OMB Sends Congress 1st-Year Report on Data Quality Act
The first year of federal agency life under the Data Quality Act has seen a number of controversies flare. But overall, its too early to tell how the DQA is going to work out, according to the first annual review, released May 3, 2004, by the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (Information Quality: A Report to Congress).

The DQA (now often called the Information Quality Act) was born when a few lines were slipped at the last minute into the fiscal 2001 appropriations bill. The language created procedures for ensuring accuracy of information disseminated by federal agencies, and allows groups and citizens to challenge what is perceived as inaccurate information. Agencies must then respond and either defend their information or change it as necessary. In the first year, the Act has been tested by a variety of challengers (companies, legislators, environmentalists, government agencies, etc.), on issues ranging from minor data format problems to pesticide regulation and a major report on climate change.