It’s the latest in a series of rules issued by the outgoing Trump administration as it prepares to hit the exits
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler says his agency has provided more than 50 briefings and thousands of pages of material to President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team.
But none of those briefings has focused on the final rule Wheeler announced Tuesday that requires the agency to give greater weight to scientific studies based on publicly available data.
With that lack of discussion, it’s unclear how the incoming Biden administration will approach the requirement, which could complicate its initial efforts to ratchet up public health protections. Wheeler described the new rule as an internal housekeeping matter, but he also said there’s a reason he opted for more than just a staff memo on the subject. Having an official rule creates a basis for lawsuits if a future administration tries to work around it. Continue reading.