House Bills Would Stifle Science at EPA

December 3, 2014

Three GOP-backed House bills attacking science at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are unlikely to become law in the current Congress — or the next. The Obama administration has threatened to veto all three, which the House passed in November along party lines. None is likely to muster enough support to override a veto.

Two of the three would undermine the integrity of EPA science in the name of "openness," opponents say.

One bill (HR 4012) prohibits EPA from using science to support regulations unless it publishes the names of test subjects — information normally kept confidential in research projects to encourage subjects to participate. "Republicans will claim that H.R. 4012 ... increases EPA’s transparency, but in reality it is an attempt to prevent EPA from using the best science to protect public health and the environment," House Science Committee Democrats said in a press release.

A second bill (HR 1422) sets quotas allowing more industry lobbyists to sit on EPA science advisory committees and prohibits scientists on those panels from participating in decisions on subjects they have expert knowledge of because of their own research. That bill also prohibits panel scientists from communicating directly to EPA.

The House passed HR 1422 on November 18 by a 229-191 vote, HR 4012 November 19 on a 237-190 vote, and HR 4795 on November 20 by a 238-172 vote. None is likely to be taken up by the Senate during this Congress.