Environmental Statistics: It’s All About Comparable Quality Barry D. Nussbaum, Chief Statistician U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1 International Association for Official Statistics October 20, 2010

2 Report on the Environment

3 EPA’s Report on the Environment

4 How long is the U.S. coastline? How long is the U.S. coastline? a)95,000 miles 95,000 miles95,000 miles b)19,924 km b)19,924 km 19,924 km 19,924 km c)66,645 miles 66,645 miles66,645 miles d)58,618 miles 58,618 miles58,618 miles e)66,419 miles 66,419 miles66,419 miles f)Any of the above Any of the aboveAny of the above g)None of the above None of the aboveNone of the above

5 How long is the U.S. coastline? How long is the U.S. coastline? a)95,000 miles 95,000 miles95,000 miles b)19,924 km b)19,924 km 19,924 km 19,924 km c)66,645 miles 66,645 miles66,645 miles d)58,618 miles 58,618 miles58,618 miles e)66,419 miles 66,419 miles66,419 miles f)Any of the above Any of the aboveAny of the above g)None of the above None of the aboveNone of the above

6 The Richardson Effect

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8 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Data on toxic chemical releases and waste management activities Reported annually by certain industries Also reported by Federal facilities Provides communities with information to support decision making

9 Presenting Data: TRI

10 …and the metadata

11 Simpler Presentation of TRI Data

12 Air Pollution in Middlesex County

13 Other Uses of TRI Data  Financial Sector Used by some mutual funds for “social responsibility”  Labor Unions Used in contract negotiations  Internal Revenue Used for tax on CFCs  Internal Processing Reactions to filing lead to lower releases

14 TRI Data: Beware TRI is not everything –Mobile Sources are not included –Smaller facilities are not included –Toxic Substances Control Act lists 76,000 chemicals –TRI includes 650 chemicals

15 TRI Data: Beware Releases are in pounds Dioxins are measured in grams Releases are NOT health waited

16 TRI Data: Beware The data base changes –TRI started in 1988 –In 1998, metal mining was added (and releases more than doubled) –Just publishing the data encourages reductions in the releases –Out of 650 chemicals, 332 are core chemicals

17 Accuracy of Data Collection Efforts

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