A train derailment in southern New Jersey last Friday released thousands of pounds of a cancer-causing chemical into the air, sent over a dozen people to hospitals, and forced local residents to hide in their homes with their doors and windows shut. A week after the incident, 200 homes have been evacuated and area schools remain closed. The derailment highlights the risks that hazardous chemicals can pose to communities and the urgent need to shift to safer chemicals.

The Senate has approved several amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 3254), which will bring greater transparency and accountability to federal contracting. The amendments, which OMB Watch endorsed, would strengthen whistleblower protections for federal contractors and grantees, modeled after the protections pioneered in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. 

I testified last week at a hearing of the District of Columbia Council about ways to strengthen campaign finance transparency. My message was that transparency should be part of any reform approach that the District pursues. My message to the D.C. Council was that transparency should be part of any reform approach that the District pursues. As I pointed out, "Transparency deters corruption, exposes abuse if it does occur, and empowers voters to hold public officials accountable."

Today, OMB Watch and 16 local, regional, and national organizations filed a petition under the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require the oil and gas industry – including companies engaged in fracking – to report their toxic emissions. Such reporting would provide EPA with more information on the identity, use, and quantity of chemicals used by the oil and gas industry and would help the agency evaluate their health and environmental risks.