I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1431 
To amend the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration 
Authorization Act of 1978 to provide for Scientific Advisory Board mem-
ber qualifications, public participation, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 8, 2017 
Mr. LUCAS (for himself, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. 
BANKS of Indiana, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. POSEY, Mr. BROOKS of Ala-
bama, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. BABIN, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Mr. 
HULTGREN, Mr. BRIDENSTINE, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. WEB-
STER of Florida, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. DUNN, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. 
CHAFFETZ, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mr. PALAZZO, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. 
BARTON, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. TIPTON, and 
Mr. GOODLATTE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 
A BILL 
To amend the Environmental Research, Development, and 
Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 to provide for 
Scientific Advisory Board member qualifications, public 
participation, 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. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘EPA Science Advisory 
Board Reform Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD. 
(a) INDEPENDENT ADVICE.—Section 8(a) of the En-
vironmental Research, Development, and Demonstration 
Authorization Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 4365(a)) is amend-
ed by inserting ‘‘independently’’ after ‘‘Advisory Board 
which shall’’. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—Section 8(b) of the Environ-
mental Research, Development, and Demonstration Au-
thorization Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 4365(b)) is amended 
to read as follows: 
‘‘(b)(1) The Board shall be composed of at least nine 
members, one of whom shall be designated Chairman, and 
shall meet at such times and places as may be designated 
by the Chairman. 
‘‘(2) Each member of the Board shall be qualified by 
education, training, and experience to evaluate scientific 
and technical information on matters referred to the 
Board under this section. The Administrator shall ensure 
that— 
‘‘(A) the scientific and technical points of view 
represented on and the functions to be performed by 
the Board are fairly balanced among the members of 
the Board; 
‘‘(B) at least ten percent of the membership of 
the Board are from State, local, or tribal govern-
ments; 
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‘‘(C) persons with substantial and relevant ex-
pertise are not excluded from the Board due to af-
filiation with or representation of entities that may 
have a potential interest in the Board’s advisory ac-
tivities, so long as that interest is fully disclosed to 
the Administrator and the public and appointment 
to the Board complies with section 208 of title 18, 
United States Code; 
‘‘(D) in the case of a Board advisory activity on 
a particular matter involving, or for which the Board 
has evidence that it may involve, a specific party, no 
Board member having an interest in the specific 
party shall participate in that activity; 
‘‘(E) Board members may not participate in ad-
visory activities that directly or indirectly involve re-
view or evaluation of their own work, unless fully 
disclosed to the public and the work has been exter-
nally peer-reviewed; 
‘‘(F) Board members shall be designated as 
special Government employees; 
‘‘(G) no registered lobbyist is appointed to the 
Board; and 
‘‘(H) a Board member shall have no current 
grants or contracts from the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency and shall not apply for a grant or con-
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tract for 3 years following the end of that member’s 
service on the Board. 
‘‘(3) The Administrator shall— 
‘‘(A) solicit public nominations for the Board by 
publishing a notification in the Federal Register; 
‘‘(B) solicit nominations from relevant Federal 
agencies, including the Departments of Agriculture, 
Defense, Energy, the Interior, and Health and 
Human Services; 
‘‘(C) solicit nominations from— 
‘‘(i) institutions of higher education (as de-
fined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))); and 
‘‘(ii) scientific and research institutions 
based in work relevant to that of the Board; 
‘‘(D) make public the list of nominees, includ-
ing the identity of the entities that nominated each, 
and shall accept public comment on the nominees; 
‘‘(E) require that, upon their provisional nomi-
nation, nominees shall file a written report disclosing 
financial relationships and interests, including Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency grants, contracts, co-
operative agreements, or other financial assistance, 
that are relevant to the Board’s advisory activities 
for the three-year period prior to the date of their 
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nomination, and relevant professional activities and 
public statements for the five-year period prior to 
the date of their nomination; and 
‘‘(F) make such reports public, with the excep-
tion of specific dollar amounts, for each member of 
the Board upon such member’s selection. 
‘‘(4) Disclosure of relevant professional activities 
under paragraph (3)(E) shall include all representational 
work, expert testimony, and contract work as well as iden-
tifying the party for which the work was done. 
‘‘(5) Except when specifically prohibited by law, the 
Agency shall make all conflict of interest waivers granted 
to members of the Board, member committees, or inves-
tigative panels publicly available. 
‘‘(6) Any recusal agreement made by a member of 
the Board, a member committee, or an investigative panel, 
or any recusal known to the Agency that occurs during 
the course of a meeting or other work of the Board, mem-
ber committee, or investigative panel shall promptly be 
made public by the Administrator. 
‘‘(7) The terms of the members of the Board shall 
be three years and shall be staggered so that the terms 
of no more than one-third of the total membership of the 
Board shall expire within a single fiscal year. No member 
shall serve more than two terms over a ten-year period.’’. 
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lowing: ‘‘These member committees and investigative pan-
els— 
‘‘(i) shall be constituted and operate 
in accordance with the provisions set forth 
in paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection 
(b), in subsection (h), and in subsection 
(i); 
‘‘(ii) do not have authority to make 
decisions on behalf of the Board; and 
‘‘(iii) may not report directly to the 
Environmental Protection Agency.’’. 
(e) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Section 8 of such Act 
(42 U.S.C. 4365) is amended by amending subsection (h) 
to read as follows: 
‘‘(h)(1) To facilitate public participation in the advi-
sory activities of the Board, the Administrator and the 
Board shall make public all reports and relevant scientific 
information and shall provide materials to the public at 
the same time as received by members of the Board. 
‘‘(2) Prior to conducting major advisory activities, the 
Board shall hold a public information-gathering session to 
discuss the state of the science related to the advisory ac-
tivity. 
‘‘(3) Prior to convening a member committee or in-
vestigative panel under subsection (e) or requesting sci-
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entific advice from the Board, the Administrator shall ac-
cept, consider, and address public comments on questions 
to be asked of the Board. The Board, member committees, 
and investigative panels shall accept, consider, and ad-
dress public comments on such questions and shall not ac-
cept a question that unduly narrows the scope of an advi-
sory activity. 
‘‘(4) The Administrator and the Board shall encour-
age public comments, including oral comments and discus-
sion during the proceedings, that shall not be limited by 
an insufficient or arbitrary time restriction. Public com-
ments shall be provided to the Board when received, and 
shall be published in the Federal Register grouped by com-
mon themes. If multiple repetitious comments are re-
ceived, only one such comment shall be published along 
with the number of such repetitious comments received. 
Any report made public by the Board shall include written 
responses to significant comments, including those that 
present an alternative hypothesis-based scientific point of 
view, offered by members of the public to the Board. 
‘‘(5) Following Board meetings, the public shall be 
given 15 calendar days to provide additional comments for 
consideration by the Board.’’. 
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(f) OPERATIONS.—Section 8 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
4365) is further amended by amending subsection (i) to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(i)(1) In carrying out its advisory activities, the 
Board shall strive to avoid making policy determinations 
or recommendations, and, in the event the Board feels 
compelled to offer policy advice, shall explicitly distinguish 
between scientific determinations and policy advice. 
‘‘(2) The Board shall clearly communicate uncertain-
ties associated with the scientific advice provided to the 
Administrator or Congress. 
‘‘(3) The Board shall ensure that advice and com-
ments reflect the views of the members and shall encour-
age dissenting members to make their views known to the 
public, the Administrator, and Congress. 
‘‘(4) The Board shall conduct periodic reviews to en-
sure that its advisory activities are addressing the most 
important scientific issues affecting the Environmental 
Protection Agency. 
‘‘(5) The Board shall be fully and timely responsive 
to Congress.’’. 
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SEC. 3. RELATION TO THE FEDERAL ADVISORY COM-
MITTEE ACT. 
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 
Act shall be construed as supplanting the requirements of 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.). 
SEC. 4. RELATION TO THE ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 
1978. 
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 
Act shall be construed as supplanting the requirements of 
the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 
Æ 
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