Open, Accountable Government
Improving Rules on Implementing the Freedom of Information Act
May 22, 2013 by Anastasia Postnikova
Up-to-date Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) rules that support transparency are important for ensuring agencies are properly implementing the law. Last week, the Center for Effective Government submitted comments to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) on its proposed FOIA implementation regulations and encouraged the agency to expand online disclosures, improve communication with requesters, clarify fees and fee waivers, and improve the process of submitting and processing administrative appeals.
read in full
Center for Effective Government Supports Reintroduction of the DATA Act
May 22, 2013
WASHINGTON, May 22, 2012—The Center for Effective Government welcomed the reintroduction of a revised version of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, or DATA Act, in both the House and Senate this week. The Center for Effective Government commended Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Rob Portman (R-OH) and Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) for working together on this important legislation. The DATA Act will provide an unprecedented level of transparency and create critical new tools to track and analyze federal spending and hold officials accountable for their decisions.
read in full
Federal Spending Needs More Transparency: The DATA Act and Reform
May 21, 2013
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee unveiled its discussion draft of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013 on May 10. This legislation, more commonly known as the DATA Act, is intended to bring unprecedented public transparency to federal spending by requiring more spending data to be published online, in a standardized format, and in a searchable, downloadable database.
read in full
New Executive Order Will Improve Data Transparency
May 21, 2013
On May 9, President Obama signed Executive Order 13642, "Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information." The new policy reaffirms the administration's commitment to transparency and lays a framework for agencies to improve public access to, and use of, government data.
read in full
BLM Fracking Rule Bows to Industry, Ignores Public Concerns
May 21, 2013
On May 16, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a revised proposed rule for hydraulic fracturing on federal public lands (commonly referred to as fracking). The new proposed rule not only ignores concerns about the public health and environmental risks of the natural gas drilling method, it also disregards recommendations by lawmakers and the U.S. Department of Energy's Shale Gas Production Subcommittee, which called for transparency and full public chemical disclosure. The proposed rule suggests the agency has placed industry concerns ahead of public health and safety. It also contradicts the new data standards the Obama administration issued just last week by executive order.
read in full
BLM Fracking Rule Violates New Executive Order on Open Data
May 16, 2013 by Sofia Plagakis
Today, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its revised proposed rule for natural gas drilling (commonly referred to as fracking) on federal and tribal lands. The much-anticipated rule violates President Obama's recently issued executive order that requires new government information to be made available to the public in open, machine-readable formats.
read in full
Chemical Safety Board Video Shows Devastation from West Fertilizer Blast
May 15, 2013
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released a new video this month that starkly illustrates the devastation caused by the West Fertilizer Company plant explosion in West, TX, on April 17, 2013.
In the video, Daniel Horowitz, Managing Director of the CSB, notes, "The community damage we saw at West was the worst of any chemical accident in the CSB's history."
read in full
Center for Effective Government Welcomes New Executive Order on Transparency
May 9, 2013
WASHINGTON, May 9, 2013— Today, President Obama signed an executive order on data and information transparency. Titled "Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information," the order was accompanied by an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo detailing the new policy and its implementation. The policy is intended to make public information more open and more easily accessible to the American people.
read in full
Fixes Early in FOIA Process Offer Greatest Potential for Impact
May 7, 2013
The Obama administration has released new data on the 333 lawsuits filed in 2012 under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The data shows that although FOIA lawsuits can be high profile, they are rare and the vast majority of requesters never pursue litigation. But more importantly, the information indicates that FOIA reforms, currently being considered by both Congress and the administration, can generate greater improvements for public access when they address earlier stages of the FOIA process.
read in full
Is Anhydrous Ammonia a Risk to Your Community?
May 7, 2013
Anhydrous ammonia and ammonium nitrate are the two substances that have been investigated as possible causes of the April 17 explosion of the West Fertilizer Company plant in Texas. Though experts now believe the explosion was due to the ammonium nitrate, the facility did have two 12,000-gallon tanks of anhydrous ammonia, which could have exacerbated the tragedy in Texas had they leaked or exploded.
read in full
