{"id":28498,"date":"2021-01-08T00:01:38","date_gmt":"2021-01-08T04:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=28498"},"modified":"2021-01-08T11:49:18","modified_gmt":"2021-01-08T15:49:18","slug":"trump-epa-adopts-rule-to-undermine-science-in-decision-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/01\/trump-epa-adopts-rule-to-undermine-science-in-decision-making\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump EPA Adopts Rule to Undermine Science in Decision-Making"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, January 8, 2021) In an eleventh-hour move, the Trump administration\u2019s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on January 5 the finalization of its controversial, so-called \u201ctransparency\u201d rule<\/a>. The agency claims that the rule\u2014 dubbed \u201cStrengthening Transparency in Pivotal Science Underlying Significant Regulatory Actions and Influential Scientific Information<\/a>\u201d\u2014which mandates that researchers provide to EPA access to their raw data, will improve the credibility of its regulations because the public would be able to validate research that influences EPA regulations. In fact, as researchers and advocates recognize, this rule will significantly restrict the scientific research EPA uses in developing regulations to protect human health. This rule will mitigate against use of the best and broadest knowledge base in developing protections for the American people. In its article on the EPA announcement, The<\/em> Washington Post<\/em> explains<\/a> that the rule would \u201cactually restrict the EPA from using some of the most consequential research on human subjects because it often includes confidential medical records and other proprietary data that cannot be released because of privacy concerns.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Trevor Nace of\u00a0Forbes<\/em>\u00a0magazine writes<\/a>\u00a0of the proposed rule: \u2018It literally throws out fundamental and hallmark environmental studies the EPA paid scientists to conduct and [which it used to] build the foundation of many of our air and water quality guidelines.\u2019 It should be noted that such studies have been rigorously peer reviewed, and vetted scientists can already obtain access to such anonymized data from the EPA, so the conservative claim that EPA has used \u2018secret science\u2019 is misleading.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The rule will require access to the raw data underlying research being reviewed for agency rulemaking before the agency relies on any of its conclusions. It will, essentially, create \u201ctiers\u201d for the consideration of research studies, with those providing access to public data getting priority over those that do not. But the EPA-touted \u201ctransparency\u201d comes at a huge cost: the elimination of the use of many, many studies from consideration in EPA\u2019s development of protective regulations on all kinds of potentially harmful contaminants, including pesticides.<\/p>\r\n

Public health advocates, environmental groups, and many scientists say that the rule would largely prevent the agency from using landmark, long-standing studies\u00a0on the harmful effects of air pollution and pesticide exposure. Beyond Pesticides explained back in 2018,<\/a> \u201cIn studies over the past few decades, researchers frequently collected data \u2014 often about personal, health, and medical status and practices \u2014 with subjects\u2019 permission, and signed confidentiality agreements with those subjects, agreeing to keep the information private. Such data were anonymized and reported to the EPA with the requirement that subjects\u2019 personal information not be made public.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

EPA will use this new rule in review of dose-response studies that assess the relationship between the magnitude of exposure to a substance or chemical and the risks of harm. The rule will apply not only to the research bases of \u201csignificant regulatory action,\u201d says EPA, but also, to \u201cinfluential scientific information\u201d EPA might share, via its website, the Federal Register, or other means, with the public. EPA reassures that the rule would not be applied retroactively to research informing regulations already in place, but only to studies underlying future rules. However, as The New York Times reports<\/em><\/a>, \u201cPublic health experts . . . warned that studies that have been used for decades to show, for example, that lead in paint dust is tied to behavioral disorders in children might be inadmissible when existing regulations come up for renewal.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler addressed such concerns<\/a> by saying that important research studies, which have \u201cinfluenced key federal pollution standards that have\u00a0saved thousands of lives<\/a>\u00a0and been economically beneficial, might still be able to inform future policies if the next administrator determines it is justified and publishes the reasoning behind that decision.\u201d The Washington Post<\/em><\/a> notes that \u201cThe EPA administrator is allowed to waive the requirement on a case-by-case basis, but it is possible that outside groups could challenge those waivers in court.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

For years, conservative Republicans have lobbied for this restriction on useable research because it gives chemical industry and broader industrial interests far more latitude to challenge regulations. Some critics call the rule \u201clitigation bait\u201d that provides increased opportunity for industrial interests to do just that. According to The Washington Post<\/em>,<\/a> a couple of studies that resulted in tighter regulations, especially, got stuck in conservatives\u2019 craws: \u201ca\u00a01993 Harvard University \u2018Six Cities\u2019 project<\/a>\u00a0that linked air pollution to premature deaths, and a Columbia University analysis of a widely used pesticide,\u00a0chlorpyrifos<\/a>, that suggested the chemical causes neurological damage in babies.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

In October 2020, Beyond Pesticides noted that<\/a>: \u201cE&E<\/em>\u00a0wrote in 2018<\/a>\u00a0about the influence of the pesticide industry on the Trump EPA, noting that the agency\u2019s rationale on the emerging new \u2018secret science\u2019 rule echoed closely the arguments that officials from CropLife America, an industry trade group, had been making in their multiple closed-door meetings with then-Administrator Pruitt and current Administrator Wheeler.\u201d A former director of the EPA Science Advisory Board (who retired in 2018 after nearly four decades at the agency), Chris Zarba, called<\/a> the rule \u201ca bold attempt to get science out of the way so special interests can do what they want.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

This rule was pursued early on<\/a> in the Trump administration by then\u2013EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. With several such conservatives installed in leadership at the current EPA, this restriction on useable research got significant traction. The New York Times<\/em> writes<\/a> that this move by EPA takes a page from the tobacco industry\u2019s plan, 25 years ago, to create \u201cexplicit procedural hurdles\u201d for EPA to navigate in order to address the health impacts of smoking. \u201cPresident Trump\u2019s EPA has now embedded parts of that strategy into federal environmental policy.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The American Chemistry Council is pleased with this final rule; spokesperson Jon Corley issued a statement<\/a> saying, \u201cIt will strengthen EPA\u2019s regulatory process by helping ensure that it is relying on the best available science \u2014 science that is reliable and unbiased \u2014 and by making the underlying research and data publicly available in ways that protect personal privacy, confidential business information, proprietary interests and intellectual property rights.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

But Thomas Sinks, PhD, former leader of the EPA Office of the Science Advisor, and other scientists point to EPA\u2019s existing and robust scientific integrity policy, as well as its long-standing peer-review process of any data on which the agency relies. He also notes<\/a> that the impetus for this rule is \u201cbased on a conspiracy theory, which is that EPA practices secret science. But there\u2019s no evidence EPA practices secret science. . . . I\u2019m mostly concerned about the fact this rule and other actions like this rule are diminishing the efforts and the importance of science and scientists within the federal government. That is a dangerous precedent.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The Union of Concerned Scientists Center for Science and Democracy Director Andrew Rosenberg, PhD, who commonly review scientific studies before they are published in academic journals, notes that EPA\u2019s focus on access to raw data is misplaced. He counters EPA\u2019s justification<\/a> for the requirement: \u201cAs a well-experienced peer reviewer, I very rarely scrutinize raw data. Rather, I look at data collection and analysis methods, summary and other statistics and graphics[,] and results and conclusions to determine the validity of a study and the strength of its scientific evidence.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Dr. Rosenberg\u2019s critique continues:<\/a> \u201cFundamentally what the tiering system does is substitute non-scientific criteria \u2014 availability of data \u2014 for weighing the study or deciding how important the study is. Whether the data is available or not has nothing to do with whether science is strong and whether it\u2019s showing strong evidence of a health impact.\u201d He added to this his doubt that members of the public will review millions of lines of raw data to evaluate EPA\u2019s work.<\/p>\r\n

Dr. Rosenberg adds<\/a> that because researchers are reluctant to release individual medical records used in human studies, or are legally bound to keep such data private, this new rule \u201cdisproportionately affects \u2018epidemiological studies, which is ironic in the midst of a pandemic. Because these data can\u2019t be made public, EPA will ignore epidemiological evidence of population-level effects of contaminants, pollution and other environmental threats.\u2019\u201d According to The Hill<\/em><\/a>, he also referenced the 2018 pushback on this rule from EPA\u2019s independent Science Advisory Board in this comment: \u201cTheir own scientists said this is just a bad idea, and they said, \u2018Well we\u2019re doing it anyway.\u2019 If it\u2019s about better science, don’t you think the scientists might know something about that?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The timing of such a rule is additionally disturbing. Dr. Mary Rice, a pulmonary and critical care physician who is chair of the environmental health policy committee at the American Thoracic Society, has commented<\/a>: \u201cRight now we\u2019re in the grips of a serious public health crisis due to a deadly respiratory virus, and there\u2019s evidence showing that air pollution exposure increases the risk of worse outcomes. We would want EPA going forward to make decisions about air quality using all available evidence, not just putting arbitrary limits on what it will consider.\u201d She added, \u201cThe concern is . . . [that] EPA could not consider some of the most compelling evidence on how air pollution affects the risks of adverse outcomes with the infection.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Senator Tom Carper of Delaware<\/a> has \u201ccalled the rule \u2018one last gasp of science denial\u2019 before the Biden administration is sworn in. \u2018While I continue to be amazed by this administration\u2019s penchant for science denial, I am confident that this irresponsible rollback \u2014 finalized in the last few days of the Trump administration \u2014 will not impede the incoming administration\u2019s efforts to restore the use of science in rulemaking.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Finalizing the rule two weeks before the inauguration of a new President underscores the administration\u2019s determination to carry out its agenda to the Nth degree and, some critics argue, to make undoing its damage as difficult as possible for the incoming Biden-Harris administration. The new administration\u2019s EPA is likely to overturn the rule, but that process could take at least a few months, given the number of critical Trump policy and executive order \u201creversals\u201d that the incoming administration is expected to undertake.<\/p>\r\n

Source: https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/climate-environment\/2021\/01\/04\/epa-scientific-transparency\/<\/a>;<\/p>\r\n

Final Rule – Strengthening Transparency in Pivotal Science Underlying Significant Regulatory Actions and Influential Scientific Information<\/a><\/p>\r\n

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides, January 8, 2021) In an eleventh-hour move, the Trump administration\u2019s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on January 5 the finalization of its controversial, so-called \u201ctransparency\u201d rule. The agency claims that the rule\u2014 dubbed \u201cStrengthening Transparency in Pivotal Science Underlying Significant Regulatory Actions and Influential Scientific Information\u201d\u2014which mandates that researchers provide to EPA access to their raw data, will improve the credibility of its regulations because the public would be able to validate research that influences EPA regulations. In fact, as researchers and advocates recognize, this rule will significantly restrict the scientific research EPA uses in developing regulations to protect human health. This rule will mitigate against use of the best and broadest knowledge base in developing protections for the American people. In its article on the EPA announcement, The Washington Post explains that the rule would \u201cactually restrict the EPA from using some of the most consequential research on human subjects because it often includes confidential medical records and other proprietary data that cannot be released because of privacy concerns.\u201d Trevor Nace of\u00a0Forbes\u00a0magazine writes\u00a0of the proposed rule: \u2018It literally throws out fundamental and hallmark environmental studies the EPA paid scientists to conduct and [which it used to] build […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[354,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environmental-protection-agency-epa","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump EPA Adopts Rule to Undermine Science in Decision-Making - 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\/2021\/01\/trump-epa-adopts-rule-to-undermine-science-in-decision-making\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump EPA Adopts Rule to Undermine Science in Decision-Making - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Beyond Pesticides, January 8, 2021) In an eleventh-hour move, the Trump administration\u2019s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on January 5 the finalization of its controversial, so-called \u201ctransparency\u201d rule. The agency claims that the rule\u2014 dubbed \u201cStrengthening Transparency in Pivotal Science Underlying Significant Regulatory Actions and Influential Scientific Information\u201d\u2014which mandates that researchers provide to EPA access to their raw data, will improve the credibility of its regulations because the public would be able to validate research that influences EPA regulations. In fact, as researchers and advocates recognize, this rule will significantly restrict the scientific research EPA uses in developing regulations to protect human health. This rule will mitigate against use of the best and broadest knowledge base in developing protections for the American people. 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