Last week, EPA released its 2020 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) National Analysis, which shows that environmental releases of TRI chemicals by facilities covered by the program declined by 10% between 2019 and 2020.

The 2020 Analysis is the first to feature reporting on the 172 types of PFAS added to TRI by the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. Facilities reported managing 800,000 pounds of PFAS chemicals in 2020, but of that only around 9,000 pounds were reported as releases. Most of the production-related PFAS waste was reported by hazardous waste management facilities or chemical manufacturers, and most releases of PFAS were reported by the chemical manufacturing sector.