WatchDog TipSheet

The guidance was the latest in a series of orders seeking to turn around Bush administration secrecy, although "altering the mind set" might make change more difficult than originally thought.

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.

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.

The Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure reports themselves are not online, but you can request them.

Seattle Times lets the cat out of the bag with an April 7, 2009, story describing the secret agreement between the administration of Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire and Canada-based TransAlta.

The bill passed by the House now goes to the Senate, which had previously failed to act on a similar bill passed by the House in 2007.

As of March 31, 2009, the Agriculture Department may keep secret the locations and phone numbers of feedlots — however much the public may complain about their smell and the pollution emanating from them.

A new Office of Inspector General report found many chemical facilities storing large amounts of dangerous chemicals had not filed their required RMPs -- and that EPA was not checking often for compliance.

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.