Publication Items

EPA's Jackson Calls for More Transparency on Water Quality, Enforcement [1]

Jackson ordered staff to make existing information more accessible and understandable to the public, including posting on the Web state performance reports under the Clean Water Act.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [3]
Government [4]
Policy [5]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about EPA's Jackson Calls for More Transparency on Water Quality, Enforcement [1]
Analysis: Obama Openness Has Yet To Fulfill Promise [8]

Watchdog groups and the Associated Press report on federal agency foot-dragging in making a reality of Obama administration declarations that it would foster government transparency.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [4]
Policy [5]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Analysis: Obama Openness Has Yet To Fulfill Promise [8]
Obama Has Yet To End PIO "Minders," Permissions [9]

A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists documents the Obama administration's declarations that it intends to be more open. But the same report also documents the many actions not taken at the agency level.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [4]
Policy [5]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Obama Has Yet To End PIO "Minders," Permissions [9]
SEJ, Groups Ask Environment Canada for Openness [10]

Environment Canada ignored a similar letter from SEJ sent a year ago, requesting restoration of public access to science that taxpayers have paid for.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [4]
Policy [5]
Journalism & Media [11]
Region:
International [12]
Canada [13]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about SEJ, Groups Ask Environment Canada for Openness [10]
EPA Reverses Bush-Era Toxics Release Inventory Blackout [14]

A new rule signed by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson restores cuts in how much data communities can get about nearby industrial releases of toxic substances.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [15]
Laws & Regulations [16]
Government [4]
Policy [5]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about EPA Reverses Bush-Era Toxics Release Inventory Blackout [14]
NIH Open-Access Policy Celebrates 1st Birthday — Will It Make 2nd? [17]

A year-old National Institutes of Health policy requiring results of taxpayer-funded research articles to be posted online could be reversed by a bill introduced by Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Health [18]
Laws & Regulations [16]
Government [4]
Policy [5]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about NIH Open-Access Policy Celebrates 1st Birthday — Will It Make 2nd? [17]
Blue Sky for TRI? [19]

EPA's public release of the latest Toxics Release Inventory data -- and rollback of Bush-era cutbacks on the amount of information chemical companies must report -- may have marked the beginning of a new era for the embattled program.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [15]
Laws & Regulations [16]
Government [4]
Policy [5]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Blue Sky for TRI? [19]
Attorney General Sets Openness as Standard for Fed Info [20]

Carrying out a January 21 order by President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder has reversed the so-called "Ashcroft Memo," which had encouraged agencies during the George Bush presidency to err on the side of secrecy.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [16]
Government [4]
Policy [5]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Attorney General Sets Openness as Standard for Fed Info [20]
Feds Revising Bush Offshore Energy Development Plan [21]

After years of effort, and despite a last-minute gambit by the outgoing President Bush, US policy for offshore energy development is going back to the drawing board. DOI is extending by six months the public comment period on the country's 5-year plan.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [22]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [23]
Water & Oceans [3]
Government [4]
Policy [5]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Feds Revising Bush Offshore Energy Development Plan [21]
Health Care Journos Call for End to Saddam-Style "Minders" [24]

The Association of Health Care Journalists wrote the Obama administration asking it to end the practice of making reporters go through public affairs offices to arrange interviews with federal experts and, in some cases, having public affairs people monitor those interviews.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Health [18]
Government [4]
Policy [5]
Journalism & Media [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Health Care Journos Call for End to Saddam-Style "Minders" [24]

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