Public health, medical, academic, and scientific groups oppose EPA transparency rule

Posted by Nicole Zimmerman on July 16, 2018

Nearly seventy public health, medical, academic, and scientific groups representing millions of Americans released the following statement to express concern over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science” proposed rule:

We strongly oppose EPA’s efforts to restrict the use of the best available science in its policymaking and encourage EPA to withdraw its proposal.

We support the goal of improving the transparency of science and access to data. When feasible, scientists should strive for appropriate public access to data to maximize independent validation and trust in the scientific process. However, there are many credible scientific studies where the exposure of raw data to the public is infeasible, or would reveal confidential patient information.

The research EPA relies on to make determinations is already transparent in most cases. Many scientific journals and research agencies now have policies governing the sharing of data among researchers and with appropriate access by the public at large.

If EPA excludes studies because the data cannot be made public, people may be exposed to real harm. The result would be decisions affecting millions based on inadequate information that fails to include well-supported studies by expert scientists. These efforts are misguided and will not improve the quality of science used by EPA nor allow the agency to fulfill its mandate of protecting human health and the environment. For the sake of the country’s health, EPA must not restrict this research.

Academy of Integrative Health & Medicine
Allergy & Asthma Network
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
American Academy of Dermatology
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association for Cancer Research
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
American Association of Community Psychiatrists
American Brain Coalition
American College of Lifestyle Medicine
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American College of Physicians
American College of Preventive Medicine
American Geophysical Union
American Geriatric Society
American Heart Association
American Institute of Biological Sciences
American Lung Association
American Medical Association
American Medical Women’s Association
American Parkinson Disease Association
American Physiological Society
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychological Association
American Public Health Association
American Society for Investigative Pathology
American Society of Naturalists
American Thoracic Society
Association for Psychological Science
Association of American Medical Colleges
Association of American Universities
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
Association of Public Health Laboratories
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals
Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
Big Cities Health Coalition
Breast Cancer Prevention Partners
Bridge the Gap – SYNGAP Education and Research Foundation
Center for Open Science
Center for Progressive Reform
Center for Reproductive Rights
Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN)
Consortium of Social Science Associations
David Geffen School of Medicine
Ecological Society of America
Endocrine Society
Environmental Protection Network
Geological Society of America
Health Care Without Harm
International Society for Environmental Epidemiology(ISEE)
Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health
Medical Associates for Healthy Air
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF)
National Association of County and City Health Officials
National Environmental Health Association
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
National Women’s Health Network
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Pittsburgh Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Society for the Study of Evolution
Teratology Society
The Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research
The Parkinson Alliance
The Prevent Cancer Foundation
Union of Concerned Scientists
The Parkinson’s Unity Walk

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