While issuing its 2007 report, the EPA announced it will begin immediately implementing the restored rules for companies to report toxic pollution through the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). According to an announcement on the EPA website, "These changes affect TRI reports due July 1, 2009," thus covering toxic release data from 2008.

In the budget bill, signed by President Obama on March 11, the Democrats succeeded in rolling back changes made to TRI reporting under President Bush in late 2006, inserting the following phrase into the FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act:

SEC. 425. TOXICS RELEASE INVENTORY REPORTING. Notwithstanding any other provision of law—

(1) none of the funds made available by this or any other Act may, hereafter, be used to implement the final rule promulgated by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency entitled `Toxics Release Inventory Burden Reduction Final Rule' (71 Fed. Reg. 76932); and
(2) the final rule described in paragraph (1) shall have no force or effect. The affected regulatory text shall revert to what it was before the final rule described in paragraph (1) became effective, until any future action taken by the Administrator.

The agency noted on its website that it understands facility owners subject to the changes will have less time to prepare their 2008 reports. The EPA has instructed such facilities to use "reasonable estimates" of releases if no other data are available.

Chemical manufacturers, oil refineries, automakers and electronics manufacturers will again have to use the larger, more intensive Form R for reporting requirements for nearly 600 chemicals, including arsenic, benzene and cadmium. The threshold of 2,000 lbs. for Form R under the Bush Administration has been rolled back to the original level of 500 lbs., and companies that released 500 lbs. or less are back to Form A, provided that the chemical was manufactured, processed or otherwise used in an amount not exceeding 1 million pounds during the reporting year.

The measure was included by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who authored the original legislation to create TRI reporting as part of the 1986 Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).