EPA Broadens " Secret Science " Proposal

On March 3, 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a supplemental addition to the proposed rule “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science,” also referred to as the “secret science” rule, that would bar the use of scientific studies in crafting regulations unless the underlying data “are publicly available in a manner sufficient for independent validation.” According to EPA, this supplemental is not a new rulemaking and rather provides clarifications on certain terms and aspects of the proposed rule, first introduced in 2018 by former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. It was reported that EPA was planning to propose this supplemental back in November 2019. “These additions and clarifications to the proposed rule will ensure that the science supporting the agency’s decisions is transparent and available for independent validation while still maintaining protection of confidential and personally identifiable information,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. The supplemental would broaden restrictions on the type of scientific studies EPA can use when crafting regulations. The original proposal applied only to dose-response studies, while the revised plan requires that the agency rely only on studies that make all of their underlying data public. The supplemental also clarifies that the restrictions proposed under the rulemaking applies not only to the agency’s regulatory decisions but also ...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news