Volume 142, No. 100 covering the 2nd Session of the 104th Congress (1995 - 1996) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Senate section on pages S7492-S7493 on July 9, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. BRADLEY:
S. 1935. A bill to provide for improved information collection and dissemination by the Environmental Protection Agency, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
THE PUBLIC TRUST AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT
Mr. BRADLEY. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Public Trust and Environmental Accountability Act to improve collection, retrieval, and dissemination of vital environmental data needed for community information and disaster response.
For the first time, under the Public Trust and Environmental Accountability Act, firefighters, plant neighbors, local governments, and the general public will have easy access to complete data on a plant's permit compliance and plant operation. Not only will the public be able to discover whether their local facility has had past environmental violations but they will also be able to research that company's compliance history throughout the United States using just one consolidated file, available by computer search.
For example, last year, when the Napp Technologies plant in Lodi, NJ, exploded, the community surrounding the plant had little knowledge of what went on within the plant gates. If the Public Trust and Environmental Accountability Act had been in effect, local citizens would have known: what chemicals were stored onsite; what permits were held by the plant; what violations had occurred; whether there had been any accidents or releases of chemicals; and, when the plant was last inspected.
Currently, data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency
[EPA] is scattered and fragmented across the Agency or left in files at the State level. Instead of centralizing and coordinating all data by plant or location, much of EPA's information is kept in numerous duplicative files in the Agency's separate program offices where it is divided arbitrarily by the type of pollutant under regulation such as air, water, or solid waste. Thus using EPA data to build a complete compliance profile of a particular plant is both time consuming and unnecessarily difficult.
However, my bill streamlines this unwieldy system by directing EPA to enhance access, encourage public use, and improve management of public information that it has collected under the Agency's many environmental statutes, pollution prevention initiatives and environmental permitting requirements. Under the act, EPA would create standard formats for information collection and improve the coordination of data which it has received from its various units and from other sources such as State agencies. The Act would also provide the public with greater computer access to EPA data bases.
No additional data would be required from the private sector. In fact, the current reporting burden on industry could be reduced once streamlined data collection was in place. The bill also complements new EPA initiatives aimed at consolidating permit requirements and eliminating paperwork.
This bill is an example of how we can use public power to help communities protect themselves through access to information rather than through additional programs or more bureaucracy.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 1935
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Public Trust and Environmental Accountability Act''.
SEC. 2. definitions.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of the Agency.
(2) Agency.--The term ``Agency'' means the Environmental Protection Agency.
SEC. 3. IMPROVED INFORMATION COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION.
(a) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are--
(1) to enhance public access and encourage use of information collected by the Agency;
(2) to improve the management of information resources; and
(3) to assist Agency enforcement, pollution prevention, and multimedia permitting and reporting initiatives.
(b) Plan.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall develop a plan to implement policies, programs, and methods for integrating and making publicly available information pertaining to the environment and public health policy concerns within the jurisdiction of the Agency.
(c) Matters To Be Addressed.--The policies, programs, and methods under subsection (b) shall provide for--
(1) creation of standard information formats for collection, integration, retrieval, storage, retention, and dissemination of information;
(2) improved coordination of information collection and information management to integrate separate information resources, including the development and implementation of common company, facility, industrial sector, geographic, and chemical identifiers and such other information as the Administrator determines to be appropriate;
(3) a system for indexing, locating, and obtaining information maintained by the Agency concerning parent companies, facilities, chemicals, and the regulatory status of entities subject to oversight by the Agency;
(4) ready accessibility of, and dissemination of, publicly available information generated by or submitted to the Agency, including public accessibility by computer telecommunication and other means; and
(5) universal availability of electronic reporting for all environmental reporting requirements established under laws administered by the Agency directly or through delegations to States, territories, and Indian tribes.
(d) Coordination.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator shall coordinate the Agency's information collection and dissemination activities with the activities of other Federal, State, and local agencies to reduce unnecessary burdens and promote greater integration of information.
(2) Other information.--When necessary to support the mission of the Agency, the Administrator may provide for the integration and dissemination of publicly available information not collected by the Agency.
(e) Limitation.--Nothing in this section shall affect the duty of the Agency to maintain the confidentiality of trade secrets, confidential business information, or information that is subject to a rule of court or court order requiring maintenance of confidentiality.
(f) Pricing.--The Administrator may set charges for the provision of information under this section in accordance with the pricing policies of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Paperwork Reduction Act'').
(g) Dissemination Policies.--Dissemination policies of the Agency shall include fee reductions, fee waivers, and other support services to encourage public use of information maintained by the Agency.
(h) Reports.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this section and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall produce and make available reports that summarize the information that has been made available under this section.
SEC. 4. SOURCE REDUCTION AWARD PROGRAM.
The Administrator shall establish an annual award program to recognize companies that operate outstanding or innovative source reduction programs.
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