Offshore Drilling Poised to Expand, but Transparency Still Lags

As the Obama administration increases approvals of deepwater oil drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico, environmental advocates have seen little meaningful increase in the transparency of the permitting process. A lack of transparency in the regulatory process was identified as a contributing factor in BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster and the highly criticized response effort.

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EPA Making Good on Chemical Transparency, But More Is Needed

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is disclosing more information about hazardous chemicals while challenging industry claims that information should be concealed as trade secrets. With major reforms of the nation's chemical law held up in Congress, public health advocates are pushing EPA to take more aggressive action to make chemical health and safety information available to the public.

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What Does the President's Budget Mean for Transparency?

The president's budget request for fiscal year 2012, released on Feb. 14, is the opening bid in a months-long process to decide how much the federal government will spend on everything from the Navy to open government efforts. The administration's budget proposal is difficult to analyze in terms of open government commitments because it doesn’t include line-item categories for transparency activities. However, it does provide some clues about increases and cuts.

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Drinking Chrome – New Studies Expose Threats to Tap Water

A new health study found drinking water in 31 out of 35 U.S. cities contaminated by a dangerous form of chromium known as hexavalent chromium. Another study found that hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen when inhaled and a suspected carcinogen when ingested, often contaminates water leaching from coal ash impoundments. The revelations expose the need for greater monitoring of public drinking water and stronger protections against contamination.

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Congress Works to Improve Legislative Transparency

At the outset of the 112th Congress, both the House and Senate have adopted new rules to increase the transparency of their activities. The Senate will end its practice of "secret holds," where one senator could anonymously forestall proceedings on a bill. Meanwhile, the House adopted a variety of transparency reforms, including posting bills online for three days before voting on them and disclosing more information about committee actions.

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Corporate Secrecy at Issue in Supreme Court Case

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Jan. 19 in a case that could have far-reaching ramifications for public access to corporate-related information. AT&T, fighting to prevent disclosure of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) files investigating the company, has argued that releasing the documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) would damage the company's privacy. This argument comes despite the fact that the expectation of privacy has long been recognized only as an individual right, not a corporate one.

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In WikiLeaks' Wake, Administration Tightens Information Security

A new memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) details a new requirement for all federal agencies to assess aspects of their information security in the wake of a series of embarrassing disclosures by WikiLeaks. The memo directs agencies to consider 11 pages of questions relating to information security procedures, including whether employees are required to report contacts with journalists. Transparency advocates have criticized some aspects of OMB's strategy as potentially damaging to open government.

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