The Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) laws require facilities in certain industries, that manufacture, process or otherwise use certain toxic chemicals above specified thresholds, to report annually:

• the amounts of toxic chemicals released into the environment
• transferred off-site for treatment
• recycled,
• used for energy recovery
• disposed of
• managed on-site at the facility

The Minnesota EPCRA Program manages this information in a database called the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). The data are collected from various covered industries, including manufacturing, electric utilities, commercial hazardous waste treatment and other industrial sectors. The data reported are not necessarily derived from actual monitoring or measurements, but may be estimated from engineering calculations, material balance calculations, or published emission factors.

The Minnesota Toxic Pollution Prevention Act (TPPA) of 1990 requires facilities in Minnesota, which submit the EPA Form R to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Minnesota Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) Program, to prepare Pollution Prevention Plans (non-public documents) and to submit annual Pollution Prevention Progress Reports (public documents) based on those plans to the Minnesota EPCRA Program.

The Progress Report is required to be submitted to the Minnesota EPCRA Program annually by July 1.  Progress will be reported on a calendar year basis.

The TPPA also requires that facilities have their Pollution Prevention Plan updated by January 1 of every even-numbered year.  This updated plan would be helpful in completing both the EPA Form R and the Minnesota Pollution Prevention Progress Report.

The Pollution Prevention Plan and Progress Report do not apply to chemicals that are not required to be reported on EPA Form R, are reported on EPA Form A, and are reported on EPA Form R but have no on-site release or off-site transfer amounts.​
 

​The Act requires each TRI facility reporting toxic chemical releases and transfers to develop a Pollution Prevention Plan. The legislation:

• Establishes state policy encouraging the prevention of toxic pollution.
• Provides technical assistance to help companies prevent toxic pollution by expanding the responsibilities and staff of the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP).
• Provides matching grants to help companies study or demonstrate the feasibility of applying specific technologies and methods to prevent pollution and to develop a Pollution Prevention Plan; these facilities must submit annual Pollution Prevention Progress Reports to the Minnesota Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) Program.

The Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) originated from Section 313 of the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-know Act (EPCRA) of 1986 and the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990.

The Minnesota Toxic Pollution Prevention Act went into effect in 1990.  ​