Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that New York and eleven other states are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over new regulations denying the public access to information about toxic chemicals in their communities.

The EPA will allow thousands of companies to avoid disclosing information to the public about the toxic chemicals they use, store, and
release into the environment by rolling back chemical reporting requirements. The suit seeks to overturn the weakened reporting requirements and provide the public with the access they had in the past.

“The EPA’s new regulations rob New Yorkers – and people across the country – of their right to know about toxic dangers in their own
backyards,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “Along with eleven other states throughout the nation, we will restore the public’s right to information about chemical hazards, despite the Bush administration’s best attempts to hide it.”

The changes to the reporting requirements affect the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program. The TRI is the only comprehensive, publicly-available database of toxic chemical use, storage, and release in the United States. Under the TRI, companies are required to provide the EPA and the states in which the company’s facilities are located with information critical to public health and safety, and the environment. This information includes the types and amounts of toxic chemicals stored at the company’s facilities and the quantities they release into the environment.