Bill Would End EPA Use of “Secret Science”

[Geee]

Heartland:

The House Science Committee under Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) passed H. R. 4012, “The Secret Science Reform Act,” out of committee in June. Further action on the bill, including a possible floor vote, may take place when Republicans take control of the Senate in January.

 

The bill would “prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from proposing, finalizing, or disseminating regulations or assessments based upon science that is not transparent or reproducible.”

 

Data Routinely Hidden

 

Each year the Environmental Protection Agency issues hundreds of new regulations with significant effects on the economy. According to the EPA, the regulations are intended to protect human health and the environment and will ultimately create jobs.

 

For years, however, members of the U.S. House of Representatives have complained the data and research used to justify EPA regulations has been hidden, unavailable for review even by the congressional committees with oversight of the EPA.

 

Myron Ebell, director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said, “The EPA has based regulations costing tens of billions of dollars on secret studies.