EPA's TRI Program is considering modifying TRI reporting requirements that apply to metal mining operations. Before beginning a formal regulatory development effort, the TRI Program is giving stakeholders the opportunity to discuss potential issues that could be addressed in any forthcoming rule. EPA invites you to share your thoughts on a potential forthcoming rule by commenting on the Metal Mining Stakeholder Forum.  The discussion forum will remain open and available for comment through June 30, 2010.  Comments received will be posted to the docketidentified as EPA-HQ-OEI-2009-0453.

CNN's Toxic America series, which will air June 2 and 3 at 8 p.m. ET, will take a look at conditions in Mossville, Louisiana, as well more places across the country throughout the year. Click here for more information on Wilma Subra's work in Mossville. Subra presented on our May 25th ECOS-EPA webinar: Using TRI to Support Environmental Justice, attended by over 350 people across the nation.

Is enough being done to protect us from chemicals that could harm us? Watch Toxic America, a special two-night investigative report with Sanjay Gupta M.D.

Thank you to all who attended the May 25th webinar: Using TRI to Support Environmental Justice. We had a series of excellent panelists and attendees submitted many great questions. In the coming days, we will be posting presentations, a downloadable recording of the webinar, and a transcript. In addition, we will be posting all of the questions asked during the webinar and answers from our panelists and EPA and ECOS staff. Check the webinar site often for these updates. We will also be posting a notice on this CR2K blog when all of the materials are posted – if you haven’t subscribed to the RSS feed for the blog already, do so now to be alerted of this and other new posts!

Related to our webinar topic, we are starting a new feature on the CR2K site, Stakeholder Communities. This section of the site will be a place where you can find information relevant to specific stakeholder groups, starting with the Environmental Justice Community. You will find resources on this site such as research and publications, success stories, trainings, events, announcements, and much more. If you have information for the Environmental Justice Community that you would like to see posted in this section please send the details to ECOS through the Contact tab.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched an initiative to help communities more effectively participate in government decisions related to land cleanup, emergency preparedness and response, and the management of hazardous substances and waste.  The Community Engagement Initiative (CEI) plan lays out specific steps EPA is taking to provide communities with better information and opportunities to understand and influence decisions on environmental cleanups.

Because many of EPA's programs are delegated to states, EPA will seek a cooperative effort with state and local governments to better coordinate resources and efforts on this initiative.  The plan includes activities that will help EPA:

• Improve transparency and upfront collaboration with community stakeholders;
• Enhance technical assistance to communities;
• Explain the hazards of environmental problems to affected communities; and
• Connect with communities that have been historically underrepresented in environmental decision-making.

Through the initiative, EPA will help interested community members more effectively participate in EPA decision-making processes.  The plan is intended to be a working document and specific actions will be refined with ongoing feedback from communities and other stakeholders. EPA invites public comment on the plan, will frequently evaluate the initiative's progress and results, and will regularly post this information on the program’s website: http://www.epa.gov/oswer/engagementinitiative

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) have launched a National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures.  These agencies are working with government, professional organizations, tribal groups, community and nonprofit organizations, health professionals, business and industry, and members of the public to create a national action agenda for protecting the public from harmful chemical exposures. 

As part of this National Conversation, CDC and ATSDR have provided a Community Conversation Toolkit to help citizens plan and host productive conversations within their own communities.  Through community conversations, CDC and ATSDR hope to gather community-based ideas that will contribute to the project’s final action agenda.  CDC and ATSDR encourage citizens to hold conversations before June 30, 2010 so that they can help influence the action agenda.  The toolkit provides guidance about summarizing conversations, which CDC and ATSDR will synthesize with other conversations around the country into a report.  The report will be shared with the National Conversation work groups and will inform their work as they begin developing the action agenda.  For more information, visit the National Conversation website at: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/nationalconversation/index.html.

While not specifically related to the Toxics Release Inventory, the oil spill disaster off the coast of the U.S. Gulf Coast has raised the public awareness of industrial releases in the environment and their effects.  The spill has and will continue to have environmental and economic impacts on communities in the region, and EPA is pursuing assessments of the spill’s effects on the region’s residents and environment.  To provide information to those affected, EPA has set up a webpage that tracks EPA’s activities, as well as the coordinated federal response to the spill.  The webpage also has information on EPA’s monitoring of the air, water, and sediment quality in the vicinity of the spill.  

A few weeks ago, we posted the Call for Abstracts for the 2010 National Training Conference coming up in November 2010. Through this Call for Abstracts, we’re looking for your ideas on presentations, posters, or demonstrations that could help make this conference interesting, exciting, and relevant for attendees.

As the Call for Abstracts mentions, suggested topics for presentations, posters, and demonstrations include, but are not limited to: