James V. Aidala Quoted In Inside EPA Article “Pruitt’s Science Plan Faces Host Of Legal Hurdles; Some Doubt Promulgation”

On May 7, 2018, James V. Aidala, Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs with The Acta Group (Acta^®), was quoted by Inside EPA regarding U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt’s plan to require EPA to only use publicly available material to justify regulatory decisions.

Others raise concerns over the document’s introduction of a host of new terms, many of which are undefined. For example, the industry law firm Bergeson and Campbell questions whether the rule’s application to “pivotal regulatory science” could have impacts that are farther reaching than EPA intends.

“Similar to when legislative proposals offer new terminology, the establishment and use of terms such as ‘pivotal regulatory science’ suggest some distinction between it and ‘not so pivotal science’ not subject to the new procedures and requirements,” the firm says in a blog post.

The post notes that while the rule is largely intended to address data underlying air quality standards, it could nevertheless spill over into other areas, such as “routine” data submissions governing pesticide registrations.

One of the authors of the post, Jim Aidala, the former Clinton EPA toxics chief now with the firm, explains that “I get what they’re trying to do — not apply this new [requirement] to every study, but what is ‘pivotal?’”

See – https://insideepa.com/daily-news/pruitts-science-plan-faces-host-legal-hurdles-some-doubt-promulgation (subscription required)