"The Flawed EPA Program that Needs to be Cut From the Federal Budget," By Angela Logomasini, Ph.D. As the Trump administration and Congress look for items to trim from the federal budget, they should paint a target on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — and then pull the trigger. Though its supporters laud it as the “gold standard for risk assessment,” the program has a long history of sloppy research that lacks transparency. IRIS is a … [Read more...]
EPA Risk Assessment Program
"EPA IRIS Program Is Hardly The 'Gold Standard'” By Angela Logomasini, Ph.D. Don’t be fooled by those who say the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) sets the gold standard for chemical risk assessments. In addition to a long history of sloppy research, lack of transparency, and low productivity, IRIS suffers from a more fundamental flaw that recent reform efforts are unlikely to resolve. EPA officials created IRIS administratively in 1984 as … [Read more...]
EPA’s Excessive Caution
"Excessive Caution at EPA Produces Absurd Conclusions" By Angela Logomasini, Ph.D. In an April 24 blog post, I detailed why a recent National Academies of Sciences review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Integrated Risk Information System—a research program that conducts chemical risk assessments—should be disregarded. Basically, NAS did nothing more than pat EPA on the back for having finally implemented some of NAS’s recommended procedural reforms that the agency should have put in … [Read more...]
Failures of Chemical Safety Research at Environmental Protection Agency
Systematic Failures of Chemical Safety Research at Environmental Protection Agency By Angela Logomasini, Ph.D. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” could be the motto of one of the key research programs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency known as the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). EPA staff have been working for nearly a decade to improve the scientific process of this program, but have yet to get it right. IRIS has proven controversial because of its … [Read more...]
Targeting Unaccountable EPA Programs
"Congress Should Target Unaccountable EPA Programs," By Angela Logomasini, Ph.D. The newly elected congressional majority should be ready and willing to help implement President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to tackle onerous regulations. But what about so called “non-regulatory programs” that have significant public policy and marketplace impacts? Congress can address problems associated with such programs by defunding them or by bringing them under the authority of existing environmental laws. … [Read more...]