Transparency in Government Act 2008

Summary:

• Sec. 801. Timely access to reports and audits on Web sites of Offices of Inspectors General

1. Sec. 801. Timely access to reports and audits on Web sites of Offices of Inspectors General (5 Comments)

   1. Definition- In this section, the term `agency' has the meaning provided the term `Federal agency' under section 11(5) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).

   2. Direct Links to Inspectors General Offices-

      1. IN GENERAL- Each agency shall establish and maintain on the homepage of the Web site of that agency a direct link to the Web site of the Office of the Inspector General of that agency.

      2. ACCESSIBILITY- The direct link under paragraph (1) shall be obvious and f/acilitate accessibility to the Web site of the Office of the Inspector General.

   3. Requirements for Inspectors General Web sites-

      1. POSTING OF REPORTS AND AUDITS- The Inspector General of each agency shall--

         1. not later than one day after any report or audit (or portion of any report or audit) is made publicly available, post that report or audit (or portion of that report or audit) on the Web site of the Office of the Inspector General; and

         2. ensure that any posted report or audit (or portion of that report or audit) described under subparagraph (A)--

            1. is easily accessible from a direct link on the homepage of the Web site of the Office of the Inspector General;

            2. includes a summary of the findings of the Inspector General; and

            3. is in a format that--

               1. is searchable, sortable, and downloadable; and

               2. facilitates printing by individuals of the public who are accessing the Web site.

      2. OPTION TO RECEIVE RELATED INFORMATION- The Inspector General of each agency shall provide a service on the Web site of the Office of the Inspector General through which--

         1. an individual may elect to automatically receive information (including subsequent reports or audits) relating to any posted report or audit (or portion of that report or audit) described under paragraph (1)(A); and

         2. the Inspector General shall electronically transmit the information or notice of the availability of the information to that individual without further request.

      3. REPORTING OF WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE-

         1. IN GENERAL- The Inspector General of each agency shall establish and maintain a direct link on the homepage of the Web site of the Office of the Inspector General for individuals to report waste, fraud, and abuse.

         2. ANONYMITY- The Inspector General of each agency shall take such actions as necessary to ensure the anonymity of any individual making a report under this paragraph.

   4. Implementation- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the head of each agency and the Inspector General of each agency shall implement this section.

   Recent comments on Sec. 801

   (View all 5 comments | Add a comment)

   1. John Wonderlich, Sunlight Foundation:

      I love the idea that IGs would have to publicize the requests made of them, except that there's a chance that this could provide a disincentive to make requests of the IGs. The problem might be stated: how can one add public accountability to built in enforcement mechanisms without weakening them?

      April 8, 2008

   2. Coby Logen (www.dotgovwatch.com):

      IG Offices should also be required to make public the requests that they did NOT investigate and write reports about.

      March 31, 2008

   3. Coby Logen (www.dotgovwatch.com):

      To facilitate IG report aggregation, there should be a standard XML or RSS format for posted IG reports in addition to the human-readable HTML pages. This is simple, and it is all the government may need to do. Others can then easily create aggregators.

      March 31, 2008

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