Fostering Scientific Integrity

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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more news

Data Quality Cases and Decisions Begin to Mount

As the first challenges under the Data Quality Act are being decided and appeals are being considered, new industry challenges are being filed: recently two data quality challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been decided at least in part; and two new challenges have been filed, one also with the EPA and another with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA). Data Quality Challenges Answered Atrazine

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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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Data Quality Invoked in Information Collection

In a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) dated November 6, 2002, the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (CRE) raised data quality concerns with NHTSA's recent Proposed Collection of Information.

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Data Quality's First Test

The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (CRE), Kansas Corn Growers Association, and the Triazine Network filed a request for correction of information with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) November 25, 2002 under the data quality guidelines. The petition could cripple EPA's ability to address endocrine disruptors. Challenge on Atrazine Report

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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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Agencies Finalize Data Quality Guidelines

Most agencies successfully finalized their data quality guidelines on or about the Oct. 1, 2002 deadline, with few significant changes from draft guidelines produced months earlier. Nonetheless, there were some trends and overall similarities in the changes made from the draft guidelines to the final versions. . Generally, agencies:

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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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OMB Speaks on Data Quality, Again

September 5, 2002, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent a memo to the President's Management Council concerning its review of agency draft data quality guidelines. OMB identifies three process issues that it believes require greater cross agency conformity, and provides specific language it wants incorporated into each agency's final guidelines. The 3 process issues and OMB’s recommendations are:

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EPA's Next Step in Data Quality

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.

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Data Quality Guidelines Continue to Churn

Even though the deadline of May 1st for agencies to produce drafts of their Data Quality Guidelines has long past, several agencies and departments have only recently completed and published their drafts for public comment. Among the recent drafters were several major departments such as the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Fish & Wildlife Service, Office of Surface Mining, National Parks Service, and U.S. Geological Survey.

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