U.S. Congress Requires Governments to Inform the Public About Toxic Pollutants.

Enacted in 1986 as part of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act, the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) was passed to increase public awareness of the nature and extent of hazardous and toxic substances in communities and to require governmental emergency planning and notification. The law was enacted after the accidental release of chemicals at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, claimed thousands of lives in 1984.