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This bill — known as the HONEST Act — would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from proposing, finalizing, or publishing regulations or assessments based on science that isn’t transparent or reproducible. All scientific and technical information used by the EPA to support their action would have to be based on the best available science, specifically identified, and publicly available online in a way that allows for independent analysis and reproduction of the research results.

Personal, commercial or financial information, and trade secrets could be redacted before it becomes publicly available, and to view redactions a person would have to sign a confidentiality agreement with the EPA.

Among the EPA actions covered by this bill include a risk, exposure, or hazard assessment, criteria document, standards and limitations, regulations, regulatory impact analyses, and guidances. This bill’s requirements wouldn’t apply retroactively to existing regulations or assessments.

This bill’s acronym stands for the Honest and Open New EPA Science Treatment Act.

","official_title":"To prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from proposing, finalizing, or disseminating regulations or assessments based upon science that is not transparent or reproducible.","short_title":"HONEST Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the House reported version is repeated here.)\n\nHonest and Open New EPA Science Treatment Act of 2017 or the HONEST Act\n\n(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from proposing, finalizing, or disseminating a covered action unless all scientific and technical information relied on to support such action is the best available science, specifically identified, and publicly available in a manner sufficient for independent analysis and substantial reproduction of research results. A covered action includes a risk, exposure, or hazard assessment, criteria document, standard, limitation, regulation, regulatory impact analysis, or guidance. Personally identifiable information, trade secrets, or commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential must be redac...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"The general public; scientific entities contracted for research studies by the EPA; the subjects of those studies; EPA employees; and the EPA.","argument_for":"This bill would make the science the EPA considers when it takes actions like creating regulations more transparent. That data should be publicly available so that others can reproduce and verify the studies used by the EPA.","argument_against":"The requirements put forth by this bill could be very costly if the EPA tries to use the same number of scientific studies that it has in the past. 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Do EPA Regulations and Assessments Need to be Based Only on Science That’s Publicly Available?