TRI for Advocacy Organizations

Advocacy organizations such as environmental non-profits, environmental justice non-profits, community groups and grassroots organizations help ensure that people are aware of their "right to know" about toxic releases in their community and help to interpret Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data.

How can your organization use TRI?

TRI tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment from TRI-reporting facilities. Online TRI tools allow you to explore or download reported data and summarize information for different geographies (e.g., ZIP code, city, state), chemicals, industries and facilities.

Advocacy organizations can use TRI data to:

• Develop reports, news articles or social media posts on local facilities, industries and their toxic releases in order to communicate environmental data.
• Start a conversation about community health or environmental issues with local groups, government officials, facility representatives and other stakeholders.
• Establish priorities for further investigation and to look at changes in toxic chemical waste management activities over time, and when combined with results from EPA’s RSEI model, to contextualize TRI data from a relative risk-related perspective.
• Advocate for pollution prevention programs and requirements at local facilities and with local policy and decision makers.
• Advocate for safer, cleaner, and more effective products to drive innovation forward in industry.
• Collaborate with local universities, businesses and public health groups to find local solutions which benefit the community.
• Investigate and report a suspected violation of environmental laws or regulations.

Spotlight: Minneapolis Group Uses TRI Data for Environmental Improvement

Concerned about local air pollution, residents of the Southeast Como neighborhood near Minneapolis, Minnesota, used TRI data to identify nearby industrial facilities with the largest air emissions. The group established good neighbor agreements with three facilities in which all parties committed to find ways to reduce air emissions. The collaborative work earned the facilities and community group the Minnesota Governor's Award for Pollution Prevention. Read more about this project. 

Advocates Interpreting TRI Data

EPA offers resources to help users apply TRI data and understand its important limitations. To provide context on potential human health-related impacts, EPA’s Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) model incorporates information from the TRI on the amount of toxic chemicals released or transferred from facilities, together with factors such as the chemical’s fate and transport through the environment, each chemical’s relative toxicity, and potential human exposure.

In general, TRI and RSEI data serve as starting points and should be used alongside other datasets to research issues of concern. 

Get RSEI Model Results

Explore other tools for more ways to visualize and download TRI data, or to find other EPA information.

Access Data and Tools

Additional Resources

• EJScreen (Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool): Find demographic and environmental information by area.
• ECHO (Enforcement and Compliance History Online): An online tool providing integrated compliance and enforcement information on regulated facilities nationwide. ECHO allows you to find and download information such as on permit data, inspection dates and findings, violations, enforcement actions, and penalties assessed.
• Community revitalization assistance: Resources to help communities protect the environment, improve health, and strengthen their economies.