Peer Review Plan Draws Criticism

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WASHINGTON POST
Peer Review Plan Draws Criticism
Under Bush Proposal, OMB Would Evaluate Science Before New Rules Take
Effect
By Rick Weiss
Thursday, January 15, 2004; Page A19

A number of leading researchers are mobilizing against a Bush
administration plan that would require new health and environmental
regulations to rely more solidly on science that has been peer-reviewed
-- an awkward situation in which scientists find themselves arguing
against one of the universally accepted gold standards of good science.

The administration proposal, which is open for comment from federal
agencies through Friday and could take effect in the next few months,
would block the adoption of new federal regulations unless the science
being used to justify them passes muster with a centralized peer review
process that would be overseen by the White House Office of Management
and Budget.

Administration officials say the approach reflects President Bush's
commitment to "sound science."

But a number of scientific organizations, citizen advocacy groups and
even a cadre of former government regulators see a more sinister
motivation: an effort to inject White House politics into the world of
science and to use the uncertainty that inevitably surrounds science as
an excuse to delay new rules that could cost regulated industries
millions of dollars.

"The way it's structured it allows for the political process to
second-guess the experts," said Georges Benjamin, executive director of
the 50,000-member American Public Health Association, one of many groups
that have spoken against the proposal.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18006-2004Jan14.html