President
Signs Data Quality Legislation (Federal Data Quality Act (FDQA)) (Public
Law 106-554 Section 515)
The Congress has passed and the President has
signed important new Data Quality legislation as part of the FY 2001 Consolidated
Appropriations Act (Public Law 106-554). Building upon the Data Quality
report language contained in the FY 1999 Omnibus Appropriations Act (P.L.
105-277), this new provision requires OMB to develop government-wide standards
for the quality of information used and disseminated by the federal government,
with such standards to be completed not later than September 30, 2001. OMB
must also include a mechanism through which the interested public can petition
agencies to correct information which does not meet the OMB standard. Congress
has provided for broad input in developing the Data Quality standard, mandating
that OMB shall seek "public and Federal agency involvement."
Click
to read more, including the Statutory Language for Data Quality and Past
Report Language
Data Quality:
Partners of Washington, D.C. Law Firm Author Article on Impacts of Tozzi
v. DHHS Case: CRE Sees Major Implications for Data Quality Act
Partners at Bergeson & Campbell, P.C., a D.C. law firm specializing
in chemical, medical device, and diagnostic product approval and regulation,
recently authored an article entitled "The Tozzi Decision: Another
Arrow in Manufacturers' Quiver in Product Defense Wars." Although the
article emphasized the importance of the court's decision for designations
in the National Toxicology Program's Report on Carcinogens Program,
CRE believes that it will have even greater significance for judicial
review under the Data Quality Act. For example, the opinion provides
precedent for standing when information disseminated by a federal agency
is causing harm to a company or person to whom the information relates.
Click
to read the Bergeson & Campbell article on Tozzi v. DHHS from the
EPA Administrative Law Reporter
Click
to submit a comment
Washington Legal
Foundation (WLF) Article Seeks Increased Judicial Review of Agency Science
Alan Raul and Julie Zampa, of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP, recently
authored a WLF Legal Backgrounder entitled "Deeper Judicial Scrutiny Needed
for Agencies' Use of Science." This thought-provoking article analyzed
new ground broken by the Tozzi v. DHHS case in terms of expanding judicial
review of federal agencies' use of science. Data Quality Act guidelines
are also discussed as a positive step to improve transparency of agency
decisionmaking and the quality of agency science. However, the article
notes that courts have adopted very inconsistent approaches in conducting
reviews of agency science, with some serious and probative, but others
overly deferential. The authors conclude that the Tozzi case took a valuable
step by increasing availability of judicial review, one which courts must
build upon by exercising these enhanced powers so as to review agency
science in a more consistent, predictable, and probative manner.
Click to review the WLF Legal Backgrounder
Click
to submit a comment
CRE
Regulatory Services
Risk Policy Report
Publishes Article on the Federal Information Triangle
Risk Policy Report, a preeminent publication in the field of risk analysis,
has published an article on the Federal Information Triangle tracing
its origins to the creation of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs and its attendant regulatory statutes, the Paperwork Reduction
Act and the Data Quality Act. The Risk Policy Report is a publication
of Inside Washington Publishers.
Click
to read article.
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