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GAO-17-526R 1 (2017-06-08)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaakwh0001 and id is 1 raw text is: A O U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 June 8, 2017 The Honorable Lisa Murkowski Chairman The Honorable Tom Udall Ranking Member Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Committee on Appropriations United States Senate The Honorable Ken Calvert Chairman The Honorable Betty McCollum Ranking Member Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Committee on Appropriations House of Representatives EPA Science Advisory Board: Policy Statement on Science Quality and Integrity In formulating rules to protect the environment and public health, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) relies on advice from scientific and technical experts. EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) is one source of scientific and technical advice for EPA. The SAB consists of about 45 independent experts in the fields of science, engineering, economics, and other social sciences and is overseen by the SAB Staff Office, which is staffed by EPA employees. As a federal advisory committee, the SAB must comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).1 Among other things, FACA requires that EPA establish uniform administrative guidelines and management controls for its advisory committees. An explanatory statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 directed EPA to develop an updated policy statement on science quality and integrity for the SAB.2 According to the explanatory statement, the policy statement should include (1) goals on increasing membership from states and tribes; (2) an evaluation of potential bias, if EPA's Administrator decides that financial-related metrics are appropriate to identify conflicts of interest or bias; and (3) direction on treating public comments. The explanatory statement also directed EPA to submit a draft of the policy statement to GAO for review and included a provision for GAO to review the updated policy statement and determine whether the updated policy met the intent of the explanatory statement. The deadline for EPA's submission to us was March 17, 2016. 1Pub. L. No. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770 (Oct. 6, 1972), codified, as amended, at 5 U.S.C. app. 2. 2The explanatory statement noted that EPA had not yet resolved long-standing questions regarding conflicts of interest that have spanned multiple Administrations. 161 Cong. Rec. H10220 (daily ed. Dec. 17, 2015) (explanatory statement submitted by Representative Hal Rogers regarding House Amendment #1 to the Senate Amendment on H.R. 2029, later enacted as Pub. L. No. 114-113, 129 Stat. 2242 (2015)). GAO-1 7-526R EPA Science Advisory Board

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