When federal bureaucrats drive up costs for American families and businesses through heavy-handed regulation, it shouldn’t be too much to ask for a solid scientific underpinning for that regulation. And it shouldn’t be too big of a burden for the federal government to make its data available to the public. Congressman David Schweikert’s, R-Ariz., Secret Science Reform Act (HR 4012) would address this.
HR 4012 would force the Environmental Protection Agency to disclose all scientific and technical information before proposing or finalizing any regulation. Doing so would allow for independent analysis and allow qualified experts to reproduce the results. The public would have access to the data, computer codes and models, as well as descriptions as to how to use and run the data. The legislation would be an important check on an agency running rogue and landing punch after punch to the American economy.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chair of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, wrote in the Wall Street Journal that he “received a letter of support for the Secret Science Reform Act that was signed by more than 80 scientists, including physicians and professors of environmental science, physics, statistics, economics and engineering.” He added:
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