^®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week

EIA Sets the Standard for Data Quality Act Compliance
CRE recently had the pleasure of visiting the Energy Information Administration's website: http://www.eia.doe.gov/. This website is a model of how to disseminate information in a user-friendly manner that complies with both the letter and spirit of the Data Quality Act. In addition to publishing its own Data Quality Act Guidelines, EIA also revised its Standards Manual to conform to the new Data Quality Act standards. This remarkable Standards document states clear and essential requirements for insuring data quality. For example, with regard to the difficult issue of model validation, EIA's Standards Manual specifies in detail the steps necessary before the model can be used. Documentation of these steps is required to be placed on EIA's website for every model. EIA's Standards Manual also imposes rigorous requirements before any proprietary models are used. These requirements include:

"Every agreement for the acquisition or use of a model should provide for:
a. Publicly available documentation of the use of the model's design, theoretical basis, empirical implementation, and objective capabilities.
b. A means for EIA to replicate model calculations for a period of three years after each application in an EIA product."

EIA's Standards Manual further emphasizes, "A proprietary model should not be embedded in an EIA modeling system unless the model is commercially available."

EIA's website states that it provides "high-quality, policy-independent energy information to meet the requirements of Government, industry, and the public in a manner that promotes sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding." In disseminating this important information, "EIA has found that complete transparency in the approach, methodology, and results of each of its products has gained the trust of its clients in the Department, the Congress, and elsewhere in the public." CRE recommends that all other agencies follow EIA's lead