Open Government

About the Open Government Directive

Transparency, participation, and collaboration form the cornerstone of an open government. In 2009, the Office of Management and Budget issued an Open Government Directive to ensure that all Executive Branch departments and agencies take specific actions to improve transparency and increase opportunities for participation and collaboration. This page is the gateway for NCPC’s activities related to this directive.

NCPC’s Open Government Plan

NCPC's Open Government Plan outlines our current and planned efforts regarding transparency, public participation, and collaboration, and is intended to help guide the agency as it implements new open government policies and practices.

» Read the Plan Online [HTML]
» Download the Plan [PDF 290KB]

NCPC will update the plan on a bi‐annual basis, as well as publish annual status reports evaluating its open government efforts.

» Download 2012 Annual Status Report [PDF 179KB]

Plain Writing

The Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires federal agencies to write "clear Government communication that the public can understand and use." President Obama also emphasized the importance of establishing "a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration" in his January 21, 2009, Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government.

NCPC has committed to writing new documents in plain language by October 2011, using the Federal Plain Language Guidelines. We're training our employees and have created an oversight process to ensure that we meet the requirements of the Act.

We need your help to comply with this Act! If you have trouble understanding our documents or the pages on our website, please contact us at plainwriting@ncpc.gov.

Plain Writing Act Initial Implement Report - July 13, 2011 [PDF 153KB]

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Sustainability Plan

Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan - June 3, 2011 [PDF 295KB]

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Datasets

The Open Government Directive requires Executive Branch agencies and departments to post on their websites high-value datasets in an open, downloadable format. Additional datasets will be published periodically as they become available. The initial dataset postings include:

Federal Capital Improvements Program, FYs 2010-2015
Commemorative Works Catalog (CWC)
NCPC Monthly Commission Meeting Transcripts
NCPC Library Catalog

We seek your input to help establish priorities for compiling and posting additional datasets in accordance with the directive. Also tell us how we can expand the scope of available data so that you better understand the agency’s activities.




Federal Capital Improvements Program Dataset

The National Capital Planning Act empowers NCPC to review annual capital budgeting proposals from federal agencies for projects to be carried out over the next 6 years. NCPC evaluates the proposals for consistency with federal and local planning policies and prioritizes projects. The analyses and recommendations are compiled in the FCIP report, which is submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for use in preparing the President's annual budget.

This dataset contains the capital project cost estimates for federal agencies participating in the FCIP program adopted in 2009. Each record contains the full attribution of cost data fields derived from project records. This dataset is used by NCPC to facilitate analysis and reporting of FCIP requests reported annually to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Text descriptions of the projects are contained in the FCIP 2010-2015 report.

Commemorative Works Catalog (CWC)

The CWC is a complete list of Washington DC’s commemorative works on federal land. Each record includes a work's title, location, a short description of its purpose, the landholding agency, the sponsor, the year of authorization, the year of dedication, the authorizing law, and the major themes represented in the work.

The catalog is also available as a shapefile that can be linked to other datasets for spatial analysis.

NCPC Commission Transcripts

Download transcripts of monthly NCPC Commission meetings from January 2009 to the present.  Note: the Commission does not meet in August. For previous years’ transcripts, please contact Marcella Brown.

Library

The National Capital Planning Commission library catalog is a compilation of titles, authors, years of publication and topics of books, reports and NCPC publications. For more information contact the Information Resources Specialist Marcella Brown.

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Your Input is Essential

Have you been able to find what you are looking for on our site? What else would you like to see?

Let us know how NCPC can expand the types of information we provide and improve its quality.

You can also use our online feedback forum to provide input regarding the proposed initiatives in NCPC's Open Government Plan.

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Freedom of Information Act

You are welcome to submit requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Information about your right to federal records and other helpful FOIA reference materials are available from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy.

Please address FOIA requests to: National Capital Planning Commission, 401 9th Street, NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20004, Attn: Chief FOIA Officer. You may also fax your request (202-482-7272) or email the Chief FOIA Officer.

NCPC assigns a tracking number to each request and will notify you with that number if we are not able to fulfill the request within 10 days. Questions about the status of your request may be directed to Marcella Brown (phone: 202-482-7200).

NCPC also responds to informal requests from persons interested in reviewing a wide variety of agency documents. Please contact Deborah Young (phone: 202-482-7200). If the material you seek is substantial or requires significant staff time to compile, NCPC may ask you to submit the request under the Freedom of Information Act.

Every year, NCPC prepares a summary of FOIA requests and their disposition. This information is available in the annual FOIA Report. PDF, XML

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Federal Spending

Performance and Accountability Report Fiscal Year 2009 (2009; 53 pp.)
Performance and Accountability Report Fiscal Year 2008 (2008; 60 pp.)
Summarizes NCPC’s annual financial and program performance results.

Fiscal Year 2011 Justification of Appropriation (2010; 45 pp.)
Shows proposed budget expenditures with comparisons to previous years' funding levels

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Last updated: March 21, 2012