Toxic Chemical Release Reporting; Community Right-to-Know; Notice of On-Line Dialogue

EPA will hold an on-line public dialogue on options for reducing the burden on the regulated industry associated with the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program. This dialogue serves as Phase 2 of the national Stakeholder Dialogue that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been conducting with the public on various TRI issues; Phase 1 was launched in September 2002. EPA is seeking suggestions and ideas on a number of burden reduction options including, but not limited to: establishing higher reporting thresholds for small businesses or for certain classes of facilities or chemicals; modifying the eligibility requirements of the Form A Certification Statement to expand its use; creating a new form allowing facilities meeting certain criteria to certify to no significant change in reporting in the current year as measured against a designated baseline year; and using range codes in Section 8 of the Form R. EPA is also soliciting comments on potential enhancements to its TRI-ME reporting software. Instructions for participating in the on-line dialogue are posted at EPA's TRI Web site at http://www.epa.gov/tri/programs/stakeholders/ outreach.htm. Through this notice EPA is announcing the availability of a paper which is intended to provide background on a number of burden reduction options and help focus stakeholder discussion.