Dirt Diggers Network: Digest No. 25
December 4, 2002
Editor: Philip Mattera
1. EPA introduces website with facility compliance data
2. The Corporate Library launches board interlock research tool
3. AutoTrackXP rolls out federal infractions database
4. Report on Tenet documents 700% drug markups
5. Guide to accessing online court dockets and documents
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1. EPA introduces website with facility compliance data
In a major advance for researching corporate environmental compliance
records, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched a pilot
website containing enforcement data on some 800,000 regulated
facilities nationwide. The service, called Enforcement and Compliance
The EPA, which initiated a 60-day comment period about the site, said that
ECHO "allows users to find permit, inspection, violation, enforcement
action,
and penalty information covering the past two years about facilities in
their
communities. Facilities included on the site are Clean Air Act (CAA)
stationary
sources, Clean Water Act (CWA) facilities with direct discharge permits
(under
the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System), and
generators/handlers
of hazardous waste regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA). When available, information also is provided on surrounding
demographics."
Noting that the data in ECHO was previously available only through FOIA
requests
and mainframe computer subscriptions, the EPA said the new site "makes it
much
easier for the public to obtain these data records on the Internet."
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2. The Corporate Library launches board interlock research tool
corporate governance issues, has introduced what appears to be a valuable
online tool
for researching relationships among directors at some 1,900 publicly traded
companies.
The Director Interlock Tool allows one to explore the links between
corporations
stemming from the fact that they share directors. The profiles of some
20,000
directors also feature their positions on the boards of non-profit
organizations
and professional associations.
Unfortunately, the service is priced so that only wealthy organizations can
afford to use it. A single-user subscription costs $3,000 a year.
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3. AutoTrackXP rolls out federal infractions database
owned by Choicepoint Inc., has created a new database consisting of
information on
individuals and companies that appear on various federal lists of regulatory
violators.
The Infractions database includes listings from agencies such as the Office
of Foreign
Assets Control, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions
and the Bureau
of Export Administration.
AutoTrackXP has also created a database with information from about 30
states on
inmates, sexual offenders and those currently on parole or probation. The
Criminal
Offenders database allows searches by social security number for three
states:
Florida, Georgia and Mississippi.
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4. Report on Tenet documents 700% drug markups
The California Nurses Association and the Institute for Health and
Socio-Economic
Policy have released a report on the markups taken by Tenet Healthcare on
the drugs
provided to patients at its for-profit hospitals. The study, which examined
federal cost
reports, found that Tenet's markup was more than 700%. In California, the
company
was charging more than 1,000 percent above its cost. For more information on
the
Tenet, which has been accused of gouging the federal Medicare program, has
just
announced that it will adopt a more restrained pricing policy for its
services.
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5. Guide to accessing online court dockets and documents
The legal research website LLRX.com has published a handy guide to online
court
The guide covers both free and pay websites that provide access to court
dockets, along
with information on the growing trend among federal and some state courts to
put
the full text of court filings on the web.
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Philip Mattera
Director of the Corporate Research Project
Good Jobs First
pmattera@goodjobsfirst.org