As promised, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) last week formally withdrew a new rule on requesting declassification of classified ODNI records after receiving public complaints that it would have imposed onerous costs on requesters. A revised rule was then issued.
“ODNI received comments regarding the fee provisions [with] the recommendation that those provisions be withdrawn and replaced with fee provisions comparable to those in ODNI’s Freedom of Information Act program,” ODNI said in an April 22 Federal Register notice. (Comments to that effect from the Federation of American Scientists are here; comments submitted by Openthegovernment.org are here.)
“ODNI agrees and therefore is withdrawing its direct final rule.”
A revised rule with amended fee provisions was published in the Federal Register today.
Under the revised rule:
* photocopying charges would be 10 cents per page instead of 50 cents per page;
* fees would be waived whenever costs incurred were $10 or less;
* and the revised rule now allows for a public interest waiver of fees when “the disclosure is likely to contribute significantly to the public understanding of the operations or activities of the United States Government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.”
By advocating for the integration of technology-focused green jobs within federal initiatives, there is an opportunity to broaden the talent pool and harness the potential of emerging technologies to tackle pressing environmental issues.
“We really wanted a range of perspectives – specifically from voices that have been traditionally left out of the conversation”
The joint advocacy effort calls for the establishment of an effective AI governance framework through NIST, including technical standards, test methods, and objective evaluation techniques for the emerging technology.
Understanding the implications of climate change in agriculture and forestry is crucial for our nation to forge ahead with effective strategies and outcomes.