The Recovery Act may be a great step forward for spending transparency, but it is also exposing the problems of obtaining quality recipient reporting. Two new government reports show that recent revisions and additions to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rules on recipient reporting are not necessarily "magic bullets" for addressing reporting errors. The reports also make clear that ensuring that recipients have a clear understanding of existing guidance is a crucial aspect of any data quality improvement effort.

The Obama administration has proposed new guidance intended to increase transparency and public involvement in the implementation of one of the nation's oldest and most important environmental laws. The 40-year-old National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) creates a process where federal agencies must review the environmental impacts of their actions and evaluate alternatives while working to include public participation in the process.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took a significant step last month toward expanding the scope and quality of corporate disclosures as they pertain to the environment. On Jan. 27, the SEC voted to provide guidance "clarify[ing] what publicly-traded companies need to disclose to investors in terms of climate-related 'material' effects on business operations, whether from new emissions management policies, the physical impacts of changing weather or business opportunities associated with the growing clean energy economy."

Several federal government websites have recently incorporated changes that better highlight regulatory issues and expand online access to rulemaking information. However, the changes appear independent of one another, not parts of a conscious effort by the Obama administration to transform the government's beleaguered e-rulemaking systems.