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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

OMB Meddling with EPA Chemical Assessments, GAO Reports

OMB Watch recently reported on an EPA decision to revise its process for assessing human exposure and associated health risks of industrial chemicals. Under the revised process, EPA will give the White House, specifically the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), an opportunity to alter or delay scientific results at nearly every stage of the chemical assessment process. By attacking the scientific basis for future regulatory decisions, OMB will be able to erode the foundations upon which public protection standards are built.

In reality, OMB has already been tinkering with EPA's chemical assessments, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. The report hasn't been officially released, but the Associated Press has obtained a copy, and report H. Josef Hebert wrote an article published last night discussing some of the results:

The GAO said many of the deliberations over risks posed by specific chemicals "occur in what amounts to a black box" of secrecy because the White House claims they are private executive branch deliberations.

Such secrecy "reduces the credibility of the ... assessments and hinders the EPA's ability to manage them," the GAO report said. …

"Unless there is concurrence by other agencies, ... things don't go forward. It means we stop what we are doing," said the scientist, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fear of endangering his career.

"The (EPA) scientists feel as if they have lost complete control of the process, that it's been taken over by the White House and that they're calling the shots," the scientist said.

In addition to outright interference, OMB is also able to achieve its anti-regulatory goals by delaying chemical assessments indefinitely. The report mentions at least four chemicals for which EPA has yet to determine carcinogenicity, despite widespread use and evidence of risk. They are naphthalene, trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, and formaldehyde, according to the AP article.

Now, under the revised process EPA recently announced, OMB will have even more opportunities to meddle in EPA science, and even more incidences of interference, suppression, and delay are likely to occur. Unfortunately, because EPA has mandated this process occur behind closed doors, these incidences may never come into the light of day.

Check back here later today, Reg•Watch will post the GAO report when it becomes available electronically. Update: Here is the link to the GAO report.