II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1935

To provide for improved information collection and dissemination by the

Environmental Protection Agency, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 9, 1996

Mr. BRADLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To provide for improved information collection and dissemination by the Environmental Protection Agency, and for

other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Trust and Envi5 ronmental Accountability Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Agency.
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1 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Agency’’ means the

2 Environmental Protection Agency.

3 SEC. 3. IMPROVED INFORMATION COLLECTION AND DIS4 SEMINATION.

5 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are—

6 (1) to enhance public access and encourage use

7 of information collected by the Agency;

8 (2) to improve the management of information

9 resources; and

10 (3) to assist Agency enforcement, pollution pre11 vention, and multimedia permitting and reporting

12 initiatives.

13 (b) PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after the date of

14 enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall develop a

15 plan to implement policies, programs, and methods for in16 tegrating and making publicly available information per17 taining to the environment and public health policy con18 cerns within the jurisdiction of the Agency.

19 (c) MATTERS TO BE ADDRESSED.—The policies,

20 programs, and methods under subsection (b) shall provide

21 for—

22 (1) creation of standard information formats

23 for collection, integration, retrieval, storage, reten24 tion, and dissemination of information;
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1 (2) improved coordination of information collec2 tion and information management to integrate sepa3 rate information resources, including the develop4 ment and implementation of common company, facil5 ity, industrial sector, geographic, and chemical iden6 tifiers and such other information as the Adminis7 trator determines to be appropriate;

8 (3) a system for indexing, locating, and obtain9 ing information maintained by the Agency concern10 ing parent companies, facilities, chemicals, and the

11 regulatory status of entities subject to oversight by

12 the Agency;

13 (4) ready accessibility of, and dissemination of,

14 publicly available information generated by or sub15 mitted to the Agency, including public accessibility

16 by computer telecommunication and other means;

17 and

18 (5) universal availability of electronic reporting

19 for all environmental reporting requirements estab20 lished under laws administered by the Agency di21 rectly or through delegations to States, territories,

22 and Indian tribes.

23 (d) COORDINATION.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall co25 ordinate the Agency’s information collection and dis-
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1 semination activities with the activities of other Fed2 eral, State, and local agencies to reduce unnecessary

3 burdens and promote greater integration of informa4 tion.

5 (2) OTHER INFORMATION.—When necessary to

6 support the mission of the Agency, the Adminis7 trator may provide for the integration and dissemi8 nation of publicly available information not collected

9 by the Agency.

10 (e) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section shall affect

11 the duty of the Agency to maintain the confidentiality of

12 trade secrets, confidential business information, or infor13 mation that is subject to a rule of court or court order

14 requiring maintenance of confidentiality.

15 (f) PRICING.—The Administrator may set charges for

16 the provision of information under this section in accord17 ance with the pricing policies of chapter 35 of title 44,

18 United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Paperwork

19 Reduction Act’’).

20 (g) DISSEMINATION POLICIES.—Dissemination poli21 cies of the Agency shall include fee reductions, fee waivers,

22 and other support services to encourage public use of in23 formation maintained by the Agency.

24 (h) REPORTS.—Not later that 2 years after the date

25 of enactment of this section and annually thereafter, the
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1 Administrator shall produce and make available reports

2 that summarize the information that has been made avail3 able under this section.

4 SEC. 4. SOURCE REDUCTION AWARD PROGRAM.

5 The Administrator shall establish an annual award

6 program to recognize companies that operate outstanding

7 or innovative source reduction programs.

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