News release: “Today, EPA is releasing the Health and Environmental Research Online (HERO) database, a milestone in transparency. HERO provides access to the scientific studies used in making key regulatory decisions, including EPAs periodic review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six major pollutants. It is part of the open government directive to conduct business with transparency, participation, and collaboration… The publically accessible HERO database provides an easy way to review the scientific literature behind EPA science assessments, which are used to support agency decision-making. The database includes more than 300,000 scientific articles including the authors, titles, dates, and abstracts. In addition, through a simple keyword search, anyone can see information from the articles that were used to develop specific risk assessments…HERO includes peer-reviewed literature used by EPA to develop its Integrated Science Assessments (ISA) that feed into the NAAQS review. It also includes references and data from the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), a database that supports critical agency policymaking for chemical regulation.”
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Daily Archives: March 24, 2010
Postal Service Proposes to Eliminate Saturday Service
Follow up to Report: Envisioning America’s Future Postal Service, the move to 5-day a week mail delivery is on its way: Testimony of Chairman Ruth Y. Goldway, Postal Regulatory Commission, before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government March 18, 2010: “…the Postal Service must also seek approval from Congress, since… Continue Reading
CBO: An Analysis of the President's Budgetary Proposals for Fiscal Year 2011
Analysis of the President’s 2011 Budget, March 24, 2010 “Each year CBO estimates the budgetary impact of the proposals in the President’s budget using the same economic assumptions and estimating techniques that the agency uses to produce all of its analyses and cost estimates. Because CBO’s economic forecast and estimating techniques differ from those of… Continue Reading
Pew Survey: Chronic Disease and the Internet
Chronic Disease and the Internet, March 24, 2010: “U.S. adults living with chronic disease are significantly less likely than healthy adults to have access to the internet (62% vs. 81%). The internet access gap creates an online health information gap. However, lack of internet access, not lack of interest in the topic, is the primary… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports: Information Security, Joint Strike Fighter, Veterans' Disability Benefits, Recovery Act
Information Security: Concerted Response Needed to Resolve Persistent Weaknesses, GAO-10-536T, March 24, 2010: “Without proper safeguards, federal computer systems are vulnerable to intrusions by individuals who have malicious intentions and can obtain sensitive information. The need for a vigilant approach to information security has been demonstrated by the pervasive and sustained cyber attacks against the… Continue Reading
Opposition to Proposed Worker Biometric ID Under Consideration in US
EPIC: “Senators Charles Schumer and Lindsey Graham have proposed a new national identity card. The Senators would require that “all U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who want jobs” obtain a “high-tech, fraud-proof Social Security card” with a unique biometric identifier. The card, they say, would not contain private information, medical information, or tracking techniques, and… Continue Reading
Special Master Issues 2010 Rulings for 'Top 25' Executives at Firms Receiving Exceptional Taxpayer Assistance
Special Master Issues 2010 Rulings for Top 25 Executives at Firms Receiving Exceptional Taxpayer Assistance and Look Back Letter on Review of Pre-Recovery Act Compensation, March 23, 2010 “Today, the Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation, Kenneth R. Feinberg, issued his rulings on 2010 executive pay packages for the `Top 25′ executives at the five… Continue Reading
2010 Bundle Report: How America Spends
“…the first-ever Bundle Report, a breakdown of how America spent for all of 2009. The numbers…show how much the average American household spent last year: $37,782, not counting mortgage or rent (which are not included in the Bundle data). Divided into six categories, that’s 23 percent of their daily budget spent on shopping, 14.5 percent… Continue Reading
NOAA: Sixth Warmest February in Combined Global Surface Temperature, Fifth Warmest December-February
News release: “Last months combined global land and ocean surface temperature made it the sixth warmest February ever recorded. Additionally, the December 2009 February 2010 period was the fifth warmest on record averaged for any similar three-month Northern Hemisphere winter-Southern Hemisphere summer season, according to scientists at NOAAs National Climatic Data Center in Asheville,… Continue Reading
