Publication Items

PEER Charges Secrecy in Denials of National Park System Status to 3 Trails [1]

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility is charging the National Park Service with duplicity for multiple reasons regarding demotion of the North Country, Ice Age, and New England Trails, which collectively span 6,020 miles.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Natural Resources [3]
Government [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about PEER Charges Secrecy in Denials of National Park System Status to 3 Trails [1]
Were Carbon-Tax Meetings Secret? Maybe Not [6]

The blog "Right Side News" took a shot at a meeting hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, which had in fact been covered in several articles in E&E News publications.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [7]
Energy & Fuel [8]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Were Carbon-Tax Meetings Secret? Maybe Not [6]
FDA E-Mail Tracking Included Reporters [9]

The Food and Drug Administration secretly captured e-mails of FDA employees suspected of whistleblowing for agency laxity in protecting the public — but ended up also reading correspondence with reporters, lawyers, and Congress.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [10]
Government [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about FDA E-Mail Tracking Included Reporters [9]
EPA Withdraws CAFO Database Rule [11]

EPA says it could instead compile a database partly from information collected by some states. But that information is often spotty and inconsistent — which will make it hard for EPA to compile it and even harder to make useful conclusions from it. And the withdrawal may make it harder to get the information disclosed.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Food [12]
Environmental Politics [7]
Agriculture [13]
Region:
Northwest (OR WA) [14]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [15]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [16]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [17]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about EPA Withdraws CAFO Database Rule [11]
Coal Ash: Has It Come to a Storage or Disposal Site Near You? [18]

If your local utility burns coal, there is likely an environmental story about coal ash to be reported near you. A FOIA request by the Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice has produced the identities of another 451 coal ash dumps (than previously listed by EPA), raising the total to at least 1161.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [19]
Energy & Fuel [8]
Disasters [20]
Chemicals [21]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Coal Ash: Has It Come to a Storage or Disposal Site Near You? [18]
Got Corruption? Data on State Lawmaker Conflicts Hard To Get [22]

A large and diverse array of businesses have an interest in the environmental and energy laws that state legislatures consider: including coal, oil, plastics, chemicals, mining, forest products, and others. The possible financial stake lawmakers may have in the bills before them is fertile ground for investigation. Here's help in finding story ideas.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Natural Resources [3]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Government [4]
Forests [24]
Energy & Fuel [8]
Chemicals [21]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Got Corruption? Data on State Lawmaker Conflicts Hard To Get [22]
PEER Sues FDA for Documents on Livestock Antibiotics [25]

Under FOIA, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility requested FDA documents justifying its use of categorical exclusions to avoid assessing the environmental impact of not regulating livestock antibiotics. After FDA failed to provide any, PEER filed a lawsuit in federal district court.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Policy [26]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Chemicals [21]
Agriculture [13]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about PEER Sues FDA for Documents on Livestock Antibiotics [25]
State Fracking Disclosure Rules Don't Protect Public: Report [27]

A new OMB Watch report calls full advance disclosure of fracking fluid ingredients "the necessary first step" to protecting people's drinking water and concluded "no state has yet established all of the elements of a chemical disclosure policy strong enough to ensure the quality of the water and the health of communities near gas wells."

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [19]
Policy [26]
People & Population [28]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Energy & Fuel [8]
Chemicals [21]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about State Fracking Disclosure Rules Don't Protect Public: Report [27]
EnergyWire Spotlights Limits of Fracking Disclosure in Ohio [29]

About two dozen chemicals in the 8.3 million gallons of fluid used to fracture a gas-bearing Marcellus Shale formation near Canton, Ohio were disclosed on a public website — but the identities of another four chemical ingredients were withheld on the claim that they were trade secrets. EnergyWire's Peter Behr takes a look at the controversy.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Pollution [30]
Energy & Fuel [8]
Chemicals [21]
Region:
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [17]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about EnergyWire Spotlights Limits of Fracking Disclosure in Ohio [29]
Group Sues Interior for Failure to Disclose Correspondence with Wind Industry [31]

The American Bird Conservancy has gone to court after the Interior Department stonewalled its Freedom-of-Information-Act requests for correspondence between feds and the wind industry on how potential wind projects in 10 states might affect birds and bats.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Wildlife [32]
Environmental Politics [7]
Energy & Fuel [8]
Biodiversity [33]
Region:
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [34]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [35]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [36]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [16]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [17]
California [37]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Group Sues Interior for Failure to Disclose Correspondence with Wind Industry [31]

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