[okfn-tw] Fwd: Digest for us-open-government at googlegroups.com - 1 update in 1 topic

Sun Sep 11 07:38:26 UTC 2016

FYI on seven years of experience.

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   - 2016 Open Government Guidance <#m_2222151066172658462_group_thread_0>
   - 1 Update

2016 Open Government Guidance
<http://groups.google.com/group/us-open-government/t/fee2351ad525aecf?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email>
Stephen Buckley <sbuckley at igc.org
<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','sbuckley at igc.org');>>: Sep 09 11:59PM -0400

Hi All,

I was one of those who gave a "lightning talk"
last month at the OpenGov "consultation session"
(see below) to advise federal agency reps
concerning revision of their agency's OpenGov
Plans which, according to OMB, are due by next Thursday (9/15/16).

Due to the time limit (2 minutes) for each
speaker at that event, I was not able to raise a
final concern related to "Public
Participation/Engagement" and, so, I will raise
it here and now, so that an agency can make a
final tweak to its updated OpenGov Plan.

"Transparency" is to FOIA, as "Participation & Collaboration" is to ...
NEPA.

If one were to review all that's been said and
done, over the past 7 years, towards implementing
the President's Open Government program (more
"Transparent, Participatory and Collaborative"),
it would be easy to assume that it is all based,
primarily, on one federal law: FOIA (Freedom of
Information Act of 1966). But that is not true.

When it comes to public's Participation &
Collaboration in the decision-making of federal
agencies, the primary federal law is NEPA
(National Environmental Policy Act of 1969).

And, just as each federal agency has its own
"FOIA office" for responding to FOIA requests,
for decades, each one has also had its own
<https://ceq.doe.gov/nepa_contacts/agency_implementing_procedures.html>"NEPA

office" for ensuring compliance with the
<https://ceq.doe.gov/ceq_regulations/regulations.html>NEPA<
https://ceq.doe.gov/ceq_regulations/regulations.html>
regulations issued by the White House under the
<https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq>President's<https://www.
whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq>
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).

The basic steps for "Public Involvement", as
required of federal agencies by CEQ's
regulations, can be found at
<https://ceq.doe.gov/nepa/regs/ceq/1506.htm#1506.6>40
CFR 1506.6. And, if you think that NEPA is only
about the "environmental" impacts of federal
projects, see CEQ's legal definition of "Effects"
at <https://ceq.doe.gov/nepa/regs/ceq/1508.htm#1508.8>40 CFR 1508.8.

Therefore, I suggest that each federal agency, in
responding to the White House's recent
"recommendations" on OpenGov Plans
(<https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/
memoranda/2016/m-16-16.pdf>OMB
Memorandum M-16-16 of July 14, 2016), should
address the section on "Public Participation" (on
page 6) by providing the same sort of information
about its NEPA office that it will be publicizing
about its FOIA office (see page 5).

That information should allow citizens to
reasonably determine whether a federal activity
is legally complying with FOIA and NEPA and, if
not, then how and who to properly report cases of
non-compliance (e.g., to OpenGov rep, NEPA
office, CEQ, and/or Inspector-General).

Background: As a U.S. government employee with HQ
experience at the NEPA offices at five federal
agencies, I frequently saw non-compliance with
the "Public Involvement" legally required by
federal regulations, with citizens under-informed
of their legal right to "have a say" in the
decision-making for federally-funded projects that will affect their lives.

Note: This message contains my own thoughts and
may not reflect an official position of the
IAP2-USA or any of its members. If their is
interest in discussing this topic further, either
openly or confidentially, please let me know.

best,

Steve Buckley, #OpenGov liaison
International Association for Public Participation, U.S. Chapter
<http://www.iap2usa.org/>http://www.IAP2usa.org

Collaboration Engineer
Cape Cod, Mass.
<http://www.opengovmetrics.com/>http://www.OpenGovMetrics.com
G: 508-348-9090

=======================================

At 12:34 PM 8/22/2016, Zarek, Corinna J. EOP/OSTP wrote:
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