[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2371 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2371

   To amend title 5, United States Code, to require that scientific 
  studies used in a rule making be published, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 24, 2011

Mr. Bucshon (for himself, Mr. McKinley, Mr. Issa, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Franks 
  of Arizona, Mr. Gibbs, Mrs. Blackburn, and Mr. Paul) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 5, United States Code, to require that scientific 
  studies used in a rule making be published, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Transparency in Rule Making When 
Using Scientific Testing Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRED PUBLICATION OF SCIENTIFIC STUDIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 553(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'';
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) any scientific research of which the agency is aware 
        and which is relevant to the rule making.''.
    (b) Definition.--Section 551 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (13), by striking ``and'';
            (2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(15) `scientific study' means a study that--
                    ``(A) applies rigorous, systematic, and objective 
                methodology to obtain reliable and valid knowledge 
                relevant to the subject matter involved;
                    ``(B) presents findings and makes claims that are 
                appropriate to, and supported by, the methods that have 
                been employed; and
                    ``(C) includes, appropriate to the research being 
                conducted--
                            ``(i) use of systematic, empirical methods 
                        that draw on observation or experiment;
                            ``(ii) use of data analyses that are 
                        adequate to support the general findings;
                            ``(iii) reliance on measurements or 
                        observational methods that provide reliable and 
                        generalizable findings;
                            ``(iv) strong claims of causal 
                        relationships, only with research designs that 
                        eliminate plausible competing explanations for 
                        observed results, such as, but not limited to, 
                        random-assignment experiments;
                            ``(v) presentation of studies and methods 
                        in sufficient detail and clarity to allow for 
                        replication or, at a minimum, to offer the 
                        opportunity to build systematically on the 
                        findings of the research;
                            ``(vi) acceptance by a peer-reviewed 
                        journal or critique by a panel of independent 
                        experts through a comparably rigorous, 
                        objective, and scientific review; and
                            ``(vii) consistency of findings across 
                        multiple studies or sites to support the 
                        generality of results and conclusions.''.
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