“NOAA reaches from the bottom of the sea to the surface of the sun, and touches every aspect of our daily lives,” a 40-minute introductory video (found online) instructs new agency employees. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration posts an incredible amount of its employee expectations and administrative orders online, although locating the information requires patience, curiosity, and a deep dive though hyperlinks and sister sites.

But NOAA makes sure FOIA is something its employees learn about early on. Transparency is one of the few policies that has its own site: complete with training and tutorials for employees, contacts for the media, (actual FOI officers, not just media relations) and the verbatim administrative order complete with a list of descriptive terms and detailed information of who can reject an FOI request, and why.

Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator since March 6, 2014, reaffirms NOAA’s policy to open information in an introductory video.

In 2007, NOAA implemented a new rule closing the gap between scientists and the media. DAO 219-1, gives researchers and scientists explicit permission to share the results, aka “Fundamental Research Communications” of scientific and engineering research with the public, without prior NOAA approval. This includes media interviews, DAO 219-1 states, which can, but don’t have to be, approved and facilitated by public affairs. All information must be “on the record,” although employees can decline the initial interview.

For newshounds, it would seem as though NOAA had thrown a bone to the dogs. But even five years later, the Society of Environmental Journalists noted despite the open information policy, there were problems with additional policy guidelines and a lack of enforcement.

“That guidance document itself is problematic. Section 8, ‘Official Communication with the News Media,’ requires advance approval by the public affairs office whenever NOAA staff scientists give interviews or otherwise make statements about their work. The policy further generally requires public affairs officials to sit in on all interviews unless other arrangements are approved by the public affairs staff.These sorts of limitations on scientists’ communications with the news media (and through the media, the public) are simply unacceptable in a free society.” 

NOAA responded, stating an intention to work with counsel at the Department of Commerce (which oversees the agency and implements the DAO) to determine whether changes would be necessary. The most current version is here.

But here’s one issue with NOAA: There’s too much information, at least too much to sift through to find an easy answer to my preliminary question. As an environmental journalist, what can I learn from them? What kind of information do they provide, and what kind of stories can I write using the information? The bottom of the sea to the surface of the sun…it’s kind of a wide range. So what does NOAA actually do?

noaa.gov

According to Administrator Sullivan and the NOAA intro video, NOAA’s purpose is to

• maintain commercial fishing so fisherman can maintain a livelihood (includes aquaculture)
• keep environment clean (through work with the US Coast Guard during oil spills)
• maintain natural resource damage assessments, which assess damage and issue regulations regarding natural resources such as shorelines, vegetation, fisheries, animal life
• collect remediation from responsible companies to restore environment after oil spill
• provide climate forecasts to help agriculture determine which crops to plant and when
• monitor hurricanes and extreme weather events and notify and prepare communities
• help satellite operators prepare for disruption during solar weather forecasts
• protect endangered species
• protect life and property and enhances national economy
• monitor aquatic areas for pesticide levels

Organization of NOAA’s Departments, from noaa.gov

Recent stories citing NOAA include updates oil spill near Santa Barbara, Calif., and Greenwire’s expose of seafood fraud in aquaculture. But if there’s one thing NOAA has, it’s a wealth of climatic, environmental and economic data, including easily overlooked resources like satellite imagery and arctic ice report cards.  The potential for stories is endless, and maybe it’s impossible to cover them all. See the chart below for publication dates and your own story ideas.

Ashley Mayrianne Jones, SPJ’s summer 2015 Pulliam/Kilgore Fellow, focuses on utilizing FOIA and open government data to improve investigative environmental reporting. Follow her blog for the latest tips, tricks and news updates. Email Ashley or tweet @amayrianne.

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