Publication Items

Deadlines for Plans To Reduce Regional Haze Finally Established [1]

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 [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Health [3]
Air [4]
Health [5]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Pollution [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Deadlines for Plans To Reduce Regional Haze Finally Established [1]
Syngenta Claims Secrecy in Atrazine Trial [9]

Attorneys for some 30 utilities suing Syngenta over atrazine pollution of their drinking water supplies charged the company directed employees to send copies of all correspondence on atrazine to corporate attorneys so that attorney-client privilege could be claimed.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Pollution [7]
Chemicals [11]
Water & Oceans [12]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Syngenta Claims Secrecy in Atrazine Trial [9]
At Last: Study Confirms EPA 'Friday Surprise' Press Release Trend [13]

Researchers at the nonprofit and nonpartisan think tank Resources for the Future fed into their computers some 21,493 press releases issued by EPA between 1994 and 2009, confirming reporters' long-time suspicions.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [14]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about At Last: Study Confirms EPA 'Friday Surprise' Press Release Trend [13]
Terrified CIA Urged To Shed Secrecy About Climate Threats [15]

The Central Intelligence Agency is spending untold millions to study the national security threats presented by climate change. Now the Pentagon's Defense Science Board (DSB) is urging that another, new office be created to do the same job, for more untold millions.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [14]
Climate Change [16]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Terrified CIA Urged To Shed Secrecy About Climate Threats [15]
White House Gives House Inquisitors Only Some of Subpoenaed Documents [17]

The White House rejected the House Energy Committee's subpoena for "all internal communications" related to federal loan guarantees for the now-bankrupt Solyndra solar panel company.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [14]
Energy & Fuel [18]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about White House Gives House Inquisitors Only Some of Subpoenaed Documents [17]
Justice Dept. Ditches Its Proposal To Lie About Existence of FOIA Records [19]

The regulatory proposal was part of a large package of revised FOIA regulations, which will go forward without it. The Justice Department did not rescind the 1987 Meese memo the proposal was based on; instead it identified ways in which agencies could be unresponsive and uninformative without actually lying.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Policy [20]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Justice Dept. Ditches Its Proposal To Lie About Existence of FOIA Records [19]
Secret EPA Watchlist Yields Megastories for NPR, iWatch News, ... and You? [21]

There are 464 facilities on the list of Clean Air Act violators. The Center for Public Integrity's iWatch News and National Public Radio got the list using the FOIA and published a powerful feature package: "Poisoned Places: Toxic Air, Neglected Communities." But they did not tell all the stories. They left some for you.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Pollution [7]
Air [4]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Secret EPA Watchlist Yields Megastories for NPR, iWatch News, ... and You? [21]
Feds Try To Nudge 100 "Great Outdoors" Projects Toward Completion [22]

The chosen include 24 improving recreational access to rivers and waterways; 23 to construct new trails or improve recreation sites; 20 to create and enhance urban parks; 13 to conserve significant landscapes; and 11 to establish new national wildlife refuges; national park units, etc.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Planning & Growth [23]
People & Population [24]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Feds Try To Nudge 100 "Great Outdoors" Projects Toward Completion [22]
BLM Releases Supplement to Draft PEIS for Large-Scale Solar [25]

The agency says the remaining 17 sites covering ~285,000 acres in six states have the best solar gain and energy transmission traits, the fewest conflicts with environmental, cultural, and historic resources, and the best compatibility with each state's efforts. Public meetings commence Nov 30 and a 90-day public comment period ends Jan. 27, 2012. A variance process could be used to approve additional solar development elsewhere.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Planning & Growth [23]
Energy & Fuel [18]
Region:
California [26]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [27]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [28]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about BLM Releases Supplement to Draft PEIS for Large-Scale Solar [25]
Toolbox: Google Ocean Enables a World of Marine Stories [29]

Overcome limited budgets for travel and visuals on ocean stories with Google Earth's new realm. Place your story in the context of many mapped layers of ocean features, as well as a realistic rendition of subsea and above-surface views, and add your own text, photos, images, video, narration, sound clips, and multimedia.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [12]
Technology [30]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Toolbox: Google Ocean Enables a World of Marine Stories [29]

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