Publication Items

Failure to Disclose Lead Threats in Drinking Water: Widespread Problem [1]

Bad as it is, the Flint drinking water disaster is hardly uncommon. Even though the law requires authorities to tell the public of dangerous levels of lead in drinking water, they often don't.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Politics [5]
Government [6]
Health [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
People & Population [9]
Water & Oceans [10]
Region:
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [11]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Failure to Disclose Lead Threats in Drinking Water: Widespread Problem [1]
Flint Hearing Raises Freedom of Information Concerns [13]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's openness has been a major issue throughout the crisis of contaminated drinking water in Flint, which has caused lead poisoning of some children. One aspect of the openness issue is the ability of agency employees to speak with journalists; another is unfulfilled FOIA requests.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Government [6]
Journalism & Media [14]
Laws & Regulations [8]
People & Population [9]
Pollution [15]
Water & Oceans [10]
Region:
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [11]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Flint Hearing Raises Freedom of Information Concerns [13]
House Passes FOIA Bill; What Will Senate Do? [16]

A similar bill almost became law in 2014, and chances of the current bill being enacted seem good. But the possibility of a last-minute derailment, especially in an election year, remains. To complicate matters, journalism and open government groups found problems with a last-minute "carve-out" for intelligence inserted at the behest of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [6]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about House Passes FOIA Bill; What Will Senate Do? [16]
"DDT Wars: Rescuing Our National Bird, Preventing Cancer, and Creating the Environmental Defense Fund" [17]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [19]
Chemicals [3]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Wildlife [20]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about "DDT Wars: Rescuing Our National Bird, Preventing Cancer, and Creating the Environmental Defense Fund" [17]
Where's That Meat From? One Problem with Trade Treaties [21]

Do consumers have a right to know where their food comes from? What if there is a federal law decreeing that they have that right? Not anymore. None of that matters. International trade treaties — nowadays often negotiated in secret — trump United States law aimed at protecting consumers.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [22]
Economy & Business [23]
Food [24]
Health [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Where's That Meat From? One Problem with Trade Treaties [21]
Wyoming Data Trespass Law Faces Court Test [25]

Federal District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl on December 28, 2015, ruled that a lawsuit filed by journalism and environmental groups challenging the constitutionality of Wyoming's law could continue. The state had moved to dismiss the suit.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [8]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [26]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Wyoming Data Trespass Law Faces Court Test [25]
Read the Reports Congress Doesn't Want You To Read [27]

Here are some reports of possible interest to environmental journalists from the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Congress does not release them to the public, but the Union of Concerned Scientists' Government Secrecy Project does.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [22]
Chemicals [3]
Economy & Business [23]
Energy & Fuel [28]
Government [6]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Military [29]
Transportation [30]
Water & Oceans [10]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Read the Reports Congress Doesn't Want You To Read [27]
Will the FAA Drone Registry Have a FOIA Exemption? [31]

It's never too early for journalists to complain about secrecy. Case in point: the database of drone owners which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to register. A key task force recently recommended that the database be exempt from the federal Freedom of Information Act.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [8]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Will the FAA Drone Registry Have a FOIA Exemption? [31]
Access to Places: A Few Basics for Journalists [32]

The University of Missouri "safe space" incident on Nov 9, 2015 rekindled questions and debate about journalists' First Amendment right of access to spaces. One of the best practical guides to law on this issue is the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press publication, "A Reporter's Field Guide."

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [14]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Region:
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [33]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Access to Places: A Few Basics for Journalists [32]
Federal Advisory Committee Meetings All Too Often Closed to Public [34]

An important, but little-known, transparency law requires that FAC meetings be open to the public. But a new study shows that more than two-thirds of the time, they are not. On those committees, industry "experts" who have a financial stake may be telling agencies to ignore scientific findings in their regulation of things like environmental health and toxic chemicals.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [6]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Federal Advisory Committee Meetings All Too Often Closed to Public [34]

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