I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5195
To provide for the establishment of the position of Deputy Administrator
for Science and Technology of the Environmental Protection Agency,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 18, 2000
Mr. EHLERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science
A BILL
To provide for the establishment of the position of Deputy
Administrator for Science and Technology of the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. DEPUTY ADMINISTRATORS.
(a) DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR
FOR SCIENCE
AND
TECHNOLOGY.—
(1) APPOINTMENT.—The President shall ap-
point, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, a Deputy Administrator for Science and
Technology of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Deputy Adminis-
trator for Science and Technology shall have overall
responsibility for the scientific and technical founda-
tion of Environmental Protection Agency decisions,
including being responsible for—
(A) identifying and defining the important
scientific issues facing the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency, including those embedded in
major policy or regulatory proposals;
(B) developing and overseeing an inte-
grated agencywide strategy for acquiring, dis-
seminating, and applying information;
(C) ensuring that the complex scientific
outreach and communication needs of the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency are met, including
the need to reach throughout the Agency for
credible science in support of the regulatory of-
fices, regions, and Agency-wide policy delibera-
tions, as well as the need to reach out to the
broader domestic and international scientific
community for scientific knowledge that is rel-
evant to an Agency policy or regulatory issue;
(D) coordinating and overseeing scientific
quality assurance and peer review practices
throughout the Environmental Protection Agen-
cy; and
(E) developing processes to ensure that ap-
propriate scientific information is used in deci-
sionmaking throughout the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency, and ensuring that the scientific
and technical information underlying each Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency regulatory deci-
sion is valid, appropriately characterized in
terms of scientific uncertainty and cross-media
issues, and appropriately applied.
(3) QUALIFICATIONS.—An individual appointed
under paragraph (1) shall have an outstanding tech-
nical background, including research accomplish-
ments, scientific reputation, and experience in public
forums.
(4) CONSULTATION.—Before appointing an in-
dividual under paragraph (1), the President shall
consult with the National Academy of Sciences, the
National Academy of Engineering, the Science Advi-
sory Board of the Environmental Protection Agency,
and other appropriate scientific organizations.
(5) COMPENSATION.—The Deputy Adminis-
trator for Science and Technology shall be com-
pensated at the rate provided for level III of the Ex-
ecutive Schedule pursuant to section 5314 of title 5,
United States Code.
(b) DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR FOR POLICY AND MAN-
AGEMENT.—The position of Deputy Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency shall be redesignated as
the Deputy Administrator for Policy and Management,
and the individual serving in that position as of the date
of the enactment of this Act shall assume such title.
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 5314 of
title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking the
item relating to the Deputy Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency and inserting the following:
‘‘Deputy Administrator for Policy and Manage-
ment of the Environmental Protection Agency.
‘‘Deputy Administrator for Science and Tech-
nology of the Environmental Protection Agency.’’.
SEC. 2. ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT.
(a) TITLE AND TERM.—One of the Assistant Admin-
istrators of the Environmental Protection Agency shall be
designated as the Assistant Administrator for Research
and Development, and shall also have the title of Chief
Scientist of the Environmental Protection Agency. Ap-
pointments to such position made after the date of the
enactment of this Act shall be for a term of 6 years.
(b) 
QUALIFICATIONS.—An 
individual 
appointed
under subsection (a) shall have an outstanding technical
background, including research accomplishments, sci-
entific reputation, and experience in leading a research
and development organization.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING OTHER ACTIVI-
TIES OF OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVEL-
OPMENT.
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1) the Office of Research and Development
should—
(A) make a concerted effort to give re-
search managers of the Office a high degree of
flexibility and accountability, including empow-
ering the research managers to make decisions
at the lowest appropriate management level
consistent with the policy of the Environmental
Protection Agency and the strategic goals and
budget priorities of the Office;
(B) maintain approximately an even bal-
ance between core research and problem-driven
research;
(C) develop and implement a structured
strategy for encouraging, and acquiring and ap-
plying the results of, research conducted or
(B)(i) direct the Deputy Administrator for
Science and Technology to expand on the
science inventory of the Agency by conducting,
documenting, and publishing a more com-
prehensive and detailed inventory of all sci-
entific activities conducted by Agency units out-
side the Office, which inventory should include
information such as—
(I) project goals, milestones, and
schedules;
(II) principal investigators and project
managers; and
(III) allocations of staff and financial
resources; and
(ii) use the results of the inventory to en-
sure that activities described in clause (i) are
properly coordinated through the Agency-wide
science planning and budgeting process and are
appropriately peer reviewed; and
(C) change the peer-review policy of the
Agency to more strictly separate the manage-
ment of the development of a work product
from the management of the peer review of that
work product, thereby ensuring greater inde-
pendence of peer reviews from the control of
program managers, or the potential appearance
of control by program managers, throughout
the Agency.
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