Open, Accountable Government

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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President Signs Homeland Security Bill with Troubling Provisions

During the recent lame duck session, Congress passed the Homeland Security bill that creates the cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security, and President Bush signed it into law today. Unfortunately the bill contains several troubling provisions addressing the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

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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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EPA Releases Enforcement Data Online

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be accepting public comments for the next 60 days on its newly released pilot website -- Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) -- that allows the retrieval of enforcement and compliance information for over 800,000 regulated facilities, as announced in the Federal Register on Nov. 20th.

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Reaction to Passage of Homeland Security Bill

All Aboard the Homeland Security Express Bill Creates Dangerous New FOIA Exemption On November 19, 2002, the Senate on a 90-9 vote sent to the President a bill to create a new Department of Homeland Security. Notwithstanding the merits of creating a new Department, the bill has a number of provisions that will seriously undermine agency and corporate accountability. The final bill is loaded with just about all the bells and whistles Republicans and corporations wanted.

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OMB Watch Submits Comments on FERC's Proposed Rulemaking

OMB Watch recently submitted public comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on its recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The comments raised strong objections to the information restriction measures being proposed by FERC and urged the agency to transfer this issue to Congress where it would be more appropriate to address this issue. The full comments submitted to FERC are below or can be downloaded as a pdf file here. October 14, 2002 Office of the Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street, NE. Washington, DC 20426

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I Want My Digital Government(?)

Despite hard economic times, states are continuing to invest resources to increase government's capacity to deliver services online. But how effectively can digital government engage citizens who are often marginalized from, if not entirely left out of, civic participation, especially young people? Findings from an informative UK study provide useful insights for states to consider in their digital growth. More here…

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Report Refutes Industry Right-to-Know 'Reforms'

The Georgetown Environmental Law & Policy Institute (GELPI) recently released a paper that responds to criticisms of environmental right-to-know programs and explains how industry’s proposed “procedural” reforms threaten to undermine them.

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SEC Seeks Comment on Proposal for Mutual-Fund Disclosure

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently seeking comment on a proposed rule (published Sept. 19) that would require mutual fund companies to publicly disclose documents related to proxy voting, in which the company votes as a shareholder on behalf of mutual fund owners.

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Comments Due this Week on FERC Rule Limiting Public Access

Public comments on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's proposal to limit public access to "critical energy infrastructure information" are due this Thursday, Nov. 14. FERC granted an extension to the original deadline, as reported in a previous issue of the Watcher, in response to a request filed by American Rivers and members of the Hydropower Reform Coalition (HRC). FERC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was issued on Sept. 5, 2002, and published in the Federal Register on Sept. 13 in Docket Nos. RM02-4-000 and PL02-1-000.

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Funding Fate of CTC and TOP Still Uncertain

The fate of both the federal Community Technology Centers and Technology Opportunities remains uncertain as Congress wrapped up business to focus on the last days of the midterm elections. The Hous eand Senate did pass acontinuing resolutions continuing the current level of funding for both programs. FY 2003 spending bills will be the focus of a November 12 "lame duck" session.

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