[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 578 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 578

   To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide requirements for 
                agency decision making based on science.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 8, 2017

 Mr. Lankford introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide requirements for 
                agency decision making based on science.

    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 ``Better Evaluation of Science and 
Technology Act'' or the ``BEST Act''.

SEC. 2. USE OF SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION IN RULE MAKING.

    Section 553 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
    ``(f) To the extent that an agency makes a decision based on 
science when issuing a rule under this section, the agency shall use 
scientific information, technical procedures, measures, methods, 
protocols, methodologies, or models, employed in a manner consistent 
with the best available science, and shall consider as applicable--
            ``(1) the extent to which the scientific information, 
        technical procedures, measures, methods, protocols, 
        methodologies, or models employed to generate the information 
        are reasonable for and consistent with the intended use of the 
        information;
            ``(2) the extent to which the information is relevant for 
        use by the head of the agency in making a decision related to 
        issuing the rule;
            ``(3) the degree of clarity and completeness with which the 
        data, assumptions, methods, quality assurance, and analyses 
        employed to generate the information are documented;
            ``(4) the extent to which the variability and uncertainty 
        in the information, or in the procedures, measures, methods, 
        protocols, methodologies, or models, are evaluated and 
        characterized; and
            ``(5) the extent of independent verification or peer review 
        of the information or of the procedures, measures, methods, 
        protocols, methodologies, or models.
    ``(g) An agency shall make a decision described in subsection (f) 
based on the weight of the scientific evidence.
    ``(h) Each agency shall make available to the public--
            ``(1) all notices, determinations, findings, rules, consent 
        agreements, and orders of the head of the agency in connection 
        with a rule;
            ``(2) a nontechnical summary of each risk evaluation 
        conducted in connection with a rule; and
            ``(3) a list of the studies considered by the agency in 
        carrying out each risk evaluation described in paragraph (2), 
        along with the results of those studies.''.
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