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Peer Review: EPA Needs Implementation Procedures and Additional Controls

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Report Type Reports and Testimonies
Report Date Feb. 22, 1994
Report No. RCED-94-89
Subject
Summary:

In May 1991, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) convened a panel of outside academicians to review the role of science at EPA and evaluate how the agency could meet its goal of using sound science as the basis for decision-making. The panel reported the next year that science was of uneven quality at EPA, causing the agencies' policies and regulations to be perceived as lacking strong scientific support. The panel recommended that EPA establish a uniform peer review process for all scientific and technical products used to support EPA guidance and regulations. A February 1993 GAO report (GAO/RCED-93-77R) commented on weaknesses in internal controls over EPA's peer review process that contributed to the premature release of a draft EPA report on environmental tobacco smoke. This report examines (1) EPA's efforts to implement a uniform policy on peer reviews and (2) its controls over documents sent to outside reviewers.

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