TO:	Hon. Jerry Lewis, Chairman, House Appropriations Committee
	Hon. David R. Obey, Ranking Member, House Appropriations Committee
	Hon. Charles H. Taylor, Chairman, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior
	Hon. Norman D. Dicks, Ranking Member, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior
	Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr.
	Hon. Hilda L. Solis
	and All Members of the House of Representatives

DATE: May 16, 2006

RE: 	Society of Environmental Journalists and Other Groups Support 
	Pallone-Solis Toxic Right-To-Know Amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill 

The Society of Environmental Journalists urges you to allow a vote on the Pallone-Solis amendment to the 2007 Interior Appropriations Bill, and to vote "Yes" on that amendment. 

The amendment would block proposed changes to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). TRI and the related complex of environmental information programs are one of the greatest historical successes among all the federal government's efforts to protect the public's health from toxic releases to the environment.

The TRI is not "broken" -- and there is no need to "fix" it. EPA's current proposal on Form A eligibility would inflict a critical injury to the TRI's effectiveness, robbing the public of vital information it has a right to know. The proposed regulation threatens to destroy or impair a TRI program that has succeeded in reducing toxic emissions without the burden to industry of far more costly regulations.

Free access to the fullest possible amount of TRI data is essential not only to the public health, but to our ability as journalists to do the job of reporting on environmental health issues.

For more background on why we oppose the EPA changes to TRI, see our comments to the regulatory docket, online at http://www.sej.org/foia/TRIcomments1f.htm.

Again, we urge a "Yes" vote on the Pallone-Solis amendment.

Sincerely,

Perry A. Beeman, President, Society of Environmental Journalists
Ken Ward Jr., Chairman, SEJ First Amendment Task Force

(for the above)
Joseph A. Davis, Ph.D., Director, SEJ Watchdog Project



Other organizations endorsing this letter include the following:

Coalition of Journalists for Open Government
Society of Professional Journalists
American Society of Newspaper Editors
Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
California First Amendment Coalition
Washington Coalition for Open Government 

(The Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) is the world's largest organization of working journalists covering environmental issues. SEJ consists of more than 1,400 journalists, educators, and students dedicated to improving the quality, accuracy and visibility of environmental reporting. Working through its First Amendment Task Force, SEJ addresses freedom of information, right-to-know, and other news-gathering issues of concern to journalists reporting on environmental topics.)

CC: 
Hon. John M. McHugh
Hon. Pete King
Hon. Jim Ramstad
Hon. Roscoe Bartlett
Hon. Joe Wilson






SEJ and Others Support Pallone-Solis Amendment -- 5/16/2006 : Page 2