In a recent interview with The Daily Caller, followed by an EPA news release on March 20, agency Administrator Scott Pruitt announced he would soon end EPA’s use of “secret science” in developing regulations by issuing a new policy. Pruitt was quoted in the interview stating, “We need to make sure [EPA’s] data and methodology are published as part of the record. Otherwise, it’s not transparent. It’s not objectively measured, and that’s important."
According to the article, EPA regulators would only be able to consider scientific studies where the data is available to the public and any EPA-funded studies would be required to make all the data public. This new policy is similar to the HONEST Act (H.R. 1430), which was introduced in March 2017 by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas). This bill would “prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency 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.”
Former EPA administrator Gina McCarthy has criticized the plan saying it would “paralyze” the agency and “undermine the nation’s scientific credibility.” McCarthy defended the use of non-public data due to many studies relying on medical records that are confidential by law. The former administrator further explains that the “secret science” claims are not true because the process of peer review “ensures that the analytic methodologies underlying the studies funded by the agency are sound.”
The details of this policy are not yet known, and EPA has not released a timeline for possible changes.