I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 445 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to require that scientific studies 
used in a rule making be published, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 21, 2015 
Mr. BUCSHON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to require that sci-
entific studies used in a rule making be published, 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 ‘‘Transparency in Rule 
Making When Using Scientific Testing Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. REQUIRED PUBLICATION OF SCIENTIFIC STUDIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 553(b) of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:48 Jan 24, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H445.IH
H445
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) any scientific research of which the agency 
is aware and which is relevant to the rule making.’’. 
(b) DEFINITION.—Section 551 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘and’’; 
(2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(15) ‘scientific study’ means a study that— 
‘‘(A) applies rigorous, systematic, and ob-
jective methodology to obtain reliable and valid 
knowledge relevant to the subject matter in-
volved; 
‘‘(B) presents findings and makes claims 
that are appropriate to, and supported by, the 
methods that have been employed; and 
‘‘(C) includes, appropriate to the research 
being conducted— 
‘‘(i) use of systematic, empirical meth-
ods that draw on observation or experi-
ment; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:48 Jan 24, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H445.IH
H445
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(ii) use of data analyses that are 
adequate to support the general findings; 
‘‘(iii) reliance on measurements or ob-
servational methods that provide reliable 
and generalizable findings; 
‘‘(iv) strong claims of causal relation-
ships, only with research designs that 
eliminate plausible competing explanations 
for observed results, such as, but not lim-
ited to, random-assignment experiments; 
‘‘(v) presentation of studies and meth-
ods in sufficient detail and clarity to allow 
for replication or, at a minimum, to offer 
the opportunity to build systematically on 
the findings of the research; 
‘‘(vi) acceptance by a peer-reviewed 
journal or critique by a panel of inde-
pendent experts through a comparably rig-
orous, objective, and scientific review; and 
‘‘(vii) consistency of findings across 
multiple studies or sites to support the 
generality of results and conclusions.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:48 Jan 24, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H445.IH
H445
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS