Public

The idea was to set up an independent ombudsman's office to mediate time-consuming disputes over what documents the feds would release in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

Two conservation groups are suing the Interior Department to get hidden documents they say could show the sale would harm polar bears and other marine mammals.

Suppose there were a catastrophe and you needed information fast. Would you call FEMA?

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) overruled a ban by the state's Department of Agriculture on the labelling of milk as "hormone free."

Two House subcommittees are investigating charges that federal agencies censored scientific information about the health risks posed by FEMA trailers to people living in them.

Reporters starved for environmental information and desperate for local story ideas, rejoice. Well, at least don't look so glum. EPA has thrown you a bone or two with its newly redesigned web site.

The Smithsonian Institution, a federal agency with many environment-related research and public education activities, opposes a Congressional move that would subject it to the same open-records law that applies to other executive branch agencies.

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service has completed two reports useful to journalists.

The fifth annual report card produced by OpenTheGovernment.org offers hard numbers from a range of indicators that Bush Administration secrecy continues.

The Environmental Protection Agency looks determined to keep the public from knowing whether a pesticide on which it has waived safety rules may be a factor in the worldwide bee die-off known as "colony collapse disorder."