Earth Day 1997 -- Fact Sheet

PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE EXPAND
COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW

To Keep Citizens Informed, Involved on Local PollutionIssues
April 22, 1997

"People do have a right to know that their air and their 
		waterare safe."

- President Clinton
State of the Union Address, 1/23/96

Community right-to-know information is vital to citizens who wantto be informedand involved in issues related to local pollution. The ClintonAdministration believes that putting environmental and public health informationinto the handsof the American people is one of the most effective ways toreduce local pollution and prevent it from occurring in the future. With thisaction, the Clinton Administration is strengthening and expanding the ToxicsRelease Inventory -- an annual database of chemicals released in localcommunities and reported by industrial facilities nationwide, and the centerpieceof community right-to-know.

Individuals and more than 1,500 citizens groups acrossthe country use the right-to-know information to work directly with companiesreleasing the chemicals, as well as state and local officials. Together, theywork to reduce the toxic releases that go into the air, land, and water. Use ofcommunity right-to-know information is one of the most effectivenon-regulatory tools against harmful pollution: Since the program began in 1986,facilities required to report toxic releases have reduced their emissions by43%.

Today's Action Requires More Industries to ReportRight-to-Know Data

Today, the Clinton Administration finalized a requirement,announced in June 1996 by Vice President Gore, that -- for the first time ever --increases by about 30 percent the number of industrial facilities required tomake public thelevels of toxic chemicals they release into the air, water andland in communities across America. Today's action delivers on PresidentClinton's commitment to expand every citizen's right to know about localpollution in several ways. The action:

A Long Record of Expanding the Public's Right-to-Know About LocalPollution

To ensure that current right-to-know reporting continues to giveAmericans a more complete picture of all the toxic pollution released intoour communities, the Clinton Administration has:

The Clinton Administration is Taking Bold Steps to ExpandRight-to-Know to OtherImportant Areas

To further enhance Americans' right-to-know about informationconcerning our food, our drinking water, our homes and our communities, theClinton Administration has:



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