EPA to Allow Self-Reporting of Violations

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced it will allow companies it regulates nationwide to self-report, online, any violations of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act.  The Act requires states to have emergency plans for dealing with any hazardous substance release, but it also makes the presence of any of those substances in a community public information.  EPA spokeswoman Gale Bonnano says she’s confident companies will step up to report their violations, as well as find the new system easier and faster.“What we found is that there are companies that want to do the right thing.  Almost 4,500 companies have come forward to do the right thing, to date," Bonnano says.But that’s just a portion of the many companies EPA regulates.  In the EPA’s southeastern region, which includes Kentucky, more than 70 companies have already been cited for violations they didn’t report this year alone.