Citations
- 924 F. Supp. 1193
Full opinion text
MEMORANDUM OPINION
KESSLER, District Judge.
I. Introduction
Each of four Plaintiffs, Troy Corporation (“Troy”), NMP Producers Group (“NMP”), National Oilseed Processors Association (“ÑOPA”), and Chemical Manufacturers Association (“CMA”), brings a separate action against the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA” or “Agency”) pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A), on the grounds that EPA’s addition of each Plaintiffs chemical or chemicals to the Toxic Release Inventory (“TRI”) list was arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and contrary to law. Each Plaintiff seeks a final order vacating the final decision of the EPA to list the chemical or chemicals pursuant to § 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Righb-To-Know Act of 1986 (“EPCRA”), 42 U.S.C. § 11023.
This matter is before the Court upon Plaintiffs’ Motions for Summary Judgment and Defendants’ Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. The Court has considered the Motions, the Oppositions, the Replies, the oral arguments in open court on March 27, 1996, the applicable statutory and case law, and the voluminous record submitted in each of the four eases. For the reasons discussed below, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs’ Motions for Summary Judgment must be denied, and that Defendants’ Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment must be granted.
II. Statutory Framework
State and local governments, as well as the public at large, are entitled to access information concerning potential chemical hazards in their communities. That is the central premise underlying the Emergency Planning and Community Righb-To-Know Act (“EP-CRA”), codified at 42 U.S.C. §§ 11001-11050 and signed into law on October 17, 1986, as Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, Pub.L. No. 99-499, 100 Stat. 1613, 1629. The primary purpose of the law is to encourage state and local planning for spills or releases of toxic or hazardous chemicals. 42 U.S.C. § 11001.
Section 313 of EPCRA mandates that facilities manufacturing, processing or using certain toxic chemicals report annually on the presence of those chemicals at the facility, the uses of the chemicals, an estimate of the maximum amounts of the chemicals present at the facility at any time, methods of disposal and treatment of waste, and the extent to which those chemicals are being released into the environment. 42 U.S.C. § 11023(g). The list of toxic chemicals subject to reporting under § 313 is known as the Toxic Release Inventory (“TRI”) list. Notably, EPCRA does not restrict the manufacture, processing, use or disposal of any chemical; it is simply a reporting statute which requires facility owners or operators to provide EPA and state governments with information. 42 U.S.C. § 11023(a). EPA and state governments, in turn, make this information available to local governments and citizens in the community, who may then develop appropriate emergency response plans as required under Section 303 of EP-CRA. See 42 U.S.C.- § 11023(h) and (j); 59 Fed.Reg. 1788 (col. 3) (Jan. 12,1994).
EPCRA also requires EPA to maintain a publicly accessible computer database containing a national toxic chemical inventory based on the reports submitted under Section 313. 42 U.S.C. § 11023