The Environmental Protection Agency last week unveiled its Sector Facility Indexing Project, a right-to-know program that will make information on environmental infractions at some industrial facilities available on the Internet. But "as a compromise with state environmental agencies," the program will go forward without a "controversial" toxicity index that would have ranked companies on their performance (John Fialka, Wall Street Journal, 5/4).
The database covers 653 facilities in five sectors: auto assembly, pulp manufacturing, petroleum refining, iron and steel production, and the primary smelting and refining of aluminum, copper, lead and zinc.
"For the first time," EPA officials said, the agency is assembling in one place the data that these facilities must report under environmental statutes concerning inspections and enforcement actions and the amount of pollution released annually. EPA officials hope the information will lead facilities to compare their regulatory performances and give local groups a tool to monitor the environmental performance of industrial facilities.
EPA Administrator Carol Browner: "Providing the public with basic environmental information about their communities is one of the most powerful tools available for protecting public health and the environment."
But state environmental agencies "are still not satisfied." Robert Roberts of the Environmental Council of States, which represents the agencies, said the group thinks federal officials should have spent more time reviewing the data for accuracy before launching the site. However, he "said that state-agency heads are pleased that the EPA dropped its toxicity-weighing system because it sometimes created erroneous comparisons." (Fialka, Wall Street Journal).
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