Chemicals

A U.S. Chemical Safety Board public hearing, delayed for a month due to Bayer's pleas for secrecy, finds lack of safety to be contributing factors to the 'accident' that killed two at an Institute, WV, plant in August 2008.

Witnesses at a House Energy Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection hearing in February said excessive and unjustified claims of "confidential business information" dampen EPA's efforts to regulate commonly used chemicals.

A new rule signed by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson restores cuts in how much data communities can get about nearby industrial releases of toxic substances.

The ALA's annual State of the Air report can provide a useful hook for reporting on air quality in your community, but for the big picture, do go beyond the sound-bite information emphasized in the report.

Following a December 2008 USA Today investigation into toxic air enveloping US schools, EPA will begin monitoring air quality around 62 schools in 22 states.

Restrictions would be placed on many types of stationary diesel and gas-fired engines under a proposed EPA rule.

A new Office of Inspector General report found many chemical facilities storing large amounts of dangerous chemicals had not filed their required RMPs -- and that EPA was not checking often for compliance.

EPA's public release of the latest Toxics Release Inventory data -- and rollback of Bush-era cutbacks on the amount of information chemical companies must report -- may have marked the beginning of a new era for the embattled program.