On Oct. 10, President Obama issued a groundbreaking directive that will lead to new protections for federal employees who report misconduct in the intelligence community, which includes agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The new policy, which has been a long-sought goal of the open government community, will guard whistleblowers against retaliation. The directive delivers on the administration's commitment under the Open Government Partnership to work to strengthen whistleblower protections, and many in the open government community applauded the new policy.

On Oct. 1, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a public meeting on a new proposal that would allow water systems to electronically deliver drinking water quality reports to the public. Currently, these reports, required under the Safe Drinking Water Act, are mailed to customers, often with their water bills.

This week, Regulations.gov released new enhancements to the site as part of a continuing redesign and improvement effort. There are more changes to come, but the latest features make rulemaking dockets easier to navigate and understand.