Last night I was asked to appear on BBC World News to discuss the President of Argentina Javier Milei's speech announcing new policies on national security and sanctions on oil companies developing near the Falkland Islands (Malvinas in Spanish). Feel free to dm for the clip!
![LIMITS OF THE EMERGENCY PLANNING AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT
Academic literature has long noted that the EPCRA only partially delivers on its promise of community protection, pointing out structural limitations that include:9
Limited accessibility and usability of
data. Publicly available EPCRA data
collection and reporting systems are
often inconsistent, highly technical, and
difficult to understand.
Resource constraints at the local level.
Local Emergency Planning Committees
(LEPCs), responsible for coordinating
emergency response planning, frequently
lack adequate financial and technical
resources and are staffed by volunteers,
limiting their ability to support
community oversight.
Incomplete emissions accounting.
Mechanisms and calculations used to
measure toxic releases are not
standardized, and omit fugitive
emissions, accidents, short‑term peaks,
and cumulative multi‑facility exposures
that residents actually experience.10
Lack of accountability for noncompliance.
There are no consequences
for industries that fail to file reports on
time.
Restricted access to critical
information. Certain information may be
restricted by states due to homeland
security concerns, requiring formal
requests, delaying access, or limiting
transparency altogether.
Gaps in chemical reporting requirements.
Not all harmful chemicals are on the
required reporting list (e.g., many PFAS
actually present in LIB components [e.g.,
polyvinylidene fluoride PVDF binders,
fluorinated salts like LiPF6] are not on the
TRI list, and the reporting thresholds are
set high [100 lbs/year]).11
Aggregation instead of specificity. Not
all states require that facilities report
exact chemicals, their quantities, and
their locations, but rather allow aggregate
volumes based on hazard category,
obscuring meaningful risk information. 12](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:pjbndagstwjy7hukxfh46mjo/bafkreibyunrqey553ey5i5b7avhmjkq4ndkllt2p5o2o5wxzdnxbnmngdi)
