Recent Changes

March 19, 2009

TRI Explorer version 4.8 was released on March 19, 2009 at the same time as the 2007 Public Data Release. This version includes the following change:

The TRI Explorer application uses a revised method of data acquisition. This allows for a faster internal updating process. Periodic data updates (typically mid year) can now be released in TRI Explorer simultaneously with the data being release in TRI Envirofacts.
TRI Explorer is undergoing a major maintenance program to improve performance and data delivery options.

February 21, 2008

TRI Explorer version 4.7 was released on February 21, 2008 at the same time as the 2006 Public Data Release. This version includes the following changes:

EPA finalized its TRI NAICS Rule, which requires owners and operators of facilities subject to the TRI reporting requirements to report North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes on their submissions instead of Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes, beginning with reports due July 1, 2007 (i.e., reporting year 2006). Thus when reporting releases and other waste management quantities to EPA's TRI Program, facilities must identify their principal business activities using 2002 NAICS codes instead of SIC codes.
Detail columns in online release reports are collapsed by default (Feature not in Trends Reports). Click the icon to view additional columns. Use your Browser back feature to collapse the columns or alternately you can select / deselect desired columns from the input selection screen.
Chemical reports now include an optional Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number column.

March 22, 2007

TRI Explorer version 4.6 was released on March 22, 2007 at the same time as the 2005 Public Data Release. This version includes the following changes:

The latitude and longitude data and Program identification (ID) numbers including Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) number were obtained from the Facility Registry System (FRS), EPA's centralized database system for facility information. That system gathered these data elements from existing data, other EPA programs, state and local government and commercial sources.
If a few instances, both a range code and an estimated release (or transfer) quantity appear in Form R reports contained herein. When performing analyses in such instances, TRI Explorer will automatically use the reported estimated quantity in lieu of the range code when the estimated quantity is greater than zero. In instances in which the estimated quantity is zero, TRI Explorer will use the reported range code in lieu of the zero quantity.

April 12, 2006

TRI Explorer version 4.5 was released on April 12, 2006 at the same time as the 2004 Public Data Release. In this version:

Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) has been delisted (effective June 30, 2005) and, therefore, TRI Explorer version 4.5 does not contain data pertaining to methyl ethyl ketone for reporting year 2004.
A CORE 2001 chemical group was created but only made available in trends reports. It will be available in other reports soon.
The new TRI Data Mart tool is under development and will eventually replace TRI Explorer
Trend Waste Quantity Reports have been modified to reflect the change to part II section 8.1 that was replaced with 8.1A, 8.1B, 8.1C, and 8.1D in RY 2003. The new columns are included to facilitate trends analysis.
Naphthalene is now classified as an OSHA carcinogen, and has been given a de minimis level of 0.1% (previous de minimis level was 1%).

May 11, 2005

TRI Explorer version 4.4 was released on May 11, 2005 at the same time as the 2003 Public Data Release. Beginning with the 2003 PDR, EPA has modified the way in which it uses the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code as reported by the facility for analysis purposes. Some facilities that were reporting to the TRI prior to the 1998 facility expansion rule began to report one of the newly added SIC codes after this rule was promulgated. However, in an effort to maintain trend analysis, EPA kept those facilities in the SIC code they had reported in prior to 1998. In EPA’s continuing effort to modernize its data access systems and to improve the transparency and the reproducibility of our analysis, EPA will no longer keep those facilities in their previously reported SIC codes. Instead, the primary SIC code as reported by the facility will now be used for all analysis purposes. This change results in a more accurate portrayal of the data as it is reported to the TRI. EPA has applied this new logic to all data within the TRI database (i.e., applied to all trends starting with 1988 data). Therefore, data users should note that previous year’s PDRs may not be easily comparable with the data in TRI Explorer since the previous PDRs used the former methodology when analyzing by SIC codes

June 23, 2004

TRI Explorer version 4.3 was released on June 23, 2004 at the same time as the release of the 2002 TRI data. The 2002 TRI reporting year data were submitted by facilities on July 1, 2003 and includes revisions received by EPA as of March 3, 2004. In response to comments received by EPA from TRI stakeholders, several changes were implemented, including a new format for the Release Report tables for Reporting Year (RY) 2002 data. These changes do not collect any new or different information than what has been previously collected. Instead it now clearly identifies the categories for reporting releases and other waste management activities of toxic chemicals. Also, this change in the presentation of the data is consistent with the recent minor changes EPA made to the Form R. In addition, a number of enhancements to the system were added, including:

Electronic versions of the National and State Fact Sheets. Previously available only in print copies, these fact sheets summarize TRI data for the U.S. and each State, and they provide an interactive dynamic map.
Federal facility reports. This new report allows users to access TRI data from federal facilities nationwide.

June 30, 2003

TRI Explorer version 4.1 was launched at the same time as the release of the 2001 TRI data. The 2001 TRI reporting year data were submitted by facilities on July 1, 2002 and includes revisions received by EPA as of March 3, 2003. In response to requests and comments from the TRI user community, the Agency continues to provide upgrades to the TRI Explorer to enhance access to the TRI data.

TRI Explorer version 4.1 includes enhancements that provide:

interactive choropleth mapping capability at the U.S. and state levels; now in addition to reports the user can now map those same queries;
access to multiple views of the data on the map;
controls that allow the user to interact with the map in real-time;
the option to zoom the map;
map drill-down capability to other web resources;
access to maps for Release queries;
access to maps for Waste Transfers queries; and
access to maps for Waste Quantity queries.

May 23, 2002

TRI Explorer version 4.0 was launched at the same time as the release of the 2000 TRI data. The 2000 TRI reporting year data were submitted by facilities on July 1, 2001 and includes revisions received by EPA as of January 23, 2002. In response to requests and comments from the TRI user community, the Agency continues to provide upgrades to the TRI Explorer to enhance access to the TRI data.

TRI Explorer version 4 includes enhancements that enable:

access to data reported for seven new persistent bioaccumulative toxic (PBT) chemicals (including dioxins) added to TRI in the 2000 reporting year (four individually listed PBT chemicals, one PBT chemical category (Dioxin and Dioxin-like compounds), and two PBT chemicals added to the PACs category);
access to data reported for PBT chemicals that were required to be reported to TRI in the 2000 reporting year at lowered thresholds (including the 7 new PBT chemicals added in 2000 and 13 other PBT chemicals already on the list of TRI chemicals (e.g., mercury, mercury compounds, PACs, PCBs);
access to data reported for the newly added dioxin and dioxin-like compounds category in grams (including the reported distribution table for the 17 dioxin and dioxin-like congeners);
access to the full chemical report (Form R) submitted to TRI (i.e., a link to Envirofacts Form R report);
access to trend report for industries added in 1998 (New industries);
the option to select multiple chemicals and industries (i.e., user-selected list of chemicals and industries);
the option to search on pre-determined lists of chemicals (e.g., PBTs, HAPs, OSHA carcinogens);
the option to further breakout different media release types (e.g., breakout off-site releases by disposal codes); and
the option to include a facility's latitude and longitude in the summary report (previously only available in the individual facility profile report).

October 11, 2001

TRI Explorer version 3.3 provides access to two sets of frozen data:

the current data update (as of August 1, 2001); and
public data release (PDR) data (as of December 28, 2000).

The current data update includes revisions/withdrawals that have been submitted by facilities since the initial public data release (i.e., the annual release of the TRI data) until August 1, 2001.

August 24, 2001

TRI Explorer version 3.2 enables a user to produce reports for a zip code.

April 11, 2001

TRI Explorer version 3.1 launches 1999 Reporting Year data, the most recent data available. The data are as of January 25, 2001 which incorporate submissions and revisions for the reporting period 1998 to 1999.

This version allows users to generate a bar graph for trend reports. Users can also select a group of chemicals or a single chemical for generating a 'chemical report'.

September 12, 2000

TRI Explorer version 3.0 includes the data for waste transfers (section 6 of Form R) and waste quantities (section 8 of Form R) in addition to waste releases (sections 5 and 6 of Form R). The TRI Explorer generates, on demand, on- and off-site release, waste transfers and waste quantity reports that sort on facility, chemical, release type, geographic area, or SIC code at the county, state, and national level.

The other features include hyper links to metadata of report column headings, row numbers in all reports, improved 'look and feel' for the facility profile report and an option to download release, transfer and waste quantity data for a single facility.

June 6, 2000

Restrictions that limit some reports to the Top 100 Facilities or the Top 100 Counties have been removed. Users may now generate reports that list a desired number or all Facilities or Counties. Response time will vary depending on the size of the report being generated

May 11, 2000

The TRI Explorer (version 2.0) becomes a web based interactive query tool which allows a user to analyze, sort and compile data summaries from EPA's Toxic Release Inventory database. The TRI Explorer generates, on demand, on- and off-site release reports that sort on facility, chemical, release type, geographic area, or SIC code at the county, state, and national level. The TRI Explorer uses TRI data as of March 29, 2000 which incorporate submissions and revisions for the reporting period 1988 to 1998.

July 1, 1998

The TRI Data Explorer (version 1.0) was released as a downloadable windows application. The tool allowed users to explore the EPA Toxic Release Inventory data to learn about the releases of toxic chemicals in their communities.

Recent Changes

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