CEI Report: EPA’s Science Transparency Rule Makes Science Stronger

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a public hearing on its proposed rule, “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science,” aimed at increasing transparency of scientific data used to write major regulations.

In a new Competitive Enterprise Institute report released today, CEI Senior Fellow Angela Logomasini argues the rule, if adopted, will help ensure the underlying science is valid and increase the probability that EPA regulations will actually generate public health benefits.

“This is a government accountability issue,” said Logomasini. “Transparency in regulatory science is valuable, achievable, and necessary for making sure important regulations work and provide the benefits they claim. The EPA’s proposed rule will improve science and is far more modest and flexible than critics assert.”

According to the report, the proposed rule promotes the fundamentals of the scientific process: transparent data and reproducibility. The rule’s ultimate goal should not be to determine how many regulations we have on the books, but whether those regulations are based on sound science, effective, and necessary to achieve public health and environmental goals.

“It is clear critics of the rule are not familiar with what it will actually do. Not only are its goals achievable, but this should be the beginning of a government-wide effort,” said Logomasini. “Ultimately, the value and credibility of scientific research rests on the community’s ability to rein in questionable practices that undermine the scientific discovery process. This rule is a step in that direction.”

>> Read the full report: “EPA Transparency Rule Will Bolster Science and Improve Rulemaking.”