Coalition Joins Opposition to New EPA Transparency Rule

NEW YORK (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 Geriatrics 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
• 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 Advocates 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
• The Parkinson’s Unity Walk
• Trust for America’s Health
• Union of Concerned Scientists