided communities with vitally important information and given chemical manufacturers a powerful incentive to consider alternatives. That’s why experts credit TRI with a 57 percent reduction in the nation’s toxic pollution since 1988.

Unfortunately, Bush administration appointees leading the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) weakened the TRI by allowing companies to stop reporting certain toxic releases. We strongly opposed the move, and when the EPA released what could be the last comprehensive TRI data, in March, we released our own findings about the importance of the program.

To reverse the EPA, members of Congress introduced the Toxic Right-To-Know

Protection Act. The bill, introduced by Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (N.J.) and Hilda Solis (Calif.), has 47 co-sponsors. The Senate version is co-sponsored by Sens. Barbara Boxer (Calif.) and Robert Menendez (N.J.). Congress to take up protection of all U.S. waterways Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972 to protect all of the nation’s waters. But due to pressure from polluting industries, the Bush administration instructed the EPA to provide no protection for smaller waterways and millions of acres of wetlands.

A bi-partisan coalition in Congress has re-introduced the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act. The bill restates and clarifies that the original intent of the Clean Water Act was to protect all waters of the United States, no matter what their size. We strongly supported the legislation last year, and helped build a strong list of cosponsors, including 163 representatives and 16 senators. Our work to restore and expand co-sponsorship in the 110th Congress is off to a good start, and we hope to report on the bill’s passage later in the year.

Protecting our National Parks

From Grand Canyon National Park to the Appalachian National Scenic Trail to Glacier National Park, our national parks are visited by millions of people each year. They preserve our country’s natural heritage. Unfortunately, the parks system currently faces an annual funding shortfall of more than $800 million, an unacceptable lack of resources that adversely affects the ability of park staff to manage these historic sites.

Along with the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), we’re calling for a significant increase in funding for the parks. In early February, the president released his 2007 budget, which included an unprecedented $250 million increase to the National Park System.

“The increase in funding is a great promise,” said Preservation Advocate Zach Brown. “Only a long-term, national commitment to our most valuable natural heritage will help re-establish a system of world-class parks.”