Environmental Democracy

Susan Hazen, the Director of the Environmental Assistance Division, Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, explains the notion of “environmental democracy” and its current developments. She describes how Right-to-Know policies boost public participation in environmental decision-making. The article features the US Right-to-Know programme - The Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) - that routinely reports to the public on over toxic 600 chemicals since 1988 and gives examples of other emerging Right-to-Know programmes.