115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1431 
AN ACT 
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’’. 
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; 
‘‘(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-
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 
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.’’. 
(c) RECORD.—Section 8(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
4365(c)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘or draft risk or hazard 
assessment,’’ after ‘‘at the time any proposed’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘formal’’; and 
(C) by inserting ‘‘or draft risk or hazard 
assessment,’’ after ‘‘to the Board such pro-
posed’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘or draft risk or hazard 
assessment,’’ after ‘‘the scientific and technical 
basis of the proposed’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘The Board’s advice and comments, including 
dissenting views of Board members, and the re-
sponse of the Administrator shall be included in 
the record with respect to any proposed risk or 
hazard assessment, criteria document, standard, 
limitation, or regulation and published in the 
Federal Register.’’.