Searchable archives of the biweekly WatchDog TipSheet's story ideas, articles, updates, events and other information with a focus on freedom-of-information issues of concern to environmental journalists in both the U.S. and Canada are posted here on the day of publication. Journalists are eligible for a free email subscription; send name and full contact information to the SEJ office. WatchDog TipSheet is also available via RSS feed. 
Latest WatchDog TipSheet Items
January 2, 2008
TOOLBOX: New Resources for Tracking FED Spending Now Out
January 2, 2008–Some new, sharper tools are available for reporters who want to investigate patterns of federal spending or specific cases of interest.Waxman to Get EPA Climate Waiver Documents
January 2, 2008–Henry Waxman (D-CA), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has vowed to investigate EPA's decision to prohibit states from regulating greenhouse emissions.December 12, 2007
NIEHS Follow-Up: Assurances of a Robust, Independent Journal?
December 12, 2007–Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP), the embattled flagship journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has a new editor-in-chief - Hugh A. Tilson. But will he have the editorial independence NIEHS leaders have promised him?EPA HIDES INDUSTRY DATA ON ATRAZINE RISK
December 12, 2007–An EPA database that has not been made public shows alarming levels of the pesticide atrazine are showing up in water bodies around the U.S.REVISED FOIA BILL MAY BE SET FOR FAST TRACK
December 12, 2007–Senate sponsors of a bipartisan Senate bill to strengthen agency compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) have crafted a compromise version and reintroduced it in hopes of speeding Congressional action.SEJ PRESIDENT TESTIFIES AT INTERIOR PHOTO-FEE HEARING
December 12, 2007–SEJ President Timothy B. Wheeler testified before a full committee oversight hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee, that a proposed rule governing photography in National Park System units and Wildlife Refuges could restrict media access to these public lands and limit their coverage of natural resource issues.STATES SUE EPA OVER DATA ON PLANTS' TOXIC THREAT TO COMMUNITIES
December 12, 2007–Twelve states sued EPA Oct. 28, 2007, over the agency's cutbacks in data available to communities about the toxic threats presented to them by nearby industrial plants.November 28, 2007
HOUSE PANEL TO HOLD HEARING ON PARK PHOTO FEES DEC. 12
November 28, 2007–The House Resources Committee will hold a hearing Dec. 12, 2007, to air concerns that proposed Interior Department rules requiring fees and permits for photography and sound recording on public lands could limit freedom of the press.ARTIST SUES LOCAL COPS OVER RIGHT TO PHOTOGRAPH POWER LINES
November 28, 2007–Shirley E. Scheier, a University of Washington fine-arts professor, was handcuffed, frisked, and detained for 44 minutes when she took some art photos of powerlines against the sky in Snohomish County, Washington.CRS PUBLISHES BACKGROUNDER ON JOURNALISTS' PRIVILEGE
November 28, 2007–The Oct. 18, 2007 issue of Congressional Research Service has published a useful backgrounder on the current lack of a "shield law" protecting reporters from legal penalties, including jail, when they refuse prosecutors' requests to disclose the identities of confidential sources.
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