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US EPA science board approves review of agency's science transparency policy

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board voted unanimously to review a recent proposal on science transparency that has been panned by scientists, academics, environmental groups, and others as an effort to exclude public health studies from consideration for regulatory actions.

Before discussing the matter, Science Advisory Board, or SAB, Chair Michael Honeycutt asked, "Does anyone think that SAB should not review this?" When no one raised a hand, Honeycutt quipped that the pending vote to review the Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science proposal may be the quickest decision the board had faced all day, after hours of debate on issues including particulate matter, vehicle emissions standards, the Clean Power Plan and the social cost of carbon.

The vote was a response to a recommendation from a SAB working group, which on May 12 determined that Administrator Scott Pruitt's science transparency rule "would limit the use of science based on human subject data" and was conducted without consultation from the scientific community. Announced April 24, the proposal is aimed at ensuring that the science used to develop regulations, including any data or models used within a scientific study, is publicly available in a way that allows for independent verification.

Members of the SAB said they were excluded from the development process and only found out about the proposal when Pruitt announced it at agency headquarters. Arguing that the board should have received prior notification, the working group recommended a retroactive review to examine the proposal's possible impact on regulatory actions. A vote was set for the May 31 meeting of the SAB, the first to be held with Pruitt at the helm of the EPA.

Over 20 people testified at the SAB meeting, with an overwhelming consensus recommending the board review the science transparency proposal. During the discussion some members asked what actual science would be reviewed should the measure go ahead. Other members responded by pointing to the many footnotes to scientific studies and policies cited in the proposal. "It met many of our bars" for review, working group leader Alison Cullen said.

The board also took the working group's recommendations to review, defer or pass on a number of pending EPA policies. For instance, the board will review the EPA's reconsideration of the Clean Power Plan and related new source performance standards for new and modified power plants, the new source performance standards for oil and gas, the midterm evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions standards for certain vehicles, and other measures.