When a freight train accident took eight lives in South Carolina earlier this year because of unsafe and uninspected train cars carrying toxic materials, it heightened concerns about chemical security in our trains and trucks. Cities across the nation have begun addressing serious deficiencies on this homeland security issue because the federal government has done little. Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, and Baltimore are all considering legislation to mitigate the risks of shipping hazardous materials through their heavily populated centers.

After almost four years of silence, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released updated information on Risk Management Plans (RMPs) filed by facilities with large quantities of hazardous chemicals onsite, in order to inform communities about the risks. The agency released the information to OMB Watch after the organization sued EPA for failing to respond to its request filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). OMB Watch has posted the executive summaries of the RMPs on its Right to Know Network website.

Proponents of government secrecy would do well to consider the story of Bethlehem Steel when pushing for greater secrecy in the name of homeland security. The federal government admitted in 2000, that it had knowingly exposed thousands of workers in steel mills to radiation without any protection or warning during the 1940s and 50s. The workers, kept in the dark about the exposure because of national security concerns, have paid for years -- at times with their very lives.

OMB Watch applauds the Bush Administration's reversal of position on federal security requirements for chemical plants. Previously the administration supported industry's position that government involvement was unnecessary and that company-sponsored voluntary security measures were sufficient. In a June 15 hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finally supported federal chemical security legislation.