International TRI
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Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRS) and Multi- Media Emission Inventories |
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The United State's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is one of several similar programs established, or being established, by countries around the world. The term used internationally for these TRI-like systems is Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR).
Above are some of the basic characteristics for a PRTR. PRTRs are the most comprehensive of a type of environmental program called emission inventories. Nations with emission inventories collect data on releases to one or more environmental media (air, water, land), thus gathering a subset of the data that is gathered under a PRTR system. A multi-stakeholder group from Canada, the United States and Mexico designed a user-friendly brochure that describes a PRTR, its benefits and uses. The brochure is available in English [PDF Format 283KB] and in Spanish [PDF Format 314KB]. Each government that develops a PRTR often expands
on these basic elements. The U.S. TRI, for example,
provides the public with data for on-site waste management
of chemicals. The Japanese PRTR, for which facilities
are reporting for the first time in 2001, will include
data on diffuse sources (e.g., automobiles). The Canadian
PRTR, called the National Pollutant Release Inventory
(NPRI) Mexico has designed a national PRTR, but it is voluntary. Thus, few facilities have submitted PRTR reports. However, at a meeting with his counterparts from Canada and the U.S., the Mexican environment minister has committed to introducing legislation to make the Mexican PRTR mandatory. Since that meeting, the Mexican Congress has passed the legislation. Next steps for the Mexican government include developing the regulations to implement the mandatory PRTR. The Czech Republic
(the web site language is Czech) Australia's National Pollutant Inventory
(NPI) The United Kingdom has collected on-site release data for certain
processes within facilities, which it provides on its Pollutant
Inventory |
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North American PRTRs |
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In North America, the governments of the U.S., Canada
and Mexico are working together to improve the ability
to compare data from their three PRTR systems. This
work is coordinated by the North American
Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) |
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PRTR Work
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The United States is working with other countries and
with international organizations to facilitate PRTR
development. The international efforts on PRTRs originated
with the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development (UNCED), commonly known as the Earth
Summit. At this meeting, the governments of the world
charted an environmental action plan for the 21st
century. The action plan, titled Agenda 21, included
a chapter on policies to improve the sound management
of the chemicals. This,
Chapter 19 In 1993, the U.S., along with other nations, international organizations, industry groups, and environmental organizations, met to chart a course for the development of these emission inventories. They coined the name PRTR to reflect the goal of collecting comprehensive information on the releases and transfers of pollutants from facilities. In subsequent years, the nations of the world have
met to assess progress on the Earth Summit's goals
on chemicals management issues, which includes PRTRs.
At the most recent of these Intergovernmental Forum
on Chemical Safety
(IFCS)
A number of international organizations have ongoing
PRTR programs. The Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development OECD Two United Nations organizations are working with developing
nations to design and implement PRTR systems. The
United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP)
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