by David Malakoff
Science
…The draft document [of Trump’s ‘secret science plan], a version of which was leaked to The New York Times this week, supplements a 2018 data transparency proposal from EPA that was harshly criticized by scientific, environmental, and patient groups, prompting the agency to say it would issue a revision. Although EPA said in a 12 November statement that the leaked document is not the final version it sent earlier this month to the White House for review, the agency did not dispute its core substance…
One prominent advocate of the transparency rule, however, welcomes the new draft. “I’m elated. … We’re making progress,” says Steve Milloy of JunkScience.com in Potomac, Maryland, who served on the Trump administration’s transition team at EPA. “But it’s not the end game by far,” he adds, noting the proposal must still be opened to public comment, and that any final policy will likely face a court challenge. Milloy also notes that even if EPA adopts the rule, agency officials will have leeway in interpreting it. “Words have never really mattered,” he says. “What matters is how the people in charge implement them.”
