December 7, 2021EPA Must Strengthen Protections for Citizens
Before the Bhopal disaster and the Institute incident, communities across the US did not have a guaranteed right to know the risks or the names of hazardous and toxic chemicals being produced, stored, transported or discharged by local industries near their homes. In 1986, Congress passed the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act. In 1990 the EPA Risk Management Plan required facilities that use certain hazardous substances to develop plans for chemical accident prevention. Plans are required to identify the vulnerable zones and potential effects of a chemical accident, identify steps the facility takes to prevent an accident, and to spell out facility emergency response procedures when an incident occurs.