TRI Program's Mission and Goals

Mission: To provide communities, governments, industry, academia, the public, and all other stakeholders with timely, credible, useful information about the management of toxic chemicals reported by certain industrial and federal facilities. 

Goal 1: Collect useful, meaningful data on toxic chemicals—uses, release and other waste management (recycling, energy recovery, and treatment) amounts, and pollution prevention activities.

• works with stakeholders to understand and meet their information needs,
• evaluates chemicals and industry sectors for possible inclusion in TRI to support agency responsibilities under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and other environmental laws,
• initiates rulemakings to maintain relevant reporting requirements, and
• responds to petitions by individuals, organizations and local, state, and tribal governments to add chemicals, sectors, and individual facilities to the scope of TRI reporting requirements.

Goal 2: Provide facility-certified, quality-checked data that are managed in a transparent way.

• incorporates data quality checks into the TRI reporting software,
• reviews submitted data throughout the year,
• conducts virtual audits and on-site inspections of TRI facilities,
• provides training and guidance to encourage facilities to report high-quality data,
• explains TRI data management timelines, policies, and procedures, and
• analyzes collected data alongside data from other federal and international programs.

Goal 3: Ensure data are accessible and understandable.

• ensures TRI data are continuously available on the EPA website,
• provides tools, training, and assistance to promote appropriate interpretation and analysis of TRI data,
• provides the data in multiple formats in recognition of different user needs, and
• facilitates integration of TRI data with additional data sources.

Goal 4: Engage in outreach to promote sustainability, inform community-based environmental decision-making, and work toward environmental justice for all communities.

To meet this goal, the TRI Program:

• encourages industry to adopt pollution prevention practices,
• builds awareness of TRI resources through focused communications,
• promotes discussion and collaboration among data users through webinars and conferences,
• assists individual users and communities with analyses and interpretation,
• engages with community and academic stakeholders to enhance understanding and use of data,
• develops tailored resources for supporting research related to environmental justice and tribal issues, and
• collaborates with federal and international partners to evaluate progress toward achieving environmental goals.