The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has revised its
Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) form, which will reward U.S. small
businesses for environmental stewardship. According to Thomas S.
Sullivan, the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy's
chief council for advocacy, the incentives of using the shorter TRI
form and less burdensome analysis will encourage small businesses
to recycle hazardous chemicals instead of discarding them into the
environment.
"Every year, small businesses with zero emissions or discharges
of hazardous chemicals still are required to fill out the long TRI
Form R that can take two weeks or more to complete," Sullivan says.
"This chemical handling data is separate from reports required for
spills and accidents, and the Form R takes more than 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."
EPA's TRI reform will help the environment and small businesses
by reducing the amount of paperwork small businesses are required
to complete. Research from the Office of Advocacy shows small
businesses are disproportionately affected by federal regulations.
For the smallest firms, the annual regulatory burden in 2004 was
$7,647 per employee, which is nearly 1 1/2 times greater than the
$5,282 annual regulatory burden for larger companies. Additionally,
the research shows small firms spend more than 4 1/2 times more per
employee for environmental compliance than...
Log in or register for FREE access to this article and other Professional Roofing online content.