Center for Effective Government | Because government matters

Data Quality Challenge on Barium

On October 29, 2002 the Chemical Products Corporation (CPC) submitted a data quality petition to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), challenging a barium risk assessment. CPC believes that the oral reference dose for barium disseminated in the agency’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) does not comply with the data quality requirements of objectivity or reproducibility. Request for Correction

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Cheney Task Force Lawsuits: Courts Dismiss GAO Request, Delay White House Deadline

On December 6, 2002, a federal appeals court issued a two-page order indefinitely delaying the December 9, 2002, deadline for the White House to produce documents on Vice President Cheney’s energy task force. The order stated that the court will schedule a date for arguments on whether to step into the case and consider the administration's request to put a halt to producing documents and providing testimony.

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President Signs Homeland Security Bill with Troubling Provisions

During the recent lame duck session, Congress passed the Homeland Security bill that creates the cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security, and President Bush signed it into law today. Unfortunately the bill contains several troubling provisions addressing the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

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OSHA May Face Data Quality Complaints Soon

At a U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) public meeting held November 20, lawyers representing Georgia Pacific (GP) and the American Forest and Paper Association (AFPA) raised the possibility of questioning a CSB report’s compliance with the newly issued Data Quality Guidelines.

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A Call for Action Against Secrecy

Concerned about the current administration?s preference for policies of secrecy and information restriction OMB Watch recently issued a working paper entitled "The Bush Administration?s Secrecy Policy: A Call to Action to Protect Democratic Values" detailing the growth of secrecy in government, its impact and current public opinion on increased secrecy. The paper concludes with a call to action that emphasizes the need to build a coordinated campaign that not only addresses the increased secrecy, but also promotes strengthening the public's right-to-know.

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Compromise on Chemical Security

There have been plans to offer Sen. Jon Corzine’s (D-NJ) Chemical Security Act as an amendment to the Senate’s bill to establish a new department of Homeland Security. However, since the homeland bill has been taking so long in the Senate there is a strong probability that no controversial amendments are going to be allowed. Facing such a situation, there is tremendous pressure to water down Sen. Corzine’s bill to make it palatable for everyone. Sen. James Inhofe (R- OK) appears to be the lead for negotiating a compromise with Corzine.

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FOIA Constancy in Senate Homeland Security

The latest homeland security bill in the Senate, sponsored by Sens. Phil Gramm (R-TX) and Zell Miller (D-GA), contains information provisions that would exempt documents voluntarily provided to the new Department of Homeland Security from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. The language is exactly the same as the Leahy-Bennett-Levin amendment that resolved this issue in Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s (D-CT) bill on homeland security. Lieberman’s bill failed to pass a cloture vote after Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) filibustered the bill.

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Data Quality Arrives

Tomorrow, October 1, is the deadline set by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for agencies to finalize and begin to implement data quality guidelines, which seek to establish criteria for information disseminated by government agencies. Concerns have been raised that these guidelines may be misused by the regulated community to slow down the regulatory process, de-publish information critical of industry and its impacts, and possibly overturn long established regulations.

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GAO Report Examines Effect of White House Memo Halting Regulations

Fifteen rules that were scheduled to go into effect at the beginning of the Bush administration but were delayed by a White House memo have still not gone into effect, according to a recent report by the General Accounting Office (GAO) -- the investigative arm of Congress.

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Whitehouse Memo Orders Review of Information Procedures

On March 19, a little over six months after the terrorist attacks of September 11, the White House took action to "safeguard information" in the name of homeland security. The White House released two memos providing steps agencies should take to protect government information from being used by terrorists.

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FERC Update

On March 25, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) stopped accepting comments on its ideas for limiting public access to "critical energy infrastructure information" (CEII). FERC first released an initial policy statement addressing this issue in October 2000, and followed it up with a January 16 Notice of Inquiry (NOI) in the Federal Register. The Notice of Inquiry sought public input on possible regulatory changes that would allow the agency to restrict unfettered general public access to CEII, but still permit those with a "need-to-know access to such information.

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