Safeguarding Public Health and the Environment

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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more news

OMB Responds to Criticism over Endocrine Program

Nov 19, 2009 by Matthew Madia

White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Peter Orszag said Monday that OMB did not improperly interfere in an EPA program meant to test the hormone-disrupting effects of chemicals. Orszag said that EPA has complete control over the program.

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Senate Climate Bill Preserves EPA Authority for Now

Nov 13, 2009 by Matthew Madia

Cap-and-trade legislation approved last week by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee would still allow the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gases. Unlike its House counterpart, the Senate bill does not exempt greenhouse gases from coverage under the Clean Air Act.

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EPA to Overhaul Air Pollution Standards

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will revise existing standards for six major air pollutants, according to top agency officials. The changes could yield major public health benefits.

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Congress Chooses Ignorance on GHG Emissions

Oct 30, 2009 by Brian Turnbaugh*

Congress yesterday passed a FY 2010 appropriations measure for environmental agencies that exempts factory farms from having to track and report their greenhouse gas emissions. The exemption applies to a rule issued in September by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requiring thousands of large facilities economy-wide to monitor and report their emissions.

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OMB Watch Updates Chemical Security Database, Enhancing Public's Right to Know about Potential Risks

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29, 2009—On Oct. 29, OMB Watch posted updated information about the risks of serious public harm posed by thousands of chemical facilities nationwide. The risk management plans of approximately 14,000 facilities that handle more than the threshold amounts of 140 dangerous chemicals are publicly available through the website of the Right-to-Know Network (RTK NET), at www.rtknet.org/db/rmp.

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OMB Role in EPA Chemical Program Questioned

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has repeatedly inserted itself in the development of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program designed to study the effects of chemicals on human and animal endocrine systems.

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U.S. Waters Still Toxic Dump Sites

A new report from Environment America uncovers a dirty truth in publicly available government databases about the country’s waterways – widespread toxic pollution dumped by industrial facilities. More than 230 million pounds of toxics were discharged into 1,900 waterways across all 50 states in 2007, including chemicals known to cause cancer and birth defects.

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EPA Inspector General Targets Water and Air Enforcement

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently provided two assessments of EPA's weaknesses in enforcing water and air programs. The OIG cited management problems at the federal and regional levels that largely indict the Bush administration's lax approach to environmental enforcement.

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EPA Moving Fast to Revise Ozone Standard

Oct 26, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Environmental Protection Agency is readying a replacement for the current national air quality standard for ozone, or smog, which was roundly fouled up during the Bush administration.

Last Wednesday (Oct. 21), EPA sent to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) – the gatekeeper for all things regulatory – a draft version of a new notice of proposed rulemaking. That notice will propose revisions to the ozone standard finalized in March 2008.

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Data Use a Key Element of EPA Clean Water Plan

Oct 16, 2009 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency released a "Clean Water Act Enforcement Action Plan." The plan lays out a broad vision for clean water enforcement as well as specific goals the agency will take in the coming months and years to improve enforcement at the state and federal level.

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