Publication Items

Despite High Court, Navy Keeps WA Town in Dark on Explosion Threat [1]

A landmark Supreme Court decision awarded Port Townsend residents the right to know about the potential location of explosives on the Indian Island Naval Magazine near their town. After losing the case, the Defense Department bolstered its legal grounds for secrecy by asking Congress to slip into the 2012 Defense Authorization an amendment creating a new statutory exemption to FOIA for the DOD.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Military [3]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Disasters [5]
Region:
Northwest (OR WA) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Despite High Court, Navy Keeps WA Town in Dark on Explosion Threat [1]
Read the Secret Backgrounder on the Secret 2012 Farm Bill [8]

This year's Farm Bill deliberations have been less transparent than ever before. In that spirit, SEJ's WatchDog shares a backgrounder, published by the Federation of American Scientists, on the 2012 Farm Bill done by the Congressional Research Service — which keeps their taxpayer-funded reports secret from the public.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [4]
Environmental Politics [9]
Agriculture [10]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Read the Secret Backgrounder on the Secret 2012 Farm Bill [8]
Judge Allows Pool Video, Audio Coverage of WV Monsanto Trial [11]

In response to a request for live-streaming of the trial, the judge has expanded the gag order for the case, a class-action lawsuit seeking medical monitoring for people who may have been exposed to hazardous chemicals produced at Monsanto's former plant in Nitro, W.V.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [4]
Health [12]
Environmental Health [13]
Chemicals [14]
Agriculture [10]
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [15]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Judge Allows Pool Video, Audio Coverage of WV Monsanto Trial [11]
House Adopts Online Publication Standard [16]

It remains to be seen how successful the House will be in timely posting of electronic versions of bills — especially when they are thousand-page appropriations bills being rammed through at the last minute. The WatchDog will be watching to see if bills are published electronically well before subcommittee markups begin.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [4]
Government [17]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about House Adopts Online Publication Standard [16]
Is Documenting Cruelty to Animals a Federal Terrorist Crime? [18]

According to the Los Angeles Times, recent directives from the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force suggest that merely filming commercial acts of cruelty to animals could be a terrorist offense — something that now can lead to indefinite military detention without trial.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [4]
Food [19]
Economy & Business [20]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Is Documenting Cruelty to Animals a Federal Terrorist Crime? [18]
States Partly Fill Federal Vacuum on Fracking Fluid Disclosure Law [21]

Colorado, which adopted its disclosure rules December 13, 2011, joins Texas, Pennsylvania, and several other states in requiring some disclosure by drillers of the chemicals they pump into shale formations under high pressures to release natural gas. Scores of chemicals, some very toxic, may be involved.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [22]
Pollution [23]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Energy & Fuel [24]
Chemicals [14]
Region:
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [25]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [26]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about States Partly Fill Federal Vacuum on Fracking Fluid Disclosure Law [21]
Oregon Court Rules That Not All Bloggers Are Journalists [27]

The Portland judge ruled that blogger Crystal Cox, who published allegations against businessman Kevin Padrick and was subsequently sued by Padrick for defamation, was not a journalist as she lacked any conventional journalistic credentials or affiliations, and therefore was not entitled to the protections of the state's shield law.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [4]
Journalism & Media [28]
Region:
Northwest (OR WA) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Oregon Court Rules That Not All Bloggers Are Journalists [27]
Calif. Law Keeps Public from Knowing About Dangerous Pipelines [29]

The San Francisco Chronicle revealed almost all records of the state's Public Utilities Commission, which regulates pipelines, are secret — and the PUC typically asks permission from the utility companies before releasing any information. In most other states, such information is freely available to the public.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [4]
Energy & Fuel [24]
Region:
California [30]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Calif. Law Keeps Public from Knowing About Dangerous Pipelines [29]
"Behind Closed Doors" Reports on Secret Regulatory Process [31]

The Center for Progressive Reform looked at public records on 1,080 meetings held between October 2001 and June 2011 between the White House Office of Management and Budget and lobbyists from various interest groups. Results show the Obama administration is as bad as the Bush administration when it comes to secret meetings with industry to weaken environmental health and safety regulations.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [4]
Government [17]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about "Behind Closed Doors" Reports on Secret Regulatory Process [31]
Deadlines for Plans To Reduce Regional Haze Finally Established [32]

On Nov. 9, 2011, EPA signed a consent decree that requires the agency to receive from and approve a State Implementation Plan for DC, VI, and 43 states that don't have a fully approved one. Each state can determine how it wants to reduce haze. In some cases, the plan will rely on actions already taken, such as reductions in emissions from power plants or vehicles.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [33]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Health [13]
Air [34]
Health [12]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Pollution [23]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Deadlines for Plans To Reduce Regional Haze Finally Established [32]

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