Responding to congressional requests, the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) this spring offered lawmakers a report card on the industry-supported Federal Data Quality Act. To comply with the 2000 law, agencies in late 2002 implemented government-wide guidelines to encourage more accurate data collection. Proponents say the law will help improve federal regulation because it requires agencies to ensure information is trustworthy. Public interests groups and environmentalists argue the current law is a back-door way for industry to avoid environmental rules because it gives stakeholders an easy way to challenge scientific data often used to justify tougher standards (OGJ, Oct. 7, 2002, p. 31).
Judgment premature
OMB told Congress that agencies responded to a relatively small number of "substantive" correction requests during fiscal year (FY) 2003. "Thus, it is premature to make broad statements about both the impact of the corrective request process and the overall responsiveness of the agencies." OMB acknowledged that complying with the new law has not been easy: "Implementing a new process has not been without challenges as the agencies endeavor to create oversight mechanisms that are responsive, yet not overly bureaucratic."
OMB said it is not ready to give lawmakers advice on how to change the law. But it offered "action items" to help improve the review process. Recommendations include increasing transparency, improving timeliness of agency responses, bettering communication with agency scientific and technical staff, and earlier consultation with OMB.
Watchdog issues
The public interest group OMB Watch July 12 said OMB's analysis of the law is misleading and mischaracterizes how President George W. Bush's administration uses data quality guidelines.
OMB Watch said OMB is wrong to assert agencies had only 35 information quality challenges in FY 2003.
"Even using questionable methodology employed by OMB, the number is 98, nearly triple the number in the report," it said.
The advocacy group said OMB accurately states that a wide range of stakeholders have filed information quality challenges, dismissing fears that industry alone would dispute various rules. Nevertheless, OMB failed to disclose that 72% of the challenges did come from industry.
Meanwhile, OMB's assertion that data-quality guidelines have not slowed down agency rulemakings or dissemination activities cannot be proved, the independent watchdog group said. "OMB has no data to draw such conclusions. OMB did not collect information from the agencies about impact on rulemakings or dissemination. Instead, OMB relies on conjecture or highly flawed logic to make its point," OMB Watch said.
For example, OMB did not ask the Environmental Protection Agency, a frequent target of data quality challenges, or other agencies to send information concerning the amount of resources each devotes to the new guidelines or the impact those rules have on other agency activities such as rulemakings and dissemination of information, the group said. "Such information is essential to Congress in evaluating the implementation of the law."