Award–Winners
We presented the final "No Gobbledygook" awards Friday December 22, 2000. There has been a plain language prize every month since the award was established in June 1998 for a total of 27 awards. Former Vice President Gore created the award to recognize federal employees who use plain language in innovative ways.
Winners of the plain language prize over the last seven months of the program include:
- July : The National Institutes of Health's Dr. Alexa McCray who developed clinicaltrials.gov, a Web site that provides information on the status of clinical research studies.
- August : Anne Cyr of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, who rewrote a lengthy poster to clearly inform employees of their right to know if their employer had committed OSHA violations.
- September : Steven Griswold, David Neil, Lauren Mason and Andrea Macri of the Board of Immigration Appeals within the Department of Justice. Griswold and his partners rewrote a confusing manual describing conditions under which immigrants can be deported in a succinct question-and-answer format.
- October : The Food and Drug Administration's Naomi Kulakow and Christine Lewis who wrote a pamphlet describing how to read and use the nutrition facts printed on food labels. This marks FDA's fourth "No Gobbledygook" prize — the most of any federal agency.
- November : Laura Fulmer, Helen Kirkman, Vikki Vrooman, James Cesarano, John Moro and Melodee Mercer of the Internal Revenue Service. These foes of gobbledygook rewrote a form telling taxpayers how to obtain a refund check.
- December : The Federal Aviation Administration's Don Byrne and Linda Walker, who reformatted an airworthiness directive to clearly explain potential safety hazards on a type of airplane.
- January 2001 : Susan Hollman and Valerie Perkins of the Health Care Financing Administration, who wrote a handbook entitled "Medicare and You" that clearly explained Medicare benefits.
Fifteenth Plain Language Award
Farm Credit Administration won the January 2000 award for its final rule on "Releasing Information" . The rule was published August 2, 1999.
Fourteenth and Thirteenth Plain Language Awards
Morley Winograd, then Vice President Gore's Senior Domestic Policy Advisor, presented the thirteenth and fourteenth plain language awards to the winners in a ceremony on December 2, 1999. The ceremony took place in the historic Indian Treaty Room in the Old Executive Office Building.
Former Vice President Gore selected Mary Versailles and Nicole Fredette from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as the winners of the fourteenth plain language award. NHTSA requires sport utility vehicle producers to include a label alerting drivers to the potential danger of the vehicle rolling over in every vehicle they make. The original label was written 20 years ago: a 77-word, text-only, black-and-white label. The new one uses graphics, bright colors, and short, bulleted messages. Focus groups who reviewed the change are confident that it will result in greater driver awareness and reduce rollover deaths, injuries, and costs.
Former Vice President Gore selected a team from the Food and Drug Administration led by Sharon L. Natanblut as the thirteenth winner. The team developed a packet of materials for cigarette retailers to help them comply with the tobacco regulation aimed a packet of material at decreasing illegal sales of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to kids. In response to requests for easy-to-read information to encourage clerks not to sell tobacco products to young people, the FDA partnered with Arnold Communications to develop a free "No ID, No Smokes" retailer kit filled with posters, signs, fact sheets, counter mates, and other materials. More than 30,000 retailers requested the free materials in November to use during the great American smokeout campaign. 90% of retailers who used the eye-catching materials reported that they helped educate both clerks and customers. Dr. Jane Henney, FDA Commissioner said, "This innovative approach shows that FDA knows how to use a light approach to make a serious message stand out in the busy retail environment." View two of the billboards.
Twelfth Plain Language Award
Former Vice President Gore selected the Social Security Administration's newly rewritten form, "Your Social Security Statement," as the winner of his September plain language award. The principal authors of the rewrite, Marlene Pegg and Maruita Bontz, are the official recipients of the award. Read the press release or see the new statement. Morley Winograd presented the award at a ceremony in the Indian Treaty Room of the Old Executive Office Building. The ceremony was held on December 2.
Eleventh Plain Language Award
Former Vice President Gore presented Dan Clem, an employee of NASA's John Space Center in Houston, with the July plain language award. Dan won for his work rewriting the Center's Health and Safety manual. The award ceremony was held at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum during a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the first Apollo mission. Get more information about the award, and sample text from the manual.
Tenth Plain Language Award
Former Vice President Gore selected a pamphlet on mammograms, from the Food and Drug Administration, as the June, 1999 plain language award. The awardee, Laurel Eu of the San Francisco office of FDA, worked with local Asian Pacific communities to translate this important pamphlet into seven Asian Pacific languages--Cambodian, Thai, Samoan, Vietnamese, Laotian, Korean, and Chinese. Morley Winograd presented the award to Ms. Eu at a ceremony in the Indian Treaty Room of the Old Executive Office Building. The ceremony was held on December 2.
Ninth Plain Language Award
Former Vice President Gore presented the ninth plain language award to the Veterans Benefits Administration for its program on Reader-Focused Writing in an April 26 closed ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Melodee Mercer, Insurance Service, Philadelphia; Chuck Graffam, Vocational Rehabilitation, Washington, DC; and Wayne Taylor, Compensation and Pensions, Washington, DC., accepted the award on behalf of the national "reader-focused writing" team. VBA has already trained 800 employees in techniques of writing for the reader. In June, they are starting another round of training, with a goal of training 8000 employees in these techniques.
Get more information and sample text from one of VBA's many rewritten letters.
Eighth Plain Language Award
Former Vice President Gore presented the eighth plain language award to the Food and Drug Administration for its new over-the-counter drug labeling requirements in a March 11, 1999 ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Dr. Debra Bowen received the award. During the ceremony, Mr. Gore noted that the new rule "will ensure that the labels on medicine we buy over the counter are no longer written in language that is over our heads. Starting here and now, when children wake up sick in the middle of the night, parents won't have to read a dictionary to read the directions. And people won't need a magnifying glass to find out what's in their medicine." Former Secretary Shalala noted how important it was to give clear instructions to everyone who buys and uses these products. Over the past few years, many powerful drugs once available only by prescription have become available over-the-counter.
Get more information about the new labels.
Seventh Plain Language Award
Then Vice President Gore awarded the seventh plain language award to the Securities and Exchange Commission in a closed ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 26. Nancy Smith and Brian Lane received the award for their rewrite of industry legalese in financial disclosure documents. You can see many different before and after examples in SEC's plain English handbook. Read the press release.
Sixth Plain Language Award
Vice President Gore awarded the sixth plain language award to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for rewrites of several different documents concerning winter and holiday safety. The ceremony was held in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on December 21. The award winners were Donald Jacks and Barbara Patasce. Get the press release.
Fifth Plain Language Award
Vice President Gore awarded the fifth plain language award to the Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service, for a rewrite of their web page on the hazards of poultry stuffing. The ceremony was on November 24, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Get more information and the text that won the award.
Fourth Plain Language Award
Vice President Gore awarded the fourth plain language award to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for a draft regulation describing the process for complaining about discrimination in housing. The ceremony occurred on October 28 in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Get more information and see the text that won the award.
Third Plain Language Award
Vice President Gore awarded the third plain language award to the General Services Administration travel regulation on September 24 in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Following the ceremony, Morley Winograd, the Vice President's Senior Domestic Policy Advisor and the Executive Director of NPR, chaired the first full meeting ot the Plain Language Action Network. This is the group of officials appointed by their departments to implement the President's June 1 memorandum on plain language. Get more information and see the text that won the award.
Second Plain Language Award
Vice President Gore, with comedian Al Franken in tow, presented the second No Gobbledygook Award on August 5 to Chris Fontecchio and Richard Hoops from the Bureau of Land Management. Chris and Richard shortened a dense, full-page regulation to a crisp, four-sentence paragraph.
BEFORE
Sec. 3264.2-1 Application for utilization permit.
(a) A permit to construct and operate an individual production well facility of not more than 10-megawatt net capacity or heat energy equivalent, including all related on-lease facilities, must be obtained from the authorized officer prior to commencing surface disturbing activities related to the construction and operation of each such facility. The application for a permit in this respect shall be filed in triplicate with the authorized officer and must state the location of the principal facility and all related sites by distance in meters and direction from the nearest section or tract lines, as shown on the official plat of survey or protracted surveys, and the elevation of the ground level at these sites. The application must be accompanied by a proposed plan of utilization, as required by Sec. 3262.4-1 of this title. All individual well production facilities must be constructed and operated in accordance with the requirements of the regulations in this group and any other applicable regulations.
(b) A permit to construct and operate a research and demonstration facility (involving one or more wells) of not more than 20-megawatt net capacity or heat energy equivalent, including all related on-lease facilities, must be obtained from the authorized officer prior to commencing any surface disturbing activities related to the construction or operations of each such facility. The application for a permit in this respect shall be filed in triplicate with the authorized officer and must state the location of the principal facility and all related sites by distance in meters and direction from the nearest section or tract lines, as shown on the official plat of survey or protracted surveys, and the elevation of the ground level at these sites. The application must be accompanied by a proposed plan of utilization, as required by Sec. 3262.4-1 of this title. Any permit issued for a research and demonstration facility shall be for an initial term of not more than 5 years from the date that the facility becomes operational. All research and demonstration facilities must be constructed and operated in accordance with the requirements of the regulations in this part, 43 CFR Group 3200, and other applicable regulations. The continued beneficial use of a research and demonstration facility beyond the initial term provided by any such permit, or the conversion of the facility to a plant facility at that time or at any time during the initial permit period, will require that a license be obtained from the responsible officer of the surface managing agency pursuant to the regulations in this group.
(c) A permit to construct and operate any plant facility, other than as provided in paragraph (a) or (b) of this section, including all related on-lease facilities, must be obtained from the authorized officer prior to commencing any surface disturbing activities related to the construction or operation of each such facility. If the proposed plant facility is to have an output of greater than 20-megawatt net capacity, or heat energy equivalent, the facility operator must also obtain a license or such other permit as may be required pursuant to the regulations in this group. The application for a permit in this respect shall be filed in triplicate with the authorized officer and must state the location of the principal facility and all related sites by distance in meters and direction from the nearest section or tract lines, as shown on the official plat of survey or protracted surveys, and the elevation of the ground level at these sites. The application must be accompanied by a proposed plan of utilization, as required by Sec. 3262.4-1 of this title. All plant facilities must be constructed and operated in accordance with the requirements of the regulations in this group and any other applicable regulations.
AFTER
Sec. 3271.10 What do I need to start preparing a site and building and testing a utilization facility on Federal land leased for geothermal resources?
If you want to use federal land to produce geothermal power, you have to get a site license and construction permit before you even start preparing the site. Send a plan to the BLM that shows what you want to do and write up a proposed site license agreement that you think is fair and reasonable. BLM will review it and decide whether or not to give you a permit and license to proceed with work on the site. Until and unless they do, don't even think about it.
First Plain Language Award
Vice President Gore gave the first No-Gobbledygook plain language award to Marthe Kent of OSHA on June 30 in the White House. Marthe received the award for an upcoming OSHA regulation on Dip Tanks. Here's the section of the old and new regulation the Vice President read as part of the ceremony.
BEFORE:
1910(94(d) (1) General.
(i) This paragraph applies to all operations involving the immersion of materials in liquids, or in the vapors of such liquids, for the purpose of cleaning or altering the surface or adding to or imparting a finish thereto or changing the character of the materials, and their subsequent removal form the liquid or vapor, draining, and drying. These operations include washing, electroplating, anodizing, pickling, quenching, dyeing, dipping, tanning, dressing, bleaching, degreasing, alkaline cleaning, striping, rinsing, digesting,and other similar operations.
AFTER:
1910.122
(a) When does this rule apply?
(1) This rule applies to operations using a dip tank containing any liquid other than water:
(i) To clean an object;
(ii) To coat an object;
(iii) To alter the surface of an object; or
(iv) To change the character of an object.
(2) This rule also applies to drying or draining an object after dipping.