Jeff Ruch, senior counsel with Peer, noted these statistics are likely an undercount because the tracking system only registers emissions that enter the atmosphere.
Plants that "poison their workers inside" would not be counted, Ruch added.
Separate estimates indicate the US averaged a chemical incident impacting human health or the environment every other day between 2004 and 2025.
Targeted federal safety regulations mandate measures such as release-detection technologies, fire suppression systems, and emergency response plans.
The 2024 guidelines required hazardous plants to implement modern disaster-prevention tech, secondary backup safety lines, and safer chemical alternatives.
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These included easily accessible kill switches and automatic shut-off systems if an operator becomes incapacitated.
The 2024 rules also required facilities to draft contingency strategies for secondary disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, or wildfires impacting a chemical site.
The Trump EPA has already removed a public tracking website that informed communities and responders about onsite chemicals, and aims to rescind most of the 2024 updates.
The White House has also proposed eliminating the entire $14 million budget of the Chemical Safety Board (CSB), which investigates incidents to prevent recurrences.
Ruch pointed out that while the CSB is non-regulatory, industries voluntarily adopt about 90% of its safety recommendations.
He added that the administration "wants to take credit for eliminating another agency" despite the CSB being highly effective for a low cost.
Marc Boom, a former EPA policy adviser and senior director with the Environmental Protection Network, said the Peer findings underscore the need for rigid industrial oversight.
