Bill would limit power of EPA
By Robin Wilkey, Huffington Post
A new bill introduced by House Republicans would limit the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to recommend or implement policies.
The bill, dubbed the Secret Science Reform Act, would force the EPA to publicly release its research on a topic before issuing a policy recommendation, and require that the research be “reproducible.” Supporters claim the bill will increase transparency in public policy, while opponents have accused the bill’s authors of trying to “keep the EPA from doing its job.”
“Virtually every regulation proposed by the Obama administration has been justified by nontransparent data and unverifiable claims,” Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement. “The American people foot the bill for EPA’s costly regulations, and they have a right to see the underlying science. The Secret Science Reform Act of 2014, which I sponsored, prohibits EPA from using secret science to justify new regulations.”