Ecosystem Targets and Supporting Indicators
Show/Hide Table Data
The passage of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 helped to create EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory program so Americans now have a greater awareness of how chemicals are being managed in their communities. Today, nearly 22,000 facilities report annually on the use and quantities of more than 760 chemicals they release to the environment or otherwise manage as waste to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program. EPA, states, and tribes receive TRI data from facilities in industry sectors such as manufacturing, mining, electric utilities, and commercial hazardous waste management. The Pollution Prevention Act also requires facilities to submit information on pollution prevention and other waste management activities of TRI chemicals.
The decline in industrial chemical discharges indicates progress in reducing the release of contaminants into Long Island Sound’s watershed.
Toxic releases in the Sound’s watershed have declined by more than 85 percent since 2003, and more than 90 percent since the late 1980s. This is consistent with trends in toxic releases throughout the country. Facilities releasing industrial chemicals have been improved with better emissions-reducing technology. There has also been an increase in the national awareness of the harmful effects of toxic releases. Air emissions account for the majority of on-site releases.
2021 TRI Factsheet for Long Island Sound
Methanol Recycling Factsheet
Descriptions of TRI Data Terms