Press Releases

Washington, D.C. (November 18, 2014) – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1422, the EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2013, with a bipartisan vote of 229-191. The bill makes changes to the EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) to increase public participation, increase the transparency for selecting advisors, ensure the SAB remains focused on science and not politics.

Congressional Western Caucus Co-Chairs Steve Pearce (NM-02) and Cynthia Lummis (WY-At Large) along with bill sponsor and Western Caucus member Chris Stewart (UT-02) released the following statements in response to the passage of the bill:

“Under this administration the EPA has introduced a number of economically devastating proposals that have had little scientific standing,” said Chairman Pearce.  “With so many livelihoods on the line we must ensure that the panel that reviews these regulations is fair and balanced. This bill will work to guarantee that these job killing regulations are no longer subject to a biased panel and that there is transparency in the review process. I ask that my colleagues in the Senate take up this piece of legislation immediately.”

“Robust science needs to give a voice to dissenting opinions, stick with science, and stay away from politics; unfortunately, we see just the opposite in the EPA Science Advisory Board,” said Chairman Lummis. “The board has been muzzling scientists that disagree, shutting out state and local voices, and its integrity has been tarnished by a lack of transparency in potential conflicts of interest. This bill we passed today in the House addresses these many concerns and also invites more public participation and comment. These common sense improvements will improve the quality of the science used to advise the EPA on regulatory decisions with sweeping economic impacts.”

“Through the EPA, the Obama Administration is aggressively pursuing costly regulations that impact nearly every sector of the American economy," said Rep. Stewart. "These rules should be based on sound scientific assertions and conclusions. It’s critical that we have a balanced panel of experts operating in an open and transparent way. This bill improves that process in key areas."

Sixty percent of the members of EPA’s standing scientific advisory panels directly received National Center for Environmental Research grants from the Agency since 2000. Public participation is limited during most SAB meetings, and virtually no ability exists for interested parties to comment on the scope of SAB reviews.