*>EPA
TRI National Analysis 2014: TRI and Beyond
www.epa.gov/trinationalanalvsis/
Updated January 2016
TRI and Beyond
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 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 combined with many
other datasets to provide a more complete picture of national trends in chemical use,
management and releases.
Waste Transfers
¦ Clean Air Act (CAA)
- Comprehensive Enviri
Response. Compensate
Liability Act (CERCLA)
- Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA)
- Clean Water Act CCWA)
- Ocean Dumping Act
(PDA)
Land Disposal [~ Underground
Injection
- Safe Drinking Water
Act (SDWA)
Note: The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) establishes requirements
for emergency planning, preparedness, and reporting on hazardous and toxic chemicals involving
air releases, water releases, land disposal, waste transfers, and waste management.
This chapter highlights two thematic areas that combine TRI data with other data sources:
• Climate Change:
o A comparison of TRI data and EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program
(GHGRP) data collected under the Clean Air Act (CAA)
• Surface Water:
o An analysis of TRI and EPA's Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) data
collected under the Clean Water Act (CWA)
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TRI National Analysis 2014: TRI and Beyond
www.epa.gov/trinationalanalvsis/
Updated January 2016
Comparing TRI and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Under the authority of the Clean Air Act, EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP)
requires large emitters of greenhouse gases and suppliers of certain products to submit
annual greenhouse gas reports to EPA. Emissions of greenhouse gases lead to elevated
concentrations of these gases in the atmosphere, which alter the Earth's radiative balance
and contribute to climate change. These elevated concentrations are reasonably anticipated
to endanger the public health and welfare of current and future generations. The purpose of
GHGRP is to collect timely, industry-specific data to help us better understand the source of
greenhouse gas emissions and to inform climate policy. Comparing GHGRP data with TRI
data about chemical releases from industrial facilities can provide a more complete picture
of a facility's environmental performance.
What is C02e?
GHG emissions are typically
expressed in a common metric so that
their impacts can be directly
compared as some gases are more
potent than others. The international
standard practice is to express GHGs
in CCbe.
In 2014:
• Over 8,000 facilities reported direct emissions of GHGs to the atmosphere, totaling
over 3.20 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (mtCC^e).
• This represents about half of the 6.67 billion mtCC^e that EPA estimated were
released in the United States from all human-related sources per the 2013
annual U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory. The GHGRP does not require direct emissions
reporting from all U.S. sources. For example, the transportation sector and
agricultural sources of GHG emissions are not included in the GHGRP.
• The primary greenhouse gas reported to the GHGRP was carbon dioxide (CO2), which
is released during fossil fuel combustion and various industrial processes.
TRI reporting focuses on toxic chemicals and as a result covers different chemicals from
GHGRP. Some TRI chemicals are a result of combustion of fuels for energy (as most GHG
emissions are), but others are used in and released from additional processes ranging from
metal mining to surface cleaning. Analyzing toxic chemical releases reported to TRI and
greenhouse gas emissions reported to the GHGRP together creates a more complete picture
of emissions at the facility and industrial sector levels.
Note that in addition to differences in the chemicals reported to TRI and GHGRP, there are
numerous other program differences including reporting thresholds. For TRI, the reporting
threshold for most chemicals is 25,000 pounds manufactured or processed, or 10,000
pounds otherwise used per year, whereas for GHGRP, the reporting threshold is based on
emissions and is generally 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.
&EPA
What chemicals were reported to GHGRP
for 2014?
• Carbon dioxide = 91.5% of the
mtCCbe total
• Methane = 7.0%
• Nitrogen Oxide (N2O) = 0.9%
• Fluorinated Gases (HFCs, PFCs,
SF6) = 0.7%
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*>EPA
TRI National Analysis 2014: TRI and Beyond
www.epa.gov/trinationalanalvsis/
Updated January 2016
Top Sectors Reporting TRI Air Emissions and GHG CO20
GHG Emissions (C02e) and TRI Air Emissions by
Sector, 2014
Reported GHG Emissions from Stationary Sources, 2014
(3.20 billion metric tons)
All Other CHGRP Sectors
Minerals
Refineries
Chemicals
Petroleum and
Natural Gas Systems
Power Plants
Toxic Chemical Air Emissions from TRI, 2014
(738 million pounds)
uipment
Rubber
Petroleum
Paper
All other TRI Sectors
Transportation
Primary Metals
Plastics and
Electric Utilities
Food, Beverages,
Tobacco
Chemicals
• This figure shows the top sectors reporting air emissions to GHGRP and TRI in 2014.
• The top air emitting sectors in TRI are similar, but not identical to, the top emitting
sectors covered by the GHGRP.
• While electric utilities are the primary reporters of air emissions to both programs,
the chemical manufacturing industry is a bigger contributor to the toxic air emissions
reported to the TRI Program than it is to the GHG emissions reported to the GHGRP.
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TRI National Analysis 2014: TRI and Beyond
www.epa.gov/trinationalanalvsis/
Updated January 2016
Overlap in TRI and GHGRP Reporting
Overlap in TRI and GHGRP Reporting, 2014
Fadlities in GH GFIP and TRI, 2014 Emissions. Rtpurted td the GHGRP by Facilities alia
Reporting to TRI, 2014
TR! 2014
21,783 Facilities
GHGRP
2014
8,080
Facilities
GHGRP Facilities, also
Reporting to TRI 2014
Total Emissions:
2.27 billion nvtCO^e
GHGRP 2014
- Total Emissions:
3.20billion mtC02e
In 2014:
• Almost one-third of the facilities reporting to the GHGRP also reported to the TRI
Program.
• However, this subset of GHGRP reporters accounted for 70% of GHGRP emissions,
indicating that the facilities reporting the greatest GHG emissions also trigger TRI
requirements for reporting on toxic chemicals.
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*>EPA
TRI National Analysis 2014: TRI and Beyond
www.epa.gov/trinationalanalvsis/
Updated January 2016
Percentage Change in TRI and GHG Air Emissions
Percentage Change in Air Emissions for
Facilities Reporting to both TRI and GHGRP:
2013-2014
12%
8%
7 4%
m 1.6
® 0%
aT
o>
c -4%
U
oi -8%
o>
5
S -12%
u
v.
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TRI National Analysis 2014: TRI and Beyond
www.epa.gov/trinationalanalvsis/
Updated January 2016
Regulating Chemical Releases to Water
Under the Clean Water Act (CWA), facilities are required to obtain a National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for all point sources (a pipe, ditch, or channel)
used to discharge pollutants into waters of the United States. The NPDES program aims to
protect and restore the quality of U.S. rivers, lakes, and coastal waters through pollutant
discharge limits. Facilities are required to report compliance with the stipulated permit limits
via monthly Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs).
Through the DMRs submitted, the NPDES program collects data for the facility-specific
parameters identified in the facility's NPDES permit. The DMR data may include:
• release quantities of specific chemicals;
• water quality measures, such as pH, temperature, and flow rates; and
• conventional parameters such as biochemical oxygen demand and total suspended
Analyzing TRI data about toxic chemical releases to water along with DMR data provides a
more comprehensive picture of pollutant discharges to surface water.
This figure illustrates the types of wastewater streams that the TRI Program and DMR data
describe.
solids.
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*>EPA
TRI National Analysis 2014: TRI and Beyond
www.epa.gov/trinationalanalvsis/
Updated January 2016
Wastewater Stream Types Relevant to DMR and TRI Data
Municipal discharge to POTW:
X DMR X TRI
POTW discharge to
receiving stream:
S DMR X TRI
Wastewater
transfer
to POTW:
X DMR ~
Industrial
discharge to
receiving stream:
v DMR s TRI
The TRI database includes information on discharges to receiving streams and chemical
transfers to Publically Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) from industrial facilities. DMRs
include information on discharges to receiving streams by both industrial facilities and
POTWs, but do not include transfers from an industrial facility to a POTW. Neither data set
captures municipal discharges to POTWs.
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*>EPA
TRI National Analysis 2014: TRI and Beyond
www.epa.gov/trinationalanalvsis/
Updated January 2016
DMR Data for Facilities that Report to TRI
DMR-Reporting Facilities in 2014
Do Not R
to TRI
0%
Do Not Report to TRI
DMR Data for Facilities that
Also Reported to TRI in 2014:
% of Facilities with DMR Data
for Each Pollutant Category
Mt&jjjjjifeter Flow
Solids
TRI Chemicals
Metals
Organic Enrichment
Nitrogen
Temperature
Phosphorus
Pathogen Indicators
20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Report to TRI
While the data collected by the TRI Program and NPDES Program differ in important ways,
using both TRI and DMR data provides a more complete understanding of pollutants being
discharged into surface waters. As shown in the pie chart, 5% of the facilities that submitted
OMRs also reported to the TRI Program. The bar graph focuses on this subset of facilities
that report to the TRI Program and submit OMRs. Through their OMRs, these facilities
provide information on many other parameters that may impact water quality, such as the
temperature, or biochemical or chemical oxygen demand (i.e., organic enrichment) of their
water discharges.
There are several considerations to keep in mind when comparing TRI and DMR data;
• Reporting facilities: Permitting authorities, such as the states, are not required to
report DMR measurements for smaller, non-major, facilities. In addition, facilities
may be exempt from reporting to TRI if they are not in a covered industry sector or do
not meet the threshold number of employees.
• Regulated chemicals: When filing DMRs, facilities only report discharges of pollutants
that the NPDES permit requires them to monitor. The specific pollutants for
which monitoring requirements are implemented in a facility's NPDES permit are at
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TRI National Analysis 2014: TRI and Beyond
^IJ/\ www.epa.gov/trinationalanalvsis/
^^^¦1 » m Updated January 2016
the discretion of the permitting authority. Other pollutants may be discharged but are
not reported on DMRs. Facilities that report to the TRI Program only report on
chemicals on the TRI list, and are not required to report if they do not exceed an
activity threshold for reporting.
DMR and TRI data can be explored together using the OMR Pollutant Loading Tool. This tool
provides information on which facilities are discharging pollutants to surface water, what
pollutants and how much of each they are discharging, and where these discharges occur.
Explore the tool to learn more about discharges of pollutants to surface waters in your
community. You can also look at nationwide comparisons of DMR and TRI data for Reporting
Year 2014 in the TRI and DMR Comparison Dashboard.
Jump to a DMR Loading Tool Search
Data Explorer EZ Search
.Advanced Search TRI Search
Facility Search Top Industrial Dischargers
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