DMWG Response to OMB about Suggested FOIA Changes to A-110 (1999)

March 10, 1999

F. James Charney, Policy Analyst
Office of Management and Budget
Room 6025, New Executive Office Building
Washington, DC 20503

Dear Mr. Charney:

The availability and integrity of data and information are fundamental to the success of the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Therefore, the Program has had "full and open" data access as policy guidance for federally obtained data since its inception. This policy has also been broadly recognized as important and adopted internationally. Comprehensive implementation of "full and open" data access requires data access whether the data obtained with federal resources is through assistance agreements, contracts, efforts within the government, or the very important combinations of these approaches. As such, we strongly support the making of data collected under assistance agreements available as called for in OMB A-110, which is being considered for strengthening due to the requirements of Public Law 105-277. That strengthening may well become even more important if proposed database protection initiatives are successful.

While changes in OMB A-110 may be necessary to implement Public Law 105-277, we oppose applying Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) procedures to grant recipients directly, since we believe the FOIA language could have serious unintended consequences, such as the premature release of researcher work.

The intent of Public Law 105-277 and "full and open" data access may be better served by policy from OMB that requires recipients of both assistance and acquisition agreements to make their data and information, developed with government funds, available to the funding agencies. The agencies, in turn, would be able to use existing records, data, and information management procedures to make the appropriate data available to the public. Recognizing the importance of public access to the data federal awards produce, our interagency working group developed in 1997 suggested language to assure agency ability to obtain award data. It is included below for your information. We believe this type of award language would address the basic need behind Public Law 105-277 without some of the potentially damaging consequences associated with applying FOIA to grant recipients. However, while this approach has been initiated by some agencies, its use is not broad, and additional policy guidance could be of help, especially if extended to both assistance and acquisition.

If you wish to discuss this matter further, I can be reached at 702-798-2228 or at mace.tom@epa.gov on email.

Dr. Thomas H. Mace, Chair
Interagency Data Management Working Group
Committee on Environment and Natural Resources
Subcommittee on Global Change Research

Suggested Data Requirement for Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and Contracts

Describe the plan to make available the data products produced, whether from observations or analyses, that contribute significantly to the <grant's> results. The data products will be made available to the <grant official/contracting officer> without restriction and be accompanied by comprehensive metadata documentation adequate for specialists and non-specialists alike to be able to not only understand both how and where the data products were obtained but adequate for them to be used with confidence for generations. The data products and their metadata will be provided in a <standard> exchange format no later than the <grant's> final report or the publication of the data product's associated results, whichever comes first.