The Biennial Reporting System (BRS) is one of the Environmental Protection Agency’s primary tools for tracking
the generation, shipment and receipt of hazardous waste. It contains information from Hazardous Waste Reports
that must be filed every two years under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which is
the federal law that regulates the generation, treatment, storage, disposal or recycling of solid and hazardous waste.
This database records spills and accidents reported to the National Response Center. It tracks chemical spills, accidents involving chemicals (such as fires or
explosions), oil spills, transportation accidents that involve oil or chemicals, releases of radioactive materials, sightings of oil sheens on bodies of water,
terrorist incidents involving chemicals, incidents where illegally dumped chemicals have been found and drills intended to prepare responders to handle
these kinds of incidents. The National Response Center is operated by the U.S. Coast Guard and has become the central point of contact for reporting
many different kinds of incidents involving hazardous materials.
This database includes information from companies that generate, transport, treat, store and dispose of hazardous waste, which are required to
report certain activities to state-level regulators. These regulators pass on the information to the EPA. Data includes permit status, compliance and
violation information, and cleanup activities. The information is mandated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended in 1984.
Federal law requires facilities that use large amounts of extremely hazardous substances
to file Risk Management Plans with the EPA. This data is intended to save lives, protect property
and prevent pollution. You can identify facilities in your area by using the RMP search tool.
This inventory is a database of information about releases and transfers of toxic chemicals
from facilities in certain industrial sectors, including manufacturing, waste handling, mining
and electricity generation. Facilities also must report the total amount of toxic chemicals in waste they produce.