EPA’s ‘Secret Science’ Rule Draws Its First Legal Challenge (1)

The Environmental Defense Fund on Monday became the first to take aim at the EPA’s final rule that sets limits on how science can be used in future agency rulemaking.

EDF’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, Great Falls Division, accuses the Environmental Protection Agency of going beyond its statutory authority in finalizing its Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science rule.

The EPA’s reliance on the Federal Housekeeping Statute as the basis of the rule was unlawful, according to the lawsuit, because the rule imposes substantive restrictions on the agency and isn’t just a procedural ...