When the chemical industry pushed Congress and EPA to make "risk management plans" secret during the late 1990s and early 2000s, they argued that the threat of a terrorist-caused disaster justified the secrecy. Once the plants' threats to communities were made secret, though, that seems to have ended much government concern, a new report by EPA's Office of Inspector General suggests.

The report found that many of the chemical facilities it audited had not filed Risk Management Plans even though they stored large amounts of dangerous chemicals that triggered requirements that they file. It also found that EPA was not checking often enough to ensure that plants were complying with their RMPs.

• "EPA Can Improve Implementation of the Risk Management Program for Airborne Chemical Releases," [2] Office of Inspector General, Environmental Protection Agency, February 10, 2009, 09-P-0092.