TRI Historical Archive
Here are some of the major events that
have contributed to the creation and
evolution of EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory program. Select the decade of major TRI milestones you wish to explore by clicking on the TRI timeline below.
1984
December 3, 1984 - Methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaks from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant in Bhopal, India. Approximately 3,800 people died and several thousand other individuals experienced permanent or partial disabilities.
1986
October 17, 1986 - President Ronald Reagan signs into law the
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA), which was commonly known as SARA Title III. Section 313 of EPCRA established the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program. The goal of TRI national database is to empower citizens, through information, to hold companies and local governments accountable in terms of how toxic chemicals are managed.
1988
February 16, 1988 - This final rule contains the first version of the Toxic Release Inventory form that requires, under EPCRA section 313, owners and operators of certain industries that manufacture, import, process or other use certain toxic chemicals to report annualy releases of those chemicals to each environmental medium.
53 Federal Register 4500 (PDF) (54 pp, 7.1 MB, About
PDF).
1990
November 1990 - Congress passes the
Pollution Prevention Act (PPA). Among its requirements was a mandate to expand TRI to include additional information on toxic chemicals in waste and on source reduction methods.
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