This week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule that will dramatically expand the transparency of the data and methods used by scientists to conduct the research utilized by the agency as the basis for regulations on a wide variety of chemicals and compounds. The Center for Truth in Science offered the following statement in response:

“Access to the data and methodologies used in scientific research is the best way for the results to be effectively reviewed and replicated by the scientific community to confirm their accuracy and veracity, and for those results to be trusted by the public,” said Joseph Annotti, president and CEO of the Center for Truth in Science. “Without transparency, there is a much greater opportunity for flawed results to make their way into public policy and public consciousness, leading to poor public policy decisions that have an enormous and long-lasting impact on individuals, businesses, judicial decisions, and public health. The rule goes a long way toward ensuring that its decisions will be based on scientific research conducted in the full light of day.”

In addition, Annotti addressed concerns regarding individual privacy related to the rule. “These concerns misread the jurisdiction of the rule—the personal information of participants in the research projects can be effectively protected. It is the data gleaned through the research studies that is made more transparent, which protects participants while improving the integrity of the science.”