COMMUNICATING UNDER SECTION 112(R) OF THE CLEAN-AIR ACT AMENDMENTS

Regulations under Section 112(r) of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments require fixed facilities having threshold quantities of materials on t he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's list of regulated substances to disclose to the general public the expected offsite consequences o f worst-case accidental chemical releases. This paper describes the co mmunication practices of small firms in Delaware and New Jersey and th e practical problems these facilities might encounter complying with t he proposed rule. The paper reports an interesting difference between the apprehension voiced by small firms required to report worst-case r elease information and the public's apparent lack of interest in such information. Unlike the difficulty expected by small firms in calculat ing and communicating worst-case chemical release information, this pa per includes some observations on the ability of large chemical firms to comply with the proposed requirements.