Geoscience Policy Monthly Review
april 2018
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federal agencies
EPA proposes new transparency rule for regulatory science
April 30, 2018
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a new proposed rule, titled Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science, in the Federal Register on April 30. In the rulemaking summary, the EPA states, “the proposed regulation provides that when EPA develops regulations, including regulations for which the public is likely to bear the cost of compliance, with regard to those scientific studies that are pivotal to the action being taken, EPA should ensure that the data underlying those are publicly available in a manner sufficient for independent validation.” In particular, the proposed rule focuses on dose response data and models.
The EPA is soliciting public comments until May 30, 2018. In addition to overall comments on the rule, the request for comment section includes 25 specific solicitations for the proposed science transparency policy. Scientific organizations have expressed concern for the short comment period given the complexity of the rule and the rule’s potential to restrict the science that informs rule making due to reproducibility constraints and utilizing private data.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt signed the proposed rule on April 24 with House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX-21) and Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) by his side. Representative Smith and Senator Rounds introduced the Honest and Open New EPA Science Treatment (HONEST) Act (H.R.1430/S.1794) last year that included similar, but broader, language to the proposed rule. The HONEST Act would amend the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 to prohibit the EPA from proposing, finalizing, or disseminating a covered action unless all scientific and technical information relied on to support such action is the best available science, specifically identified, and publicly available in a manner sufficient for independent analysis and substantial reproduction of research results. The House passed H.R.1430 on March 29, despite concerns from the scientific community that the ability of federal agencies to utilize rigorous science in establishing policies could be undermined by such legislation. Of particular concern were the confidentiality of private data and the potential limitations this legislation could impose on using results from scientific studies that cannot be reproduced because they are based on single events or long-term (e.g., multi-decade) data.
Sources: American Association for the Advancement of Science, E&E News, Federal Register, Library of Congress, Union of Concerned Scientists
Senate confirms USGS Director, NASA Administrator, Secretary of State, EPA Deputy Administrator
April 26, 2018
On April 9, the Senate unanimously confirmed Dr. James Reilly as Director of the U.S. Geological Survey. Dr. Reilly was nominated by President Donald Trump on February 15 and testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on March 6. He is expected to take up his duties as director in early- to mid-May.
A few days later, on April 12, the Senate voted on near party lines (53-45) to confirm Andrew Wheeler as Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), months after his original nomination by the President for this position in October 2017. Also originally nominated in the fall of 2017, Representative James Bridenstine was confirmed by the Senate as Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on April 19 with a party-line vote (50-49). The confirmation of Representative Bridenstine comes as Acting Director Robert Lightfoot retires at the end of the April.
Following the departure of former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in March, Michael Pompeo, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was confirmed by the Senate (57-42) as the Trump Administration’s second appointment for Secretary of State on April 26. Among its geoscience-related responsibilities, the Department of State houses the Office of Global Change, responsible for negotiating, implementing, and managing U.S. international policy on climate change, and leads U.S. government participation in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
On April 14, President Trump announced his intent to nominate James Hubbard to be the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment, which oversees the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). After working for the Colorado Forest Service for 35 years, Mr. Hubbard worked as Director of the Office of Wildland Fire Coordination for the Department of the Interior as well as Deputy Chief for State and Private Forestry at the Forest Service. Mr. Hubbard received his B.A. in forest management from Colorado State University.
To track the confirmation process of key geoscience presidential nominations from the Trump Administration, visit AGI’s Federal Nominations page.
Sources: Library of Congress, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of the Interior, White House