A bill passed through the US House of Representatives is designed to prevent qualified, independent scientists from advising the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They will be replaced with industry affiliated choices, who may or may not have relevant scientific expertise, but whose paychecks benefit from telling the EPA what their employers want to hear.

The EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) was established in 1978 to ensure the EPA uses the most up to date and relevant scientific research for its decision making and that the EPA's programs reflect this advice. It has served in this role, most often uncontroversially, through 36 years and six presidents. If the new bill passes the Senate and wins presidential approval, however, that is about to change.

It's hard to be against “balance”, which no doubt helped Rep Chris Stewart (R-Utah) gather 229-191 support for his bill H.R. 1422 to overhaul the way appointments to the SAB are made. Of the 51 members of the SAB, three come from the industries the EPA is regulating. Stewart wants more, saying, "All we're asking is that there be some balance to those experts…We're losing valuable insight and valuable guidance because we don't include them in the process."

However, deeper investigation suggests the agenda involves more than getting input from a wider range of backgrounds. For one thing, the vote was largely on party lines with four Democrats supporting and one brave Republican opposed. Moreover, Stewart doesn't have much of a record for listening to genuine scientific expertise, considering 98% of qualified scientists' assessments irrelevant.

Moreover, Stewart has made clear he doesn't believe the EPA should exist at all, calling for its scrapping because it “thwarts energy development”. Axing a body that ensures water is drinkable and air doesn't kill you is politically hard, but nobbling is easier.

The legislation has been under consideration since 2013. At an early hearing on the bill Dr Francesca Grifo, previously director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History testified, “Conflicts of interest threaten the integrity of science. Specifically, the objectivity of the members of an advisory committee and the public's trust in the advice rendered by that committee are damaged when a member of an advisory committee has a secondary interest that creates a risk of undue influence on decisions or actions affecting the matters in front of the committee.”

The bill would prevent scientists from voting on the release into the environment of a chemical by their employers. Nevertheless, they would be allowed to vote to release a nearly identical chemical, Grifo notes, including some that would set a precedent that would be very useful to the company in future decisions.

More insidiously, research scientists are barred under the act from advising on any topic that might “directly or indirectly involve review and evaluation of their own work”. In other words, the only people barred from advising the EPA on a particular chemical are those who have actually studied its toxicity or effect on the environment.

Bran Dawri wrote:
It's still a slowed bill to pass, though. This will not solve the issues with the EPA, only add new ones. Have these people never heard of "conflict of interest"?

...

Given what I see on this forum and in the news whenever I can be arsed to watch/follow it, the USA is in dire need of a new revolution...

EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2013 - Amends the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 to revise the process of selecting members of the Science Advisory Board, guidelines for participation in Board advisory activities, and terms of office. (The Board provides scientific advice to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA].) Prohibits federally registered lobbyists from being appointed to the Board.

Revises the procedures for providing advice and comments to the Administrator by: (1) including risk or hazard assessments in the regulatory proposals and documents made available to the Board, and (2) requiring advice and comments to be included in the record regarding any such proposal and published in the Federal Register.

Revises the operation of Board member committees and investigative panels to: (1) require that they operate in accordance with the membership, participation, and policy requirements (including new requirements for public participation in advisory activities of the Board) contained in this Act; (2) deny them authority to make decisions on behalf of the Board; and (3) prohibit direct reporting to EPA.

Adds guidelines for the conduct of Board advisory activities, including concerning: (1) avoidance of making policy determinations or recommendations, (2) communication of uncertainties, (3) dissenting members' views, and (4) periodic reviews to ensure that such activities address the most important scientific issues affecting EPA.

Prohibits this Act from being construed as supplanting the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act or the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.

To amend the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration
Authorization Act of 1978 to provide for Scientific Advisory Board
member qualifications, public participation, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``EPA Science Advisory Board Reform
Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD.

(a) Independent Advice.--Section 8(a) of the Environmental
Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 (42
U.S.C. 4365(a)) is amended by inserting ``independently'' after
``Advisory Board which shall''.
(b) Membership.--Section 8(b) of the Environmental Research,
Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C.
4365(b)) is amended to read as follows:
``(b)(1) The Board shall be composed of at least nine members, one
of whom shall be designated Chairman, and shall meet at such times and
places as may be designated by the Chairman.
``(2) Each member of the Board shall be qualified by education,
training, and experience to evaluate scientific and technical
information on matters referred to the Board under this section. The
Administrator shall ensure that--
``(A) the scientific and technical points of view
represented on and the functions to be performed by the Board
are fairly balanced among the members of the Board;
``(B) at least ten percent of the membership of the Board
are from State, local, or tribal governments;
``(C) persons with substantial and relevant expertise are
not excluded from the Board due to affiliation with or
representation of entities that may have a potential interest
in the Board's advisory activities, so long as that interest is
fully disclosed to the Administrator and the public and
appointment to the Board complies with section 208 of title 18,
United States Code;
``(D) in the case of a Board advisory activity on a
particular matter involving a specific party, no Board member
having an interest in the specific party shall participate in
that activity;
``(E) Board members may not participate in advisory
activities that directly or indirectly involve review or
evaluation of their own work;
``(F) Board members shall be designated as special
Government employees; and
``(G) no federally registered lobbyist is appointed to the
Board.
``(3) The Administrator shall--
``(A) solicit public nominations for the Board by
publishing a notification in the Federal Register;
``(B) solicit nominations from relevant Federal agencies,
including the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, the
Interior, and Health and Human Services;
``(C) make public the list of nominees, including the
identity of the entities that nominated each, and shall accept
public comment on the nominees;
``(D) require that, upon their provisional nomination,
nominees shall file a written report disclosing financial
relationships and interests, including Environmental Protection
Agency grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, or other
financial assistance, that are relevant to the Board's advisory
activities for the three-year period prior to the date of their
nomination, and relevant professional activities and public
statements for the five-year period prior to the date of their
nomination; and
``(E) make such reports public, with the exception of
specific dollar amounts, for each member of the Board upon such
member's selection.
``(4) Disclosure of relevant professional activities under
paragraph (3)(D) shall include all representational work, expert
testimony, and contract work as well as identifying the party for which
the work was done.
``(5) Except when specifically prohibited by law, the Agency shall
make all conflict of interest waivers granted to members of the Board,
member committees, or investigative panels publicly available.
``(6) Any recusal agreement made by a member of the Board, a member
committee, or an investigative panel, or any recusal known to the
Agency that occurs during the course of a meeting or other work of the
Board, member committee, or investigative panel shall promptly be made
public by the Administrator.
``(7) The terms of the members of the Board shall be three years
and shall be staggered so that the terms of no more than one-third of
the total membership of the Board shall expire within a single fiscal
year. No member shall serve more than two terms over a ten-year
period.''.
(c) Record.--Section 8(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 4365(c)) is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by inserting ``or draft risk or hazard
assessment,'' after ``at the time any proposed'';
(B) by striking ``formal''; and
(C) by inserting ``or draft risk or hazard
assessment,'' after ``to the Board such proposed''; and
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by inserting ``or draft risk or hazard
assessment,'' after ``the scientific and technical
basis of the proposed''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following: ``The
Board's advice and comments, including dissenting views
of Board members, and the response of the Administrator
shall be included in the record with respect to any
proposed risk or hazard assessment, criteria document,
standard, limitation, or regulation and published in
the Federal Register.''.
(d) Member Committees and Investigative Panels.--Section 8(e)(1)(A)
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 4365(e)(1)(A)) is amended by adding at the end
the following: ``These member committees and investigative panels--
``(i) shall be constituted and operate in
accordance with the provisions set forth in
paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b), in
subsection (h), and in subsection (i);
``(ii) do not have authority to make
decisions on behalf of the Board; and
``(iii) may not report directly to the
Environmental Protection Agency.''.
(e) Public Participation.--Section 8 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 4365)
is amended by amending subsection (h) to read as follows:
``(h)(1) To facilitate public participation in the advisory
activities of the Board, the Administrator and the Board shall make
public all reports and relevant scientific information and shall
provide materials to the public at the same time as received by members
of the Board.
``(2) Prior to conducting major advisory activities, the Board
shall hold a public information-gathering session to discuss the state
of the science related to the advisory activity.
``(3) Prior to convening a member committee or investigative panel
under subsection (e) or requesting scientific advice from the Board,
the Administrator shall accept, consider, and address public comments
on questions to be asked of the Board. The Board, member committees,
and investigative panels shall accept, consider, and address public
comments on such questions and shall not accept a question that unduly
narrows the scope of an advisory activity.
``(4) The Administrator and the Board shall encourage public
comments, including oral comments and discussion during the
proceedings, that shall not be limited by an insufficient or arbitrary
time restriction. Public comments shall be provided to the Board when
received. The Board's reports shall include written responses to
significant comments offered by members of the public to the Board.
``(5) Following Board meetings, the public shall be given 15
calendar days to provide additional comments for consideration by the
Board.''.
(f) Operations.--Section 8 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 4365) is further
amended by amending subsection (i) to read as follows:
``(i)(1) In carrying out its advisory activities, the Board shall
strive to avoid making policy determinations or recommendations, and,
in the event the Board feels compelled to offer policy advice, shall
explicitly distinguish between scientific determinations and policy
advice.
``(2) The Board shall clearly communicate uncertainties associated
with the scientific advice provided to the Administrator or Congress.
``(3) The Board shall ensure that advice and comments reflect the
views of the members and shall encourage dissenting members to make
their views known to the public, the Administrator, and Congress.
``(4) The Board shall conduct periodic reviews to ensure that its
advisory activities are addressing the most important scientific issues
affecting the Environmental Protection Agency.
``(5) The Board shall be fully and timely responsive to
Congress.''.

SEC. 3. RELATION TO THE FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.

Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be
construed as supplanting the requirements of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).

SEC. 4. RELATION TO THE ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1978.

Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be
construed as supplanting the requirements of the Ethics in Government
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).

Passed the House of Representatives November 18, 2014.

Attest:

KAREN L. HAAS,

Clerk.

Bran Dawri wrote:

Given what I see on this forum and in the news whenever I can be arsed to watch/follow it, the USA is in dire need of a new revolution...