National (U.S.)

Another effort to revamp the US General Mining Act of 1872 is under way. The House on Nov. 1, 2007, passed by a 244-166 margin a bill that for the first time would collect for the U.S. Treasury royalties for mining "hard rock" minerals on federally owned lands.

Stories that we think will have great impact on the lives of Americans, but which we suspect will slip "under the radar" because of war-related media inattention.

For the past decade, federal and state officials have put an immense amount of environmental information behind a veil of secrecy, justifying it on the grounds that the information could help terrorists. A look at the most comprehensive open-source terrorism database offers strong evidence that such fears are ill-founded.

The PACER system puts many — but not all — federal court records on line. It's an easy-to-use information access tool for journalists.

Federal employee unions want lists of political appointees whose status has been transferred to career civil service positions at the end of the Bush administration.

The Society of Professional Journalists has called on President-elect Obama and the incoming Congress to complete action on a federal shield law for journalists.

Whistleblowers can be a reporter's best friend — although friends that must often be handled with care. If you know a federal agency employee who tells you "Call me on January 21" — be sure to do it.

Scorecard reports environmental records of US Representatives and Senators

EPA is scheduled to announce by March 12, 2008, its final rule for a new ground-level ozone standard, last updated more than a decade ago.

The strategy of changing chemical processes at industrial facilities so they use less hazardous materials, and pose less of a threat from terrorism and accidents, gained little traction in the Bush administration after 9/11. But a number of organizations continue to push the idea.