Federal Efforts to Ensure Clean Tap Water Fail to Reach US Faucets
Many Americans still lack clean tap water -- but federal and state governments can't provide it, for a number of reasons.
Source: NY Times, 05/13/2013
Government
Canada Think Tank To Save Freshwater Fisheries Research Facility
"OTTAWA — Some federal scientists working at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans may soon gain new freedom to control their research and speak in public, under a tentative deal announced Thursday to transfer management of a world-renowned freshwater research facility that opened in 1968."
Source: Postmedia, 05/10/2013
Supreme Court Deals Blow to Out-of-State FOIA Requesters
The unanimous decision turned down a FOIA request by a California resident for records in Virginia. According to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, only a "handful" of states have similar residents-only restrictions to their FOI laws. But the doctrinal impact of the decision is likely to be large, since the court held, among other things, that the First Amendment conveys no right of access to government information.
SEJ Publication Types:
Topics on the Beat:
Visibility:
Problems with EPA Press Office? Try Calling Public Affairs Director
SEJ members have complained a lot over many years about difficulties getting information and interviews from US EPA. SEJ officers and FOI watchdogs have talked to EPA about the problems for a long time, too. If a regular call to a line press officer brings poor results, try explaining your problem to the boss — here are their numbers!
SEJ Publication Types:
Topics on the Beat:
Visibility:
Air: States Scramble As EPA Shifts Research Monitors to Regulatory Mode
"A little-noticed change in U.S. EPA air policy has turned a national pollution-monitoring network that has been providing data to researchers for 22 years into a regulatory tool, leaving states scrambling to figure out the implications."
Source: Greenwire, 05/01/2013
"Senate Panel To Probe Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion"
"Senator Barbara Boxer said on Tuesday she plans to investigate the explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant earlier this month that killed 15 people and injured scores more."
Source: Reuters, 05/01/2013
Small Cuts In EPA Air Grants Mean Big Headache for State Regulators
"At a glance, U.S. EPA's plan to cut an $11.5 million grant program in an effort to meet the sequestration mandate doesn't look like much given the agency's $8.5 billion budget. But that's a lot of money to state and local air regulators who have been counting on it."
Source: Greenwire, 04/25/2013
IG: DHS Agency for Oversight of Fertilizer Plant Security in Disarray
"The Homeland Security Department program charged with the security of chemical facilities like the former West Fertilizer Co. plant has been riddled with problems so severe since its creation five years ago that federal investigators recently wondered publicly 'whether it can achieve its mission, given the challenges the program continues to face.'"
Source: Austin American-Statesman, 04/25/2013
What’s Coming in Energy? Veteran Reporters Look Ahead
What big energy issues will emerge on the reporting agenda for the year to come? To find out, the SEJ convened a panel of top-flight environmental journalists at the Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. Jan. 25, 2013.
SEJ Publication Types:
Topics on the Beat:
Region:
Visibility:
Toolbox: Database Helps Track Broken Promises on Parkland Conservation
Seattle-based InvestigateWest published a feature package last summer documenting illegal parkland conversions in Michigan, New York City, and Oklahoma. They could not cover all the other states — that was left for you to do, with the assistance of their database of some 40,000 federal grants under the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
SEJ Publication Types:
Topics on the Beat:
Visibility:
Pages
Advertisement 
