Resources: Protecting the Environment
Learn about Your Right to Know
The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) database provides information about releases of toxic chemicals from manufacturing facilities into the environment through the air, water, and land.
Resources for Concerned Citizens
Search for volunteer opportunities in your community at Serve.gov
Learn about Your Right to Know
Right-to-know laws provide information about possible chemical exposures. Discover resources EPA provides the public in the spirit of right-to-know.
Search for and Comment on Regulations
Our proposed regulations are almost always open to the public for comment. Your participation leads to better regulations.
At Home and in the Garden
Tips for home safety, avoiding potential risks, and preventing pollution by recycling and conserving water and energy.
At Work
Information about preventing pollution in your workplace, and raising awareness of health and safety issues.
On the Road
Consumer information about the environmental impacts of transportation plus tips on cleaner cars, saving gas and improving mileage, boating pollution prevention tips, and more.
At School
Whether you are a student or a teacher in a class about the environment, EPA has lots of educational resources to offer you.
While Shopping
Find helpful information on how to choose purchases that will reduce pollution, save energy and money.
In Your Community
Learn how to protect your neighborhood's natural resources, and get information on air and water quality in your community.
Think Globally, Act Locally
Learn about environmental issues that impact our world, and about programs, opportunities, and tools to help you get involved and make a difference in your community.
More on thinking globally and acting locally >>
Report a Violation or Emergency
Information on potential environmental violations and how to report a suspicious situation. To report oil and chemical spills, call the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802.
Learn how to report violations and emergencies | Information on natural disasters >>
Children's Health
Information on how to protect children from toxins, the sun, lead, and other potential environmental health threats.
Every American has the right to know the chemicals to which they may be exposed in their daily living. Right-to-know laws provide information about possible chemical exposures. Below is a list of some of the information that EPA provides the public in the spirit of right to know.
- Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)
- Information on Toxic Substances and Releases
- Community Environmental Issues
- Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996
- Air Pollution
- Water Quality
- Lead Program
- Hazardous Waste
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)
Congress enacted EPCRA in 1986 to establish requirements for federal, state and local governments, tribes, and industry regarding emergency planning and "community right-to-know" reporting on hazardous and toxic chemicals. The community right-to-know provisions help increase the public's knowledge and access to information on chemicals at individual facilities, their uses, and releases into the environment. States and communities, working with facilities, can use the information to improve chemical safety and protect public health and the environment. More information about EPCRA
Information on Toxic Substances and Releases
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) - A database which provides information to the public about releases of toxic chemicals from manufacturing facilities into the environment through the air, water, and land.
Access TRI Data via Envirofacts by typing in your ZIP Code - The TRI Query retrieves data in Envirofacts for facilities reporting chemical releases to TRI from 1987-1995. Your query returns facility information, as well as chemical reports, which tabulate air emissions, surface water discharges, releases to land, underground injections, and transfers to off-site locations.
- Other Searches By Zip Code - Search for other local information by typing in your ZIP code. You may select from among numerous databases for information about facilities, watersheds, enforcement actions, and other searches.
Air Toxics - This page provides background information on toxic air pollutants--poisonous substances in the air that come from natural or manmade sources and can harm the environment or your health.
RTK-Net 
- A network funded by several philanthropic and government agencies (including
EPA) and jointly operated by two nonprofit organizations: Unison Institute
and OMB Watch. Includes information on many EPA programs, regulations
Title III List of Lists: Consolidated List of Chemicals Subject to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act - This database assists facilities and state and local governments in compliance with the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), the accident prevention provisions of the Clean Air Act, and general chemical emergency preparedness and prevention.
TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory - Download and search EPA's consolidated list of thousands of industrial chemicals manufactured or used in the U.S.
Community Environmental Issues
Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) Resource Guide - The CARE Resource Guide will help you navigate EPA's Web site to find information that can help you improve the environment in your community. The Guide is designed to help communities in the CARE program, but it can be used by anyone interested in learning more about local environmental issues.
Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996
Assessing Health Risks from Pesticides - This fact sheet provides a brief overview of EPA's process for assessing potential risks to human health when evaluating pesticide products.
Consumption Advisories - Consumption advisories help protect people from the health risks of consuming contaminated noncommercially caught fish and wildlife.
FQPA Amendments - Summary of FQPA Amendments to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).
Highlights of the FQPA of 1996 (08/96) - FQPA contains provisions which strengthen standards for evaluating the safety of pesticide residues in food and includes special safeguards for children.
Pesticides and Food: What You and Your Family Need to Know - a Web version of the brochure that discusses the risks and benefits of pesticide use on food, and ways in which consumers can reduce their exposure to pesticides. A search feature allows you to determine what pesticides are approved for use on foods.
Air Pollution
AIRNOW - AIRNOW provides real-time air pollution data, information about the public health and environmental effects of air pollution, and provides the public with information about ways to protect their health and reduce pollution.
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions - This database lets you search GHG emissions data from over 6,700 facilities, by facility, location, industrial sector, and the type of GHG emitted.
Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act - The Clean Air Act will improve air quality in the United States, a good thing for your health, your property and the environment. The 1990 Act could change the way you work or do business. It could even change the way you live. This summary covers some of the important provisions of the 1990 Clean Air Act.
Air Quality Trends Report - Published annually by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this report highlights EPA's most recent evaluation of status and trends in our nation's air quality, with the goal of continued improvement in the overall quality of our nation's air.
AIRS Facility Query via Envirofacts - AIRS (Aerometric Information Retrieval System) Facility Subsystem (AFS) contains both emissions and compliance data on air pollution point sources regulated by the U.S. EPA and/or state and local air regulatory agencies.
Ozone Mapping System for the New England Area - This system offers daily ozone forecasts, peak maps, and a daily ozone movie so that the public has an opportunity to take precautionary actions by limiting exposure and reducing pollution-causing activities. Information is available only for the New England area at his time.
Water Quality
Surf Your Watershed - A service to help you locate, use, and share environmental information on your watershed or community.
Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Pollutant Loading Tool - This database lets you search for pollutants that were released into local waterways. You can search by area, watershed, company, industry sector, and pollutant, and year.
Local Drinking Water Information - This page gives consumers an easy way to find information about their drinking water supplier, their sources of drinking water, and what their state drinking water program is doing.
Water on Tap - How safe is my drinking water? Where does my drinking water come from, and how does it get to my home? What can I do to help protect my drinking water? This publication examines these questions and offers information on protecting your drinking water.
Water Publications - Find a listing of newsletters and periodicals, publications available online, as well as videotapes available for ordering.
Lead Program
Lead Program - US EPA's OPPT Lead Home Page lists various technical and general information documents on lead. Many of these documents may be useful to the general public, parents, and home owners, buyers or renters. Further, EPA has provided web links to other sources of information on lead and will be posting more information and new listings as they become available.
Lead Program Educational Resources - Download essential posters and pamphlets to learn about lead in your home and community.
Residential Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Program - Recognizing that families have a right to know about lead-based paint and potential lead hazards in their homes, Congress directed EPA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to work together to develop disclosure requirements for sales and leases of older housing.
Hazardous Waste
Superfund Risk Assessment - Learn about human health risks posed by hazardous waste sites and, if you do not find what you are looking for, or have a specific question, send us a note through the 'Ask Your Question' page.