Blog Posts and Analysis / Open, Accountable Government

The 2006 Transparency Awards

For years, the Bush administration has been labeled by many as the most secretive administration to occupy the White House in decades. This penchant for secrecy has pushed the pendulum far from openness and transparency. And while the pendulum did not swing back significantly in 2006, the movement toward greater secrecy was finally challenged and slowed. The year still contained many proposals to reduce government accountability and openness.

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EPA Drops Plan to Change TRI Reporting Frequency, Major Flaws Remain

In light of the midterm elections and ongoing pressure from the current Republican controlled Congress, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is changing its views on some plans for the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), the nation's premiere environmental right to know program. EPA has announced it will retain annual reporting of toxic pollution, dropping its proposal to shift reporting to every other year.

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Terrorism Information Sharing Initiative Faces Several Hurdles

The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) submitted the Information Sharing Environment (ISE) Implementation Plan to Congress in November. Through changes in policy and technology, the plan articulates a multi-year vision for improving terrorism information sharing across the federal government and between foreign, federal, state and local governments, as well as key members of the private sector.

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Pelosi and Reid Promise Increased Congressional Transparency

The new Democratic leadership in Congress is urging transparency as a primary tool to reform the legislative process. According to statements from incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), the leadership is planning several new rules and pieces of legislation on tracking earmarks, requiring time to read proposed legislation, and media access to conference committee activities - all with a central theme of increased congressional transparency.

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Supreme Court May Hear Secret Regulation Case

Several groups are appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on a secret Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regulation. The regulation requires airlines to check the identification of passengers. The Ninth Circuit held that, even though the rule is not publicly accessible, it does not violate the Constitution's protection of due process.

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Nuclear Commission Re-proposes Secrecy Rule

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has once again proposed a revision to its rules on information that should be withheld from the public under a category called Safeguards Information (SGI). The rule was originally proposed in February 2005. Now based on public comments and changes to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the NRC has proposed additional changes. While apparently narrowing the scope of some provisions, making it harder to withhold information, the amended rule would significantly expand SGI's definition, inserting language and add a new category of covered information -- Safeguards Information-Modified Handling (SGI-M).

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Intelligence Agencies Go Wiki

John Negroponte, director of National Intelligence, announced that federal intelligence agencies have implemented a new Wikipedia-like tool to share information across agencies. Intellipedia allows 16 intelligence agencies to access, update and revise pages on matters of national security. This cutting-edge venture in government information management is a welcome development for agencies that have often been stymied by turf warfare and other impediments to information sharing.

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