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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more news

HEAD START AND BLOCK GRANTS

The Bush administration and House leadership are proposing to block grant the Head Start program in eight states. This means states can use federal funds for their own early-childhood education programs and would no longer have to abide by national standards.

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HOUSE PASSES LABOR, HHS AND EDUCATION BILL

The Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education appropriation bill passed by the House reveals a lack of commitment to education, providing everyone the tools to succeed, keeping low-income families warm, and preparing for bio-terrorism. Talk is cheap without the resources to make it real.

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LOW-INCOME FAMILIES STILL BEING HELD HOSTAGE

Extension of the child tax credit remains stalled with the House determined to add more deficit-deepening tax cuts.

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Critical Infrastructure Information Docket

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently finished receiving public comments on its proposed rule for the handling of Critical Infrastructure Information (CII). While the June 16th deadline for comments was over a month ago, DHS is still not providing access to the public comments it received, nor has the agency announced any plans to do so.

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Feedback Meeting on ECHO

On July 8th Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials from the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) met with various environmental and public interest groups to hear feedback on the Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) project. JP Suarez, the Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, chaired the meeting.

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EPA Refuses to Release RMP Data

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has denied OMB Watch’s request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for Executive Summaries of the Risk Management Plans (RMPs). This marks the first instance, of which OMB Watch is aware, that EPA has denied a request for information specifically collected to inform the public about homeland security risks they face.

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Another Court Denies Secrecy of Cheney Files

In a 2-1 ruling last Tuesday, a federal appeals court rejected Vice President Dick Cheney’s request to keep documents about his energy task force secret. The decision upholds a lower court ruling that ordered the limited release of documents in a discovery process. Justice Department lawyers defending Cheney then approached the D.C. Court of Appeals to halt that order. The Court of Appeals agreed with the lower courts ruling, stating that current laws would safeguard genuinely privileged information.

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Public Meeting for National Infrastructure Advisory Council

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in the Federal Register that the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) will hold a public meeting on the security of information systems for critical infrastructure on Tuesday, July 22, 2002. The Council advises the President on issues around security of information systems relating to the critical infrastructure supporting sectors of the economy including banking, finance, transportation, energy, manufacturing, and emergency government services.

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FOIA Officers Meet Over News of Secrecy

The principal administrative Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) officers gathered on June 25th for a conference on the relationship between homeland security matters and FOIA. Homeland security matters have been among the leading rationales used for recent broad restrictions in public access to government information.

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Administration Hides Favorable Data for 'Clear Skies' Alternative

The Bush administration recently attempted to hide an analysis showing that a rival Senate plan would achieve greater public health and environmental benefits than the president’s Clear Skies Initiative, at only a slightly higher cost.

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