Security and Secrecy

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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Five Years Since 9/11: More Secrecy, Less Security

Monday marked the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, yet the government's efforts to secure the nation against another terrorist attack have been minimal, leaving the country's chemical plants, ports, and other installations dangerously unsecured while increasing secrecy and intrusion into civil liberties.

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DHS Fails to Protect Critical Infrastructure

On Sept. 1, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a final rule for procedures for handling information about critical infrastructure. The rule amends the interim rule issued in February 2004, for which OMB Watch submitted comments. Unfortunately, DHS ignored OMB Watch's suggested modifications, and the final rule opens the door to misuse by the private sector, allowing companies to restrict public access to information that is vital to protecting public health and safety.

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Federal Court Finds NSA Eavesdropping Program Unconstitutional

In a ruling last week, the U.S. Court for the Eastern District of Michigan found the National Security Agency's (NSA) warrantless domestic spying program to be in violation of the First and Fourth Amendments and the separation of powers. The decision came on a case filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenging the legality of the NSA program by arguing that the rights of several journalists and academics had been violated.

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Safer Chemicals Provision Improves Federal Chemical Security Bill

The House Homeland Security Committee on July 27 passed what is being hailed by public interest groups as a substantially improved chemical security bill, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 (H.R. 5695). The bill, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Lungren (R-CA), establishes security requirements for our nation's chemical facilities, something that critics charge is long overdue. The original bill, however, had serious flaws, among them failing to require companies to use safer technologies and preempting states and localities from establishing their own security programs.

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Chemical Security Debate Continues in House

The House Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to mark up chemical security legislation later this week. The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 (H.R. 5695), introduced by Rep. Daniel Lungren (R-CA) last month, currently has ten cosponsors. Critics of the bill, including a number of environmental and public interest groups, charge that it would actually lead to less security for our nation's chemical plants.

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Reports Show the Good and Bad in Agency Classification Procedures

Continuing its study of classification procedures, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released two reports, one focusing on the Department of Defense (DOD) and the other on the Department of Energy (DOE). The reports offer a stark contrast, bemoaning DOD's "lack of oversight and inconsistent implementation" of classification policies, while praising DOE's "systematic training, comprehensive guidance, and rigorous oversight."

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Chemical Security: Moving Forward

The Senate will likely take another step this week toward establishing national security requirements for chemical facilities. The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee is expected to mark up chemical security legislation during a business meeting this Wednesday, June 14. The frontrunner bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), the Chair and ranking minority member, respectively, includes a number of important reporting requirements for chemical facilities.

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NJ Report Highlights Need for Chemical Safety Requirements

A chemical catastrophe at any one of six New Jersey facilities could seriously injure or kill nearly one million people living in the area, according to a May 23 report by the New Jersey Work Environment Council (WEC). The report, Safety & Security First: Protecting Our Jobs, Families, and Hometowns from Toxic Chemical Disaster, concludes that chemical plant security must become a top priority for federal and state lawmakers.

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Path to Chemical Security Is Clear, But Overlooked

Approximately 284 facilities in 47 states have reduced risks to nearby communities from hazardous chemicals by switching to safer chemical processes or moving to safer locations, according to an Apr. 24 report by the Center for American Progress (CAP). Preventing Toxic Terrorism highlights the need for a national program to encourage thousands of other chemical facilities to become safer neighbors through the use of alternative, inherently safer chemicals and technologies.

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Report, Legislation Drive Push to End Pseudo-Classification of Information

No government-wide policies or procedures currently exist to guide agencies through deciding what information should be withheld from the public due to its "sensitive but unclassified" nature. The federal agencies are also without uniform rules that govern who makes such designations and how such information is handled, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Legislation introduced by Reps.

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