Efforts to improve the security of chemical facilities from terrorist attack took a step forward this week as a House subcommittee passed legislation that encourages plants to switch to safer and more secure technologies. The bills – the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009 and a related bill that addresses security at drinking water facilities – also require participation by plant workers in assessing vulnerabilities and creating a security plan. With no Republican support, the party-line vote in the Energy and Environment subcommittee sends the bills to the full Energy and Commerce committee for another vote, likely next week. Although the bills still lack crucial accountability measures, they represent a major improvement over the flawed and inadequate temporary security measures now in place.

Yesterday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed a set of "Essential Principles" for reforming the nation's severely flawed chemicals management policies. The principles are a helpful and welcome addition to the reform efforts, but they say little about the need for greater transparency. The six principles include calls for greater authority for EPA to set standards and the use of "sound science" to regulate chemicals – even in the face of uncertainty about their health risks.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is collecting ideas from the public on what its enforcement and compliance priorities should be for the next three years (the 2011-2013 fiscal years). These priorities address the most pressing environmental problems and are accompanied by strategies to tackle the problems. The public may comment on an online forum on the EPA's blog until Sept. 30.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has discovered numerous pollutants in well water near gas drilling sites, including chemicals that are used in a controversial technique called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The investigation in central Wyoming is the first water testing by EPA examining the impacts of gas drilling on drinking water. However, EPA is hobbled in its duty to protect the public because gas drillers are allowed to keep secret the chemicals they pump into the ground – toxic chemicals that may be entering ground water supplies.