On Monday, The New York Times reported a new draft of the EPA’s Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science rule that modifies a 2018 version. According to this draft, scientists would be required to disclose all of their data (including medical records) before the EPA would consider their study’s findings. The rule would retroactively apply to pre-existing public health regulations, which the agency said is in the interest of transparency. According to The New York Times, this version didn’t appear to consider the opposition to the rule from the public comments to the 2018 draft.
Many in the scientific and public health community criticized this potential rule. “Scientific leadership has been the hallmark of American government, and a driving force behind many of the great successes of our nation,” said Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “This proposed rule calls into question the very foundations of most environmental protections and will sow chaos in EPA’s ability to protect public health and the environment–but that seems to be the point of the proposed rule.”
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