The Congressional Research Service (CRS) recently updated a report on the Data Quality Act (DQA) entitled The Information Quality Act: OMB's Guidance and Initial Implementation." The report summarizes the history of the DQA from its passage as an appropriations rider, through development of information quality guidelines, to the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) annual report to Congress. Several of the report's conclusions coincide with observations and recommendations made by OMB Watch in an analysis of OMB's annual DQA report to Congress.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced August 31 it will not consider removing dams in the Columbia and Snake rivers in order to save the endangered salmon population. The announcement contradicts twenty years of research by both environmental groups and government agencies that supports breaching the dams as the most effective way to save the endangered fish population.

Conservative lawmakers are using peer review and data quality language to obscure what amounts to an attack on the Endangered Species Act. Two new bills would require the Fish and Wildlife Service to establish minimum criteria for scientific studies used as the basis for listing species, and to conduct restrictive independent peer reviews on all data used.

OMB recently published a report to Congress that analyzes and summarizes the first year under the Information Quality Act (IQA). The IQA, commonly known as the Data Quality Act, requires agencies to produce guidelines to ensure that information they use is of high quality. OMB Watch responded with an analysis, which found OMB's report presented Congress with misleading and incorrect facts. Congress never had a hearing on the law, and in light of the OMB report, it is now time for congressional oversight.