OMB Role with Federal Agencies Under Investigation

Society of Environmental Journalists 20sep02

A storm is brewing over the Bush administration's intercession into federal agency practices.

One example: EPA has been ready to release a report, "America's Children and the Environment: Measures of Children and the Environment," since March 2002. However, the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has been "reviewing" the report since then, with no release date in sight. In the past, OIRA has reviewed policy reports, but has not held up science-based reports, according to OMB Watch: Reece Rushing, 202-234-8494.

EPA officials, while declining to talk much about the report, say it covers only trends and measures of environmental health information, and is not a policy report (although it was developed by the Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation/National Center for Environmental Economics). This edition is an update of a 2001 report, "America's Children and the Environment: A First View of Available Measures," which was still online here at the moment of this posting. Tracey Woodruff, 415-947-4277.

An outside reviewer of drafts of both reports ? Daniel Swartz, Children's Environmental Health Network ? says the report now being held up generally brings together existing information and attempts to make links between contaminants in people's bodies and those released into the environment. He acknowledges that the report could affect policy on issues such as release of mercury into the environment. Swartz: 202-543-4033.

OMB officials say the determining factor in their level of review of a report is whether it will affect multiple government agencies. They say this report fits that bill, and add that the ball is in EPA's court at the moment, since it must respond to other agency comments. However, Swartz says all other agencies have signed off on the report. It is unclear if the public will ever know what information has been shaped by OMB, although OMB officials say that is up to EPA. OMB: Michael Toth, 202-395-7254.

NRDC officials says that the types of information OMB has asked EPA to remove tend to fall under the heading of things that would make the administration look bad (e.g., number of people living near Superfund sites, data on fish advisories related to mercury, other agency suggestions that there is no safe level of lead, etc.). NRDC: Steve Gurney, 202-289-2378.

The U.S. General Accounting Office has just begun to look into many facets of OIRA's activities, and expects to pin down its scope of investigation by the end of September 2002. The GAO will study how OIRA's regulatory review process has changed in recent years; review the impacts OIRA has had when it returned or changed rules submitted by agencies, or directed that agencies withdraw rules (out of about 400, GAO will review 87, including 31 from EPA and some from USDA, FDA, DOT, and OSHA); and analyze how OIRA identified 23 existing rules for "high priority review." The GAO report probably will be completed in Spring 2003. GAO: Curtis Copeland, 202-512-8101

On a parallel issue, OMB is requiring that federal agencies develop "Information Quality Guidelines" (June 11, 2002, press release, No. 2002-33). The guidelines are supposed to maximize "the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information," but OMB Watch's Rushing says they are designed to challenge regulations by challenging the information that supports them. EPA is scheduled to post its guidelines by the Oct. 1, 2002, deadline. A public meeting to discuss assessment factors related to the new guidelines was scheduled for Sept. 20, 2002, in Washington, D.C. EPA: Suzanne Ackerman, 202-564-7819.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is poised to challenge guidelines of many agencies if it doesn't like what it sees. US Chamber: Bill Kovacs, 202-463-5533.