The federal government wants to let companies in North Jersey and around the nation quadruple the amount of toxic chemicals they can use without reporting details.
The change could save businesses millions, the government said.
The proposal released Monday fell short of the tenfold increase originally sought by the Environmental Protection Agency. It was a concession to critics who said the public would suffer if companies could withhold more information.
Still, the proposal sets up a likely showdown next year with Democrats, who have vowed to use their new power in Washington to block any rollback in reporting.
"With this decision, more communities will have more poisons and toxic chemicals released into their areas without their knowledge," said U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who called the plan a giveaway to corporate polluters.
The EPA said the proposal would still require the vast majority of chemical users to report all details of their emissions. Simplifying the process could even encourage companies to use fewer toxic materials because they would be able to avoid paperwork if they reduce pollution, the agency argued.
"Cleaner businesses are more efficient businesses, which is good for the environment, good for the economy and good for the American people," said Marcus Peacock, a deputy EPA administrator.
The change would affect annual reports to the Toxics Release Inventory, a 20-year-old database of hazardous chemicals used, stored and released by businesses into the air, land and water.
Under the rule released Monday, companies that use up to 2,000 pounds of such material chemicals such as asbestos or arsenic could file a shorter form that lists the names of chemicals, but not the amounts. Currently, companies that use more than 500 pounds of those chemicals have to report the amounts they use or release.
For the most dangerous compounds highly toxic materials such as mercury or lead that persist in the environment the threshold for reporting details would be raised from 10 or 100 pounds to 500.
Last month, the EPA dropped another much-criticized plan to let companies report every other year, rather than annually.
A year ago, when the agency proposed even more lenient thresholds, New Jersey officials joined activist groups in opposing the idea. Neighbors of more than 100 companies in Carlstadt, Clifton, Hackensack, Paterson, Wallington and other towns would lose all numerical information about local chemical use, the state warned.
The local effect of the new plan wasn't clear on Monday, but an analyst with one advocacy group estimated that 80 New Jersey companies could avoid releasing all numbers.
"What communities don't know can hurt them," said Tom Natan of the National Environmental Trust, a Washington group. "Possible threats will be hidden from public view."
Lautenberg and U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, a Monmouth County Democrat, promised Monday to introduce legislation blocking the changes. House Republicans as well had balked at the proposal earlier this year.
Calls to Bergen and Passaic county companies affected by the proposal were not returned. The Chemistry Council of New Jersey, an industry lobbying group, said it supported the EPA's plan.
"This will help a lot of the smaller companies," said Elvin Montero, a council spokesman. "Information will still be available to the public and our companies will still be complying."
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/773854/epa_moves_to_ease_standards_on_use_of_toxic_chemicals/index.html?source=r_science
