EPA Science Advisors Question “Secret Science” Rule on Data Transparency
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/epa-science-advisors-question-secret-science-rule-on-data-transparency/
Science advisors to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) voted on 31 May to review a series of controversial rules that the agency has proposed over the past eight months. They include a plan that would limit the types of scientific research that the EPA could use to justify environmental regulations, and proposals to strike down limits on greenhouse-gas emissions.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt framed the data rule as part of a push for transparency—and against ‘secret science’—when he released it on 24 April. The policy would prevent the EPA from relying on studies that include any non-public data. The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) decision today to review the rule comes after earlier criticism by some of its members. In a 12 May memorandum, an SAB working group chastised the EPA for not submitting the proposal to the board for review.