Is transparency always a good thing? EPA weighs controversial new rule – By Eva Botkin-Kowacki (CS Monitor) / March 12 2020
Concerns about public trust in scientific expertise abound. Could increased transparency around research promote confidence in science?
If a revised rule proposed last week is finalized, the Environmental Protection Agency could soon change how it uses science.
“Transparency” lies at the heart of the controversial proposal. Initially suggested in 2018, the revised version of “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science” would mean that, when drafting environmental and public health regulations, the EPA would give preference to research studies for which the underlying datasets and models are publicly available. In the previous draft, all aspects of a scientific study had to be publicly available for research to even be considered. A 30-day public comment period opened March 3, and EPA administrators aim to have the rule finalized by May.
Since its conception, the proposed rule has drawn sharp criticism. While supporters assert that it would be a safeguard to ensure trustworthy research, opponents see it as a Trump administration attack on science that co-opts the positive connotations of “transparency” for political aims.
Sharing raw data makes sense “in the abstract,” says Wendy Wagner, a professor in the University of Texas School of Law, who studies use of science by environmental policymakers. But, she says, there are “a lot of steps between that kind of idyllic in the abstract and mandating it as a prerequisite to considering the scientific information.”
Indeed, transparency does hold scientific value. At the same time, with policy around hot-button issues from coronavirus to climate change being guided by scientific research, it’s vital that both policymakers and the public trust the findings. Transparency might play a role in earning that trust.
Continue to article: https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2020/0312/Is-transparency-always-a-good-thing-EPA-weighs-controversial-new-rule
