The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released a set of guidelines designed to ensure the quality of information being used and distributed by federal agencies. The document, entitled “Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies,” sets a deadline of October 1, 2002, for federal agencies to issue their own regulations implementing the directive.
The guidelines direct agencies to develop information management procedures for reviewing, and substantiating, the quality and objectivity of information received and disseminated, particularly scientific, financial, and statistical information used in rulemaking proceedings.
The guidelines give the public the opportunity to formally respond if they believe that information disseminated by federal agencies is not accurate or objective, and they also require federal agencies to report to OMB annually on the number and nature of complaints received concerning the accuracy of information disseminated and how those complaints were resolved.
OMB Director John Graham believes that the new procedures are a big step toward making the federal government more accountable to the public.
Additional information is available on OMB’s website at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg/reproducible.html .
