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.

As part of its efforts to develop and implement Data Quality Guidelines, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced plans to develop “Assessment Factors” to assist the agency in evaluating the quality of information and data that it receives from external sources.

This is a compilation of useful links relating to OMB Watch's work on Data Quality. Archive of Data Quality Resources OMB Watch letter to EPA on Data Quality Guidelines Citizens for Sensible Safeguards (CSS) Standard Letter to agencies on Data Quality List of agencies that received the CSS letter CSS Letter Requesting Extension of Deadline to Comment on Agency Data Quality Guidelines Comparison Chart of Agencies' Draft Data Quality Guidelines OMB Watch Sensible Principles on Data Quality Guidelines Background on Data Quality

Data Quality Efforts OMB Watch has been extremely active on the Data Quality guidelines that have recently been drafted by most federal agencies. This article summarizes the main efforts OMB Watch has been involved in and the key documents and analysis we have produced. Background