EPA Weighs Axing Research Office Key to Agency Rulemaking (1)

The EPA is considering wiping out its scientific research office, a move that could hobble the agency’s ability to issue new regulations, according to documents reviewed by Democratic staff on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

The Office of Research and Development (ORD) provides scientific information to decision makers within the Environmental Protection Agency, feeding into their regulatory, enforcement, and funding decisions. The office would ordinarily play a central role in actions such as the broad deregulatory plan the EPA laid out last week, providing a scientific and legally-sound basis for the many decisions the agency must make.

Of ...