Blog Posts and Analysis / Open, Accountable Government

Judge Upholds D.C. Hazmat Ban

On April 18, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan upheld a new Washington, DC, law prohibiting hazardous cargo rail shipments near the U.S. Capitol. Sullivan said that the District has a right to protect itself from an accident involving hazardous chemicals, because the federal government has failed to do so. CSX, the rail company challenging the District's new law, immediately appealed the ban on April 19th and won a ruling blocking the ban, which was scheduled to take effect April 20. The federal appeals court stated that it needs more time to review the legal issues surrounding the ban.

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Public Interest Group Sues IRS Over Access

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a nonpartisan research center at Syracuse University that disseminates federal government statistical information, filed a lawsuit April 14 against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for withholding information about enforcement actions that has been publicly available for the past 30 years. The center filed the lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) after the IRS rejected a request for the statistical data, claiming releasing it could compromise homeland security.

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Take Action: Chemical Security Long Overdue

A recent accident at a Texas oil refinery reminds us of the need for Congress to pass chemical security legislation that identifies hazardous chemical-using facilities and requires company plans both for reducing chemical hazards and improving site security through safer materials or processes wherever feasible.

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NY Town Scraps Restrictive FOIA Policy

On March 28, open government advocates in Spring Valley, NY, a village just north of New York City, won the day when town officials agreed to scrap a five-year old policy that restricted access to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. While state law requires public access to FOI requests during regular business hours, Spring Valley's policy only permitted access from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays and from 1 to 3 p.m. on Thursdays.

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Transportation Agency Hides Vital Data as 'Sensitive Security Information'

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is invoking its little-known secrecy powers to hide a variety of information from the public, labeling the information as Sensitive Security Information (SSI). The agency's excessive and unreasonable use of the power is troubling, with recent examples defying common sense, and revealing that TSA withholds information from those who use it for safety reasons or even for their jobs.

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OMB Puts Children's Health at Risk with Data Quality Act

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new guidelines for assessing cancer risk March 29 after years of deliberation. These guidelines officially recognize for the first time that children are particularly vulnerable to certain cancer-causing chemicals. However, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), while reviewing the guidelines, inserted two requirements, including that any EPA cancer evaluation meet the standards of the Data Quality Act (DQA), which will have the effect of putting more children at risk.

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Data Quality Act Debated

Data Quality Act experts, featuring OMB Watch’s Sean Moulton, will be debating the faults and merits of the Data Quality Act (DQA) at a March 30 discussion hosted by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI). Among the law’s aspects to be discussed are judicial review, and its implications for environmental protections.

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