EPA Plans to Propose Supplemental to " Secret Science " Rule Next Year

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing to propose a supplemental addition to the proposed rule “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science” also referred to as the “secret science” rule, according to a report in the New York Times. The regulation, first proposed by former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in April 2018, would bar the use of scientific studies in crafting regulations unless the underlying data “are publicly available in a manner sufficient for independent validation.” The proposal received more than 600,000 comments during a public comment period last year, most of them critical of the proposal or opposing it, including from AIBS and other scientific and public health groups. In response to the comments, the agency has drafted a “supplemental proposal” intending to clarify “certain aspects” of the proposed rule. The “supplemental proposal” would widen the scope of the original proposal by requiring scientists to disclose all raw data before the agency could consider the study’s findings in formulating regulations. According to EPA officials, the disclosure of raw data would allow research findings to be verified independently. In the previous version of the rule, the transparency requirement was applicable only to dose-response studies in which the reactions of animal or human subjects to increasing levels of pollutants or other chemicals are measured. The rev...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news