Through disclosure, Congress intended to create awareness among officials and the general public to save lives, prevent pollution, and protect property from chemical accidents. As Congress directed, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to collect and disseminate RMP data from an estimated 66,000 facilities. By law, this is public information. Nonetheless, chemical industry lobbyists are working to have information on potential off-site consequences withheld from a complete, public database. Inherent safety can include using safer chemicals, storing chemicals at ambient pressure, reducing chemical storage, and requiring fewer hazardous shipments.
Industry also has a legal responsibility to safely manage existing hazards.
In contrast, disabling the national RMP database would provide no real protection to the public. Day in and day out, companies in the U.S. report some 100 chemical fires, spills, or explosions. At least 1,000 of these incidents each year involve deaths, injuries, or evacuations. At least 17 reported releases may have exceeded in volume and toxicity the world's worst chemical accident at Bhopal, India. At Bhopal, thousands died in 1984 when some 40 tons of methyl isocyanate leaked from a Union Carbide pesticide factory.