The CBO doesn't think that implementing the changes propossed by this legislation would cost very much:

H.R. 1029 would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make various changes related to the qualifications of members serving on the Science Advisory Board (SAB) and to expand disclosure requirements for members of the board. The SAB was established in 1978 by the Congress with a broad mandate to advise EPA on technical matters related to science. Some of the bill’s proposed changes include requiring EPA to solicit nominations from the public and from relevant federal agencies, such as the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, and Health and Human Services. Nominees also would be required to file a written report disclosing certain financial relationships and interests. Additionally, the bill would require EPA to make risk or hazard assessments available to the SAB and to publish the board’s advice, comments, and views in the Federal Register.

via www.cbo.gov

 

Is this different from HR 1422?

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  1. willwheels Avatar

    They appear to be very slightly different (in only one place that I noticed).
    1029 says “(E) Board members may not participate in advisory activities that directly or indirectly involve review or evaluation of their own work, unless fully disclosed to the public and the work has been externally peer-reviewed;”
    1422 says “(E) Board members may not participate in advisory activities that directly or indirectly involve review or evaluation of their own work;”
    My read of that clause in 1422 is that if the SAB were reviewing a synthesis document (and they rarely review individual studies), no one who wrote a study that was synthesized could be part of the review. So, for example, no authors of VSL studies could participate in a review of the Agency’s guidance on the VSL! 1029 says that those authors can participate in the review as long as it is disclosed and the synthesized study was peer-reviewed.
    Sources:
    http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20150302/CPRT-114-HPRT-RU00-HR1029.pdf
    https://www.congress.gov/113/bills/hr1422/BILLS-113hr1422rfs.pdf

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