EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson this week signed a new rule that puts back in place stricter reporting requirements for emissions of toxic chemicals covered under the Toxics Release Inventory rule.

The rule reverses an update implemented by the Bush administration in December 2006 that raised the level at which companies must report some persistent, bioaccumulative toxics (PBTs).

"People have a right to information that might affect their health and the health of their children -- and EPA has a responsibility to provide it," Jackson said in a statement. "Restoring the TRI reporting requirements assures transparency and provides a crucial tool for safeguarding human health and the environment in our communities."

As we found in our State of Green Business Report in February, toxic emissions reported under the TRI have been steadily decreasing since at least 2001,  the new reporting requirements obscured data that might show increases in highly toxic chemicals, as well as reducing the overall amount of toxics released that would have to be reported.

Information on the TRI database and reporting rules are online at http://www.epa.gov/TRI/.

Smokestack photo CC-licensed by Flickr user ojbyrne.