OMB Modifies Peer-Review Proposal (control of scientific info)

[DeepModem Mom]

"...critics saw the guidelines as an attempt by the executive branch to gain control over the federal flow of scientific information and slow the implementation of regulations that would be costly to industry...."


Washington Post:

OMB Modifies Peer-Review Proposal
Guidelines Partly Retreat From Strict Control of Agencies' Information Process
By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 16, 2004; Page A19

Responding to a chorus of criticism from science advocacy and citizen groups, the White House Office of Management and Budget yesterday released a revised version of proposed guidelines aimed at standardizing the way federal agencies release and use scientific information.

The revisions mark a partial retreat in what proponents -- led by OMB chief of regulatory affairs John Graham -- have said was a central strategy in the war against "junk science." The "peer review" guidelines set strict criteria that must be met before scientific information may be released through agency Web sites or other channels, especially if that information is to be used in the crafting of significant regulations.

Industry had generally supported the initial version of the proposed guidelines, saying it would help keep shoddy science from shaping federal policies. Among the groups that had written in support were the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association and the American Chemistry Council.

But critics saw the guidelines as an attempt by the executive branch to gain control over the federal flow of scientific information and slow the implementation of regulations that would be costly to industry. Some advocacy groups and even the Department of Health and Human Services had said the proposal was so slanted against the public interest that it ought to be withdrawn and rethought from scratch....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15852-2004Apr15.html