[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 544 Reported in Senate (RS)]

                                                       Calendar No. 124
114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 544

                          [Report No. 114-69]

    To prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from proposing, 
  finalizing, or disseminating regulations or assessments based upon 
            science that is not transparent or reproducible.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 24, 2015

  Mr. Barrasso (for himself, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Crapo, Mrs. 
 Fischer, Mr. Risch, Mr. Enzi, and Mr. Flake) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment 
                            and Public Works

                             June 22, 2015

               Reported by Mr. Inhofe, with an amendment
                  [Insert the part printed in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from proposing, 
  finalizing, or disseminating regulations or assessments based upon 
            science that is not transparent or reproducible.

    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 ``Secret Science Reform Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. DATA TRANSPARENCY.

    Section 6(b) of the Environmental Research, Development, and 
Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 4363 note) is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(b)(1) The Administrator shall not propose, finalize, or 
disseminate a covered action unless all scientific and technical 
information relied on to support such covered action is--
            ``(A) the best available science;
            ``(B) specifically identified; and
            ``(C) publicly available online in a manner that is 
        sufficient for independent analysis and substantial 
        reproduction of research results.
    ``(2) Nothing in the subsection shall be construed as--
            ``(A) requiring the Administrator to disseminate scientific 
        and technical information; or
            ``(B) superseding any nondiscretionary statutory 
        requirement.
    ``(3) In this subsection--
            ``(A) the term `covered action' means a risk, exposure, or 
        hazard assessment, criteria document, standard, limitation, 
        regulation, regulatory impact analysis, or guidance; and
            ``(B) the term `scientific and technical information' 
        includes--
                    ``(i) materials, data, and associated protocols 
                necessary to understand, assess, and extend 
                conclusions;
                    ``(ii) computer codes and models involved in the 
                creation and analysis of such information;
                    ``(iii) recorded factual materials; and
                    ``(iv) detailed descriptions of how to access and 
                use such information.
    ``(4) The Administrator shall carry out this subsection in a manner 
that does not exceed $1,000,000 per fiscal year, to be derived from 
amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated.''.

SEC. 3. PREVENTING CENSORSHIP OF PUBLICLY FUNDED SCIENCE.

    Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act limits the 
ability of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 
any Federal official or employee, or any Federal agency to use in 
official documents or presentations terms common in peer-reviewed 
scientific literature describing scientific processes, including terms 
relevant to--
            (1) the impacts of climate change;
            (2) air and water pollution;
            (3) exposure to toxic substances; and
            (4) other risks to human health, the environment, and the 
        economy.
                                                       Calendar No. 124

114th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                 S. 544

                          [Report No. 114-69]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

    To prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from proposing, 
  finalizing, or disseminating regulations or assessments based upon 
            science that is not transparent or reproducible.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             June 22, 2015

                       Reported with an amendment