Transparency is Critical When EPA Seeks to Implement New Rules

Whenever any federal agency tries to implement new rules, transparency behind the rule-making process is important so the American people have an opportunity to understand their potential impact. It’s especially important at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has had a long history of creating burdensome, unnecessary regulations without giving the public an opportunity to fully vet the reasoning behind their decisions. I am pleased to see the current administration taking steps to reverse this practice.

As a large, rural, agricultural state, many of the rules the EPA issues have an impact on South Dakotans. Our farmers, ranchers and landowners, in particular, have been forced to comply with costly and time-consuming regulations that may not have been decided based on clear and sound scientific data.  We must make certain that the science behind those decisions is consistently accurate and transparent and never based on politics, which is why I introduced the HONEST Act in the Senate. This is a bill that would prohibit the EPA from proposing, finalizing or disseminating regulations or assessments based upon science that is not transparent or reproducible.

As the chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management and Regulatory Oversight, which has oversight over the EPA, making sure the agency is using the best available science when drafting new rules is an important part of my role. Over the past three years, the subcommittee has held oversight hearings on the science behind EPA decision-making and found that oftentimes the regulations being issued were driven not by science, but by politics. The science behind EPA decisions should be able to stand the test of time and should be open to the public for review.

I was pleased that the EPA recently announced plans to implement the HONEST Act by rule. I joined EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to sign a proposed rule that would make sure the regulatory science underlying EPA actions is fully transparent, and that the scientific information is available to the public. I appreciate this administration’s commitment to issuing rules and regulations as transparently as possible.

Sound, reliable science is vital to helping us make important policy decisions that impact not just the health of American families but their entire livelihoods. Our farmers, ranchers and job creators must be able to operate free from burdensome, unnecessary regulations so they can continue to expand and grow. Inserting new levels of transparency in the EPA rulemaking process will help make the agency more accountable to the American people and help everyone understand the impact of EPA’s decisions before they are implemented. The recent EPA directive is a significant step toward making sure these decisions are not made behind closed doors with information accessible only to those writing the regulations, but rather in the full view of those who will be affected.

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