Freedom of Information

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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National Broadband Plan Seeks to Increase Civic Engagement

On March 16, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its 376-page National Broadband Plan, setting forth a strategy to expand access to broadband Internet services to millions of people. Chapter 15 of the broadband plan is specifically intended to make it easier for Americans to actively participate in civil society and hold their government accountable.

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President Obama's Forecast - Sunshine with More to Come

Mar 16, 2010 by Sean Moulton

President Obama just made a statement on Sunshine Week applauding the work done so far to make the government more transparent and recommitting his administration to be the most open and transparent. The statement highlights some of the accomplishments the administration has already racked up in this area including Data.gov, Recovery.gov and Executive Order on Classification. The President also states that while they "are proud of these accomplishment" that the "work is not done." This reality of progress being made but more still being needed is reflected in two reports released for Sunshine Week.

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Celebrate President Madison's Birthday with Sunshine Week!

Mar 15, 2010 by Roger Strother*

James Madison’s birthday is an exciting time for open-government wonks. Madison, the father of our Constitution and fourth president, was an outspoken advocate of open government. This is why we dedicate an entire week to heightened public advocacy of transparency issues through public events, legislative initiatives, and op-eds. This year offers several opportunities for public participation.

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D.C. Court Rejects OMB Assertion of FOIA Exemptions

Mar 12, 2010 by Roger Strother*

Today, the DC Circuit court reissued an opinion in Public Citizen v. OMB that rejected the agency’s use of exemptions 2 and 5 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). OMB had attempted to withhold information from Public Citizen that detailed which agencies submit materials to Congress without clearance by OMB. This court case adds an important legal support to the FOIA practice of discretionary disclosure.

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Millions Protected From Toxic Terrorism, Congress Must Act to Protect More

Mar 2, 2010 by Brian Turnbaugh*

More than 40 million Americans are no longer at risk from a poisonous cloud of gas released from a terrorist attack on water treatment plants thanks to process changes at the plants, according to data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The data, painstakingly compiled and analyzed by the Center for American Progress (CAP), reveal that 554 water treatment facilities across the country have converted to safer chemical processes since 1999. However, millions more remain at risk and the Senate is poised to take on this issue.

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What Information do you want from YOUR Government?

Feb 24, 2010 by Roger Strother*

Curious about the information government is tracking about your community’s health? What about data on the wetlands in your area? Or perhaps the federal contracts going to your community’s businesses? Well, now is the time to let the government know what you want to see. They're listening.

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Transparency Community Voices Concerns over Data.gov

Feb 4, 2010 by Roger Strother*

Yesterday, a group of organizations, including OMB Watch, submitted concerns with the high-value datasets published on Data.gov in compliance with the requirements of the Open Government Directive (OGD) issued on Dec. 8. The OGD required that agencies submit at least three high value datasets within 45 days through Data.gov. These groups outlined the major problems with the site and its implementation thus far. I have summarized these issues below.

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Agencies Make Data More Widely Available Through Data.gov

On Jan. 22, executive agencies posted hundreds of datasets onto Data.gov as required under the Open Government Directive (OGD). Many transparency advocates have lauded the administration’s efforts while at the same time raising questions about how well this first initiative under the OGD actually worked. The release of the datasets has triggered discussions about the value of the data, how individual privacy rights are protected, whether the datasets being released are new, and the quality of the data that has been released.

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Administration Revises Classification and Declassification Systems

On Dec. 29, 2009, President Obama signed an executive order (E.O. 13526) to prescribe a uniform system of classifying and declassifying government information. The new order was welcomed by open government advocacy groups and will go into effect on June 27.

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Transparency: Change You can Trust

In 2008, we heard a lot about "change." In this 2009 year-end summary, we use another type of "change" to rate the Obama administration's transparency efforts thus far.

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