WASHINGTON (March 18, 2015)—This week, the House passed two bills, H.R. 1029 (the EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2015) and H.R. 1030 (the Secret Science Reform Act of 2015). These bills would severely undermine the role of science in protecting public health and the environment, according to experts at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
Below is a statement by Dr. Andrew A. Rosenberg, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at UCS.
“Just as they were the last time they were introduced, these bills are a clear threat to long-standing, bipartisan laws that protect Americans. The EPA’s mission, set by law, is to use the best available science to defend public health, safety and the environment—but these two bills make it nearly impossible for the EPA to do its job.
“The titles and text of these bills are cleverly designed to conceal their purpose, which is to protect industry from any oversight and any limits on their ability to pollute. They introduce unreasonable requirements, new delays and added levels of bureaucracy, and increase the power of corporations to interfere with laws meant to protect us. It’s deceptive and cynical to promote these bills with claims about reform and transparency.
“House leaders and their allies in industry don’t like the answers science is giving—so they’ve written these bills to attack the process. Taken together, these bills are a direct attack on our ability to use science to inform policy.”