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10 Key Open-Gov Resources for Environmental Journalists

cmacdonald — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:01:55 -0500

Next week is Sunshine Week, and the stalwart if shrinking corps of journalists continues to expose the secrets the government doesn't want voters and taxpayers to know about. It's a hard job and getting harder.

SEJ's WatchDog has gathered a list of 10 essential resources for environmental reporters seeking better access to government information:

States Push Congress, EPA To End Toxic Trade Secrets

cmacdonald — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:40:00 -0500

Do commercial products we have body contact with contain toxic chemicals? In too many cases, states and environmentalists are saying, the federal government forbids consumers from knowing.

Survey Finds Little Early Improvement in Science-Meddling Under Obama

cmacdonald — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:50:03 -0500

If you ask federal scientists, the ultimate science scandal had nothing to do with the skeptics' narrative on "climategate" — it was the Bush administration's campaign to suppress or distort any science that did not support the deregulatory agenda of Bush and his business backers.

But is it any better under President Obama? Early results from a university survey of scientists: Not really, or not yet.

White House May Urge Greater NEPA Transparency

cmacdonald — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:08:55 -0500

"Proactive disclosure" by the federal government? Who ever heard of such a thing? But environmental reporters may indeed have an easier time reporting the environmental impacts of federal actions if a new government-wide edict goes into effect.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality on February 18, 2010, published a new draft guidance to federal agencies on how they should carry out the landmark National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 (NEPA).

Comments on Fed Agencies' Open Government Plans Due March 19

cmacdonald — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:56:16 -0500

The federal government wants your ideas on how it can make the information it controls more open to the public. Honest!

The Obama administration, under its "Open Government Initiative," ordered most federal agencies to draw up "open government plans," specifying that they seek public input on the plans. The deadline for comment on the plans is March 19, 2010.

FCC Broadband Plan May Promote Open Gov

cmacdonald — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:31:40 -0500

The Federal Communications Commission is finishing up a plan for broadband infrastructure and services — and one watchdog says the plan will use the Internet to boost open government.

John Wonderlich of the Sunlight Foundation, in a February 23, 2010, blog post, says the FCC "seem committed to the sort of government policies that can help turn Internet access into a transformative tool for citizenship."

Wonderlich has been tracking the plan and testified at an FCC public workshop on it.

Forest Service Issues Gag Order to Employees on Talking to Reporters

cmacdonald — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:33:20 -0500

The Obama administration's self-proclaimed commitment to openness may not apply to National Forests … or journalists. A recent memo from a Monongahela National Forest tells employees not to talk to reporters.

Environmental reporters for decades have made personal contacts with National Forest employees in particular localities to get information about activities and issues of interest to the public.

OSHA Sampling Data Still Unavailable

cmacdonald — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:24:35 -0500

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is still not making available a huge trove of sampling data on toxics in the workplace.

The data include some 3 million air and wipe samples from some 75,000 plant locations. Former OSHA official Adam Finkel requested the data under the Freedom of Information Act in 2005, but was denied. He sued OSHA, and in 2007, he won. Now Finkel has the data, but OSHA has not rushed to give the data to the public at large. An agency spokesperson says OSHA is still considering releasing the data.

Secret GSA Contractor Database Could Reveal Waste, Fraud, Abuse

cmacdonald — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:46:46 -0500

The General Service Administration oversees about a half-trillion dollars worth of federal contracting — but says evaluation of whether past contractors have done the job taxpayers paid them to do must be kept secret from … the taxpayers.

Jim Morris of the Sunlight Foundation reports on the Project on Government Oversight's (POGO) so-far unsuccessful efforts to FOIA the data.

SEJ Urges White House To Lose the "Minders"

cmacdonald — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:52:28 -0500

The Society of Environmental Journalists has urged the Obama administration to end the practice of requiring permission from the press office at federal agencies before reporters can talk to federal employees — and requiring Saddam-style PIO "minders" to sit in on interviews.

Agencies Post "Openness" Pages on Web per Obama Order

cmacdonald — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:06:19 -0500

EPA, Interior, and other federal agencies posted "open government" pages on the Web February 9, 2010, meeting a deadline set by President Obama.

The pages are supposed to offer a single clearing point for agencies to engage the public in their efforts for greater public transparency, participation, and collaboration.

Enviros Seek Disclosure of Household Cleaning Product Ingredients

cmacdonald — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:40:39 -0500

Environmental groups are using a New York law to seek disclosure of the unlisted ingredients in major household cleaning products. The AP reports:

"Exactly what's in floor cleaner? What's stain remover made of? And what effects, if any, might they have on human health or the environment?"

EPA Reveals More High-Hazard Coal-Ash Sites

cmacdonald — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:00:25 -0500

EPA has published plans submitted by electric utilities to improve safety at 22 coal-ash storage facilities that had been rated "high hazard." It was an ongoing effort by EPA for disclosure in an area where a powerful coalition of utilities and government agencies had been pushing for secrecy.

Disclosure of the 22 plans will allow local, state, and national environmental reporters to track implementation of the plans. If they choose.

A Dec. 2008 coal ash spill at TVA's Kingston plant dumped millions of cubic yards of dangerous sludge downstream.

Getting to Disclosure: SPJ Offers FOIA Negotiating Tips

cmacdonald — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:23:48 -0500

Reporters who file Freedom of Information Act Requests often expect delay or denial, unfortunately. But new advice from the Society of Professional Journalists counsels that effective negotiating techniques can help reporters move from defeatism to successful disclosure.

Sunshine Week Starts March 14 with Focus on Local Heroes

cmacdonald — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:41:15 -0500

Every spring, journalism groups and others celebrate "Sunshine Week" as a fulcrum point to pry loose information and prod governments to stop hiding secrets from the people who fund and elect them.

And it works — at least at the federal level. Lawmakers have used Sunshine Week to launch open-government legislation that is now the law of the land.

This year Sunshine Week is March 14-20, and the groups will highlight local heroes whose open-government work has made their communities better places to live.

Data.gov: 100s of New Fed Datasets Released, Many Environmental

cmacdonald — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:20:45 -0500

Environmental reporters who use databases to find and build stories have a fresh windfall thanks to President Obama's efforts to open up the federal government.

On Jan. 22, over 40 federal agencies published hundreds of new datasets via the open government clearinghouse Data.gov. This includes three new datasets from EPA, PLUS many other datasets relevant to environmental issues.

Environmental Disclosure a High-Stakes Issue for Corporations

cmacdonald — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:46:15 -0500

Even after the entire U.S. financial system suffered a near-meltdown while Wall St. traders got performance bonuses in 2008-09, you don't hear the term "stock fraud" mentioned much these days. If you say: "why bother?" — you may be missing an environmental reporting opportunity.

EPA Moves for Disclosure of Pesticide "Inert" Ingredients

cmacdonald — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:35:35 -0500

If you look on a can of the bugspray you may be spritzing under your kitchen sink, you may find that a good 95% of the contents are listed as "inert ingredients." Those are chemicals for which the company claims no pesticidal properties — even though they may boost lethality when looked at from a cockroach's viewpoint. Environmentalists say they can harm human health.

EPA Takes Some Trade Secret Wraps off of Chemical Identity

cmacdonald — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:22:05 -0500

EPA announced January 21, 2010, that it will reject confidentiality claims by industry for some chemicals that could pose a threat to human health. EPA had reportedly been planning the move for months. But the announcement came soon after the Washington Post reported a study by the Environmental Working Group that showed one-fifth of the 84,000 chemicals in commerce are kept secret.

20% of Chemicals in Commerce Claim To Be 'Trade Secrets'

cmacdonald — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:52:07 -0500

Washington Post reporter Lyndsey Layton tossed out a bombshell last week that should disturb every reporter whose job is to report to the US public on environmental hazards to their health. Layton wrote:

"Of the 84,000 chemicals in commercial use in the United States — from flame retardants in furniture to household cleaners — nearly 20 percent are secret, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, their names and physical properties guarded from consumers and virtually all public officials under a little-known federal provision."

DOE Lists Its Environmental Impact Statements Online

cmacdonald — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:26:26 -0500

A handy research tool for investigative reporters is a full list of all the recent Environmental Impact Statements issued by the Department of Energy.

All are listed, although not all are on the web. DOE oversees many projects with significant environmental impacts. Thanks to Michael Ravnitzky for tipping us to this.

Find the list online here.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Calls for Input on Openness

cmacdonald — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:32:59 -0500

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission — long one of the more secretive government agencies — may be coming in from the cold.

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has invited the public to suggest categories of NRC information that should be published on its web site, and to recommend other measures the Commission might take to improve transparency, public participation and collaboration," reports Secrecy News.

NRC's move is a response to a Dec. 2009 White House Office of Management and Budget directive.

Sunlight Tool Makes Tracking White House Visitors Easier

cmacdonald — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:43:36 -0500

Investigative reporters who are looking for White House visitors more embarrassing than socialite gate-crashers will find a new tool from the Sunlight Foundation handy.

Half the battle was won when the Obama White House started releasing its visitor logs. But the information there — in its raw form — leaves few clues about who the visitors are and why they are visiting.

White House Moves To Reinstate Bush-Suppressed Climate Reports

cmacdonald — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:58:11 -0500

The Bush administration spent eight years trying to suppress a legally-required series of reports on the likely impact of climate change on the US. The "National Assessment," as it was called, described significant potential climate impacts based on expert science and other information sources. Groups funded by the coal industry claimed the science was bad, and tried to un-publish the reports. Back issues of the WatchDog detail the suppression story.

Will Off-Record White House Meetings with Coal Lobby Stifle Ash Regs?

cmacdonald — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:21:50 -0500

Secret back-room meetings between White House officials and coal lobbyists may be stifling regulations on coal ash that are legally supposed to be arrived at out in the open.

The Administrative Procedure Act requires almost all federal regulatory agencies to gather evidence and make regulatory decisions on the record. In fact, off-the-record meetings between regulatory officials and those they regulate (called "ex parte" contacts) are illegal and can invalidate a rule.