{"id":27053,"date":"2020-05-29T00:01:38","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T04:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=27053"},"modified":"2020-05-29T11:16:23","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T15:16:23","slug":"epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"EPA Office of Inspector General Finds 400 Agency Employees Did Not Report Potential Scientific Integrity Policy Violations Since 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-11860\" src=\"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/epabuild.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"578\" height=\"383\" \/><\/p>\n<p>(<em>Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, May 29, 2020) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)\u2019s Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/sites\/production\/files\/2020-05\/documents\/_epaoig_20200520-20-p-0173.pdf\">released a report<\/a> highlighting employee discontent with scientific integrity (SI) within the agency. While the number of official complaints about scientific integrity have been fairly minimal over the 8 years that the 2012 policy has been in place\u2014only 85 complaints were filed\u2014the new survey found 400 EPA employees had experienced, but did not report, potential violations of EPA\u2019s scientific integrity policy. Further, according to OIG\u2019s findings, dissatisfaction regarding scientific integrity abounds within the agency.<\/p>\n<p>EPA\u2019s 2012 Scientific Integrity (SI) Policy was instated to \u201censure scientific integrity throughout EPA and promote scientific and ethical standards, including quality standards; communications with the public; the use of peer review and advisory committees; and professional development.\u201d EPA\u2019s policy defines scientific integrity as \u201cthe adherence to professional values and practices when conducting, supervising, communicating and utilizing the results of science and scholarship.\u201d OIG\u2019s performance audit took place from September 2018 to February 2019 and included a survey given between November and December of 2018. OIG\u2019s report states, \u201cThe survey was structured to examine (1) awareness of and familiarity with the SI Policy, (2) experience with the four focus areas of the SI Policy shown previously in Table 1, and (3) awareness and experience with the process for reporting potential SI violations, as well as reasons for not reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>51% of survey respondents \u201cwith a basis to judge\u201d said they disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that \u201csenior\u00a0leadership makes the basis for any policy decision accessible and transparent.\u201d Additionally, close to 60% of respondents reported dissatisfaction with EPA\u2019s culture of scientific integrity and release of scientific information to the public.<\/p>\n<p>Fear of retaliation, belief that reporting wouldn\u2019t make a difference, and perceived suppression or interference by leadership or management were common reasons employees did not report violations.<\/p>\n<p>Comments by employees noted discontent with \u201csupport for or understanding of\u201d scientific integrity by senior leadership, as well as views that political appointees \u201cdo not value or adequately consider science in policy, rulemaking, or enforcement decisions.\u201d Employees also expressed concern that leadership is \u201cgreatly\u00a0influenced by political, industry, state, or regulated groups.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an official response to the OIG report, EPA responded that, \u201cThe EPA Deputy Administrator, in cooperation with the EPA Science Advisor, will work with the Administrator to devise an action plan to address this Recommendation.\u201d They said that officials will \u201canalyze the OIG scientific integrity survey, together with previous surveys&#8230; and reports of alleged violations of the EPA Scientific Integrity Policy to inform this plan.\u201d However, the report also names an issue with enforcement regarding violations as adjudication procedures have not been finalized and EPA has pushed back their due date for completion to September 30, 2020.<\/p>\n<p>While EPA Associate Deputy Administrator Doug Benevento responded in a memo that, \u201cWe are confident that the work conducted at the Agency everyday rests upon a strong foundation of science,\u201d there is much evidence to the contrary. <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/energy-environment\/498808-epa-employees-allege-leadership-interference-with-science-in#.XsfGhnb_24Q.twitter\">The Hill<\/a> reports, \u201cLast year, former Interior Department employees<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/energy-environment\/454805-interior-whistleblowers-say-agency-has-sidelined-scientists-under\">\u00a0told lawmakers<\/a>\u00a0that they faced retaliation for the science work, and in the past, lawmakers have\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/energy-environment\/343012-dem-to-seek-investigation-into-interior-staff-reassignments?mobile_switch=standard\">called for investigations<\/a>\u00a0into an employee\u2019s claim that he was reassigned based on his work on climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beyond Pesticides acts as watchdog for scientific integrity, and has noted significant failings including EPA\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/src.bna.com\/MSF?_ga=2.243926661.1601368574.1574275179-1064337318.1574275179&amp;emci=3dbdcba6-a70c-ea11-828b-2818784d6d68&amp;emdi=ea000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&amp;ceid=\"><strong>proposal<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to increase the amount of the weed killer atrazine allowed in U.S. waterways by 50% during the chemical\u2019s registration review\u2014a stark reversal of previous proposals to significantly reduce atrazine levels in the environment. EPA also put forth <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2019\/11\/12\/2019-24514\/pesticide-registration-review-proposed-interim-decisions-for-several-pyrethroids-notice-of?utm_campaign=subscription+mailing+list&amp;utm_source=federalregister.gov&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;emci=3dbdcba6-a70c-ea11-828b-2818784d6d68&amp;emdi=ea000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&amp;ceid=\"><strong>a proposal<\/strong><\/a> to further weaken protections regarding 23 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beyondpesticides.org\/assets\/media\/documents\/mosquito\/documents\/SyntheticPyrethroids.pdf?emci=3dbdcba6-a70c-ea11-828b-2818784d6d68&amp;emdi=ea000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&amp;ceid=\">pyrethroid <\/a>insecticides that have been repeatedly linked by peer-reviewed studies to neurological issues such as <a href=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/07\/pregnant-mothers-exposed-to-insecticides-more-likely-to-have-children-who-develop-adhd\/?emci=3dbdcba6-a70c-ea11-828b-2818784d6d68&amp;emdi=ea000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&amp;ceid=\"><strong>learning disabilities in children<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>State governments, too, are standing up and taking notice: A coalition of eight attorney generals (AGs) from different states recently came together to criticize a draft risk assessment of the soil fumigant <a href=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/resources\/pesticide-gateway?pesticideid=355\">1,3-D<\/a> in which EPA proposed downgrading the cancer risk rating from \u201clikely to be carcinogenic to humans\u201d to \u201csuggestive evidence of carcinogenic potential.\u201d The AGs contend this motion is capricious and excludes entire categories of scientific evidence, <a href=\"https:\/\/oag.ca.gov\/system\/files\/attachments\/press-docs\/1%2C3-D%20Multi-State%20Comment%20Letter.pdf\">stating in their public comment<\/a>, \u201cEPA\u2019s new cancer risk classification dangerously ignores science and downplays the risks individuals face when they are exposed to 1,3-D.\u201d Standing out above the many examples cited, the singular study EPA referenced in its assessment regarding mutagenicity based its \u201cstatistical significance\u201d on a sample size of only five rats.<\/p>\n<p>Standing up for scientific integrity is more critical than ever. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/secure.everyaction.com\/6a30_OwZiEO5buCtEKwZpQ2?emci=3dbdcba6-a70c-ea11-828b-2818784d6d68&amp;emdi=ea000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&amp;ceid=\">Ask Congress to request an investigation into whether EPA is ignoring its statutory duty and regulatory requirements to use science in its proposals.<\/a><\/strong> Keep track and fight back with more actions through Beyond Pesticides\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/programs\/center-for-community-pesticide-and-alternatives-information\/action-of-the-week\">Action of the Week<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/energy-environment\/498808-epa-employees-allege-leadership-interference-with-science-in#.XsfGhnb_24Q.twitter\">The Hill<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Beyond Pesticides, May 29, 2020) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)\u2019s Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released a report highlighting employee discontent with scientific integrity (SI) within the agency. While the number of official complaints about scientific integrity have been fairly minimal over the 8 years that the 2012 policy has been in place\u2014only 85 complaints were filed\u2014the new survey found 400 EPA employees had experienced, but did not report, potential violations of EPA\u2019s scientific integrity policy. Further, according to OIG\u2019s findings, dissatisfaction regarding scientific integrity abounds within the agency. EPA\u2019s 2012 Scientific Integrity (SI) Policy was instated to \u201censure scientific integrity throughout EPA and promote scientific and ethical standards, including quality standards; communications with the public; the use of peer review and advisory committees; and professional development.\u201d EPA\u2019s policy defines scientific integrity as \u201cthe adherence to professional values and practices when conducting, supervising, communicating and utilizing the results of science and scholarship.\u201d OIG\u2019s performance audit took place from September 2018 to February 2019 and included a survey given between November and December of 2018. OIG\u2019s report states, \u201cThe survey was structured to examine (1) awareness of and familiarity with the SI Policy, (2) experience with the four focus [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[354,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environmental-protection-agency-epa","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>EPA Office of Inspector General Finds 400 Agency Employees Did Not Report Potential Scientific Integrity Policy Violations Since 2012 - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EPA Office of Inspector General Finds 400 Agency Employees Did Not Report Potential Scientific Integrity Policy Violations Since 2012 - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Beyond Pesticides, May 29, 2020) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)\u2019s Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released a report highlighting employee discontent with scientific integrity (SI) within the agency. While the number of official complaints about scientific integrity have been fairly minimal over the 8 years that the 2012 policy has been in place\u2014only 85 complaints were filed\u2014the new survey found 400 EPA employees had experienced, but did not report, potential violations of EPA\u2019s scientific integrity policy. Further, according to OIG\u2019s findings, dissatisfaction regarding scientific integrity abounds within the agency. EPA\u2019s 2012 Scientific Integrity (SI) Policy was instated to \u201censure scientific integrity throughout EPA and promote scientific and ethical standards, including quality standards; communications with the public; the use of peer review and advisory committees; and professional development.\u201d EPA\u2019s policy defines scientific integrity as \u201cthe adherence to professional values and practices when conducting, supervising, communicating and utilizing the results of science and scholarship.\u201d OIG\u2019s performance audit took place from September 2018 to February 2019 and included a survey given between November and December of 2018. OIG\u2019s report states, \u201cThe survey was structured to examine (1) awareness of and familiarity with the SI Policy, (2) experience with the four focus [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-29T04:01:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-29T15:16:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/epabuild.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ByondPesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ByondPesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4\"},\"headline\":\"EPA Office of Inspector General Finds 400 Agency Employees Did Not Report Potential Scientific Integrity Policy Violations Since 2012\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-29T04:01:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-29T15:16:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/\"},\"wordCount\":822,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/epabuild.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/\",\"name\":\"EPA Office of Inspector General Finds 400 Agency Employees Did Not Report Potential Scientific Integrity Policy Violations Since 2012 - 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While the number of official complaints about scientific integrity have been fairly minimal over the 8 years that the 2012 policy has been in place\u2014only 85 complaints were filed\u2014the new survey found 400 EPA employees had experienced, but did not report, potential violations of EPA\u2019s scientific integrity policy. Further, according to OIG\u2019s findings, dissatisfaction regarding scientific integrity abounds within the agency. EPA\u2019s 2012 Scientific Integrity (SI) Policy was instated to \u201censure scientific integrity throughout EPA and promote scientific and ethical standards, including quality standards; communications with the public; the use of peer review and advisory committees; and professional development.\u201d EPA\u2019s policy defines scientific integrity as \u201cthe adherence to professional values and practices when conducting, supervising, communicating and utilizing the results of science and scholarship.\u201d OIG\u2019s performance audit took place from September 2018 to February 2019 and included a survey given between November and December of 2018. OIG\u2019s report states, \u201cThe survey was structured to examine (1) awareness of and familiarity with the SI Policy, (2) experience with the four focus [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/","og_site_name":"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/","article_published_time":"2020-05-29T04:01:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-29T15:16:23+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/epabuild.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Beyond Pesticides","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_site":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Beyond Pesticides","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/"},"author":{"name":"Beyond Pesticides","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4"},"headline":"EPA Office of Inspector General Finds 400 Agency Employees Did Not Report Potential Scientific Integrity Policy Violations Since 2012","datePublished":"2020-05-29T04:01:38+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-29T15:16:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/"},"wordCount":822,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/epabuild.jpg","articleSection":["Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/05\/epa-office-of-inspector-general-finds-400-agency-employees-did-not-report-potential-scientific-integrity-policy-violations-since-2012\/","name":"EPA Office of Inspector General Finds 400 Agency Employees Did Not Report Potential Scientific Integrity Policy Violations Since 2012 - 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