The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reform will reward the nation's small business environmental stewards, according to testimony by Chief Counsel for Advocacy Thomas M. Sullivan. Sullivan said that the incentive of using a shorter form and less burdensome analysis would encourage small businesses to recycle hazardous chemicals, rather than discharge them into the environment.
Sullivan's testimony came before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials.
"Every year small businesses with zero emissions or discharges of hazardous chemicals are still required to fill out the long TRI Form R that can take two weeks or more to complete," said Sullivan. "This chemical handling data is separate from reports required for spills and accidents and the Form R takes over a year to be incorporated into the TRI database. Small business environmental stewards should be rewarded for superior environmental performance rather than be punished by being required to complete the long form."
Under EPA's December 2006 reform, businesses that do not emit or discharge highly hazardous chemicals can use the short form (TRI Form A). Sullivan noted that, "Although it does not go as far as some small businesses would prefer, Advocacy supports the TRI Burden Reduction rule." Sullivan also voiced opposition to H.R. 1055, a bill designed to revoke the reforms.
Paperwork reduction is essential because as Advocacy research has shown, small businesses are disproportionately affected by federal regulations. For the smallest firms, the annual regulatory burden in 2004 was $7,647 per employee - nearly 1.5 times greater than the $5,282 burden for their largest counterparts. For environmental rules, the difference is more dramatic with small firms spending 4½ times more per employee for environmental compliance than large businesses do.
The Office of Advocacy, the "small business watchdog" of the federal government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats, and it funds research into small business issues.
For more information and a copy of the testimony, visit the Office of Advocacy website at www.sba.gov/advo.
Washington - October 4, 2007
Release Number: 07-31 ADVO
Contact: John McDowell, (202) 205-6941,
john.mcdowell@sba.gov
Information courtesy of the Small Business Administration.
