IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1430 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 30, 2017 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

AN ACT 

To prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from proposing, finalizing, or disseminating regulations or assessments based upon science that is not transparent or 

reproducible. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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HR 1430 RFS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honest and Open New 

3 EPA Science Treatment Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘HONEST 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DATA TRANSPARENCY. 

6 Section 6(b) of the Environmental Research, Devel7 opment, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 

8 (42 U.S.C. 4363 note) is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(b)(1) The Administrator shall not propose, finalize, 

10 or disseminate a covered action unless all scientific and 

11 technical information relied on to support such covered ac12 tion is— 

13 ‘‘(A) the best available science; 

14 ‘‘(B) specifically identified; and 

15 ‘‘(C) publicly available online in a manner that 

16 is sufficient for independent analysis and substantial 

17 reproduction of research results, except that any 

18 personally identifiable information, trade secrets, or 

19 commercial or financial information obtained from a 

20 person and privileged or confidential, shall be re21 dacted prior to public availability. 

22 ‘‘(2) The redacted information described in para23 graph (1)(C) shall be disclosed to a person only after such 

24 person signs a written confidentiality agreement with the 

25 Administrator, subject to guidance to be developed by the 

26 Administrator. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Nothing in the subsection shall be construed 

2 as— 

3 ‘‘(A) requiring the Administrator to disseminate 

4 scientific and technical information; 

5 ‘‘(B) superseding any nondiscretionary statu6 tory requirement; or 

7 ‘‘(C) requiring the Administrator to repeal, re8 issue, or modify a regulation in effect on the date of 

9 enactment of the Honest and Open New EPA 

10 Science Treatment Act of 2017. 

11 ‘‘(4) In this subsection— 

12 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered action’ means a risk, ex13 posure, or hazard assessment, criteria document, 

14 standard, limitation, regulation, regulatory impact 

15 analysis, or guidance; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the term ‘scientific and technical informa17 tion’ includes— 

18 ‘‘(i) materials, data, and associated proto19 cols necessary to understand, assess, and ex20 tend conclusions; 

21 ‘‘(ii) computer codes and models involved 

22 in the creation and analysis of such informa23 tion; 

24 ‘‘(iii) recorded factual materials; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) detailed descriptions of how to access 

2 and use such information. 

3 ‘‘(5) The Administrator shall carry out this sub4 section in a manner that does not exceed $1,000,000 per 

5 fiscal year, to be derived from amounts otherwise author6 ized to be appropriated.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 29, 

2017. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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