Data Quality Act Court Case

The 17 March 2006 issue of Science reported on a federal appeals court ruling that the public cannot sue federal agencies over an agency's compliance with what has become a controversial law on the quality of scientific data. The Data Quality Act (DQA) has required agencies to set standards to ensure the quality of information they disseminate, such as the toxicological effects of chemicals. It allows petitions from critics who take the position that such standards have not been met; denial of a petition allows no recourse. 

A Virginia federal district court, supported by the U.S. Court of Appeals, rejected a bid by the Salt Institute et al. to obtain unpublished data from a study on salt intake funded in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The conservative panel of judges found that the DQA "does not create any legal right to information or its correctness."  Therefore, the plaintiffs lacked legal standing to pursue their case.  In some quarters, the decision is taken to mean that the intent to enforce the DQA is being undermined.

More detail is available at  www.sciencemag.org