‘Unusual’ White House Interest Level in EPA Science Rule Review

Public interest groups say they’re encountering a surprising level of engagement from the White House regulatory clearinghouse over an EPA plan to change the way science feeds into new regulations.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s April 2018 Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science (RIN:2080-AA14) proposal, also known as the “secret science” rule, would bar the agency from using scientific research that isn’t or can’t be made public, a sharp break from the EPA’s decades-old approach to regulatory science.

Critics call the proposal a bid to sideline the science used to regulate drinking water, air quality, and toxic chemicals, because ...