EPA has released the final version of its scientific integrity policy as required by the White House, but the agency has not crafted an explanation of how the new document - intended to protect agency science and scientists from political interference - will be implemented or whether key officials are available to implement it. Environmentalists are generally welcoming the policy, saying it is an improvement over the agency's draft version. But they are calling on the agency to craft implementation guidelines, saying they are needed - along with continued White House coordination and some strengthened policy provisions - to make it "meaningful." "Overall, the policy makes strides towards protecting scientific integrity at the EPA, but falls short in several areas," Francesca Grifo of the Union for Concerned Scientists (UCS) said in a Feb. 23 blog post, including its failure to protect EPA science from interference by the White House or other agencies.
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