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.

States are failing to enforce oil and gas extraction rules, according to a report released Sept. 25 by Earthworks, an environmental group. The report, Breaking All the Rules, analyzes enforcement data, including well inspections, violations, enforcement actions, and penalties in six states: Colorado, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The report concluded that state inspection agencies are inadequately staffed, and inspections are arbitrarily conducted.