The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) came under tough scrutiny at an Oct. 4 hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials for reducing the reporting standards of the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) in December 2006.

The House Committee on the Judiciary and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence held several hearings the week of Sept. 17 on the implications of the Protect America Act (PAA) and its revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Mike McConnell argued that the changes need to be made permanent, while others argued that PAA unnecessarily violates civil liberties.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has revoked a three-year-old secrecy policy and plans to release documents from two nuclear fuel processing plants in response to congressional demands. This about-face was precipitated by a congressional inquiry into a uranium leak kept secret from the public for more than a year.

On Aug. 6, President Bush signed the Protect America Act of 2007 (PAA), granting the government the authority to wiretap anyone, including U.S. citizens, without any court approval as long as the "target" of the surveillance is located outside the U.S. The legislation will expire in six months, but members of Congress and concerned public interest groups are not waiting for the sunsets. They are seeking immediate revisions to address the invasion of privacy and erosion of civil liberties contained in the act.