Letter to James Inhofe, Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee - Secret Science Reform Act of 2015

Letter

Dear Chairman Inhofe,

We are writing in response to the inclusion of S.544, the "Secret Science Reform Act of 2015" on the agenda for the Environment and Public Works Committee business meeting next Tuesday, April 28, 2015. We respectfully request that you remove it from the agenda and instead proceed with the Committee's consideration of this controversial bill via regular order.

The Secret Science Reform Act of 2015 would dramatically change what data and scientific research the Environmental Protection Agency could use in fulfilling its mission to protect public health and welfare. Before the House of Representatives reported the identical bill on a partisan vote of 241-175, the White House Statement of Administrative Policy (SAP) said, "If the President were presented with H.R. 1030, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill." This is because, according to the SAP, "the bill would impose arbitrary, unnecessary, and expensive requirements that would seriously impede the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) ability to use science to protect public health and the environment, as required under an array of environmental laws, while increasing uncertainty for businesses and States." A bill that evokes such serious concerns deserves to be scrutinized through a legislative hearing in advance of its mark up.

As a general matter, we can support moving significant bills through the Committee without first holding a legislative hearing if they represent a bipartisan consensus work product or have been considered through regular order in the previous Congress. S.544 meets neither of these tests. We request that the Committee follow regular order by holding a legislative hearing on S.544, the "Secret Science Reform Act of 2015" before marking up this controversial bill.

Sincerely,

Edward J. Markey

Barbara Boxer

Thomas R. Carper

Sheldon Whitehouse

Benjamin L. Cardin

Bernie Sanders

Jeff Merkley

Kirsten Gillibrand

Cory Booker