Environmental Statutes and Treaties
Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA)
What does the EPCRA do?
- Requires reporting of toxic releases in the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)
- Encourages response for chemical releases
a NATIONAL Act that Federal, state, local govt., tribes, and industries participate in
Established 1984...Why?
During the early morning hours of December 3, 1984, a Union Carbide plant in a village just South of Bhopal, India released approximately forty tons of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) into the air. Used in the manufacture of pesticides, MIC is a lethal chemical. The gas quickly and silently diffused over the ground and, in the end, killed, by some estimates, upwards to 5,000 people and injured 50,000 more.
Amended: 1987, 1998, 2008, 2009, 2012
Successes and Strengths
- Prevents disasters
- Informs/alerts when maximum amount of chemicals is released
- Allows public to know of potential dangers
- A nation wide prevention method
Failure and Weaknesses
- It is just nation wide. (Should be international)
- The max level is considered high
- Not enough warning time
Improvements
- Make it an international act to prevent toxic moving over seas
- Revise every 5 years instead of when disasters occur
- Have companies regulate their toxic release.