As I blogged a couple weeks ago, the Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to streamline its process for assessing the health effects of chemicals under its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS).

The new process removes some unnecessary steps added by the Bush administration, but it preserves a role for the White House in reviewing draft versions of the scientific studies. During the Bush administration, the White House Office of Management and Budget began reviewing draft assessments both before and after the studies underwent an external peer review. OMB sometimes manipulated results or blocked the EPA from completing its work.

EPA’s new process refers only to the White House, not OMB specifically. An article in the most recent issue of the Watcher, OMB Watch’s e-newsletter, identifies some of the questions left unanswered in regard to the White House’s role in the new IRIS process:

EPA did not indicate why it believes White House review is necessary. It is unclear what value, if any, a White House review adds to the process, particularly after the assessment has been peer reviewed. It is also unclear who will lead the review for the White House. OMB may continue to review drafts, or other offices, such as the Office of Science and Technology Policy, may play a bigger role.

In the past, employees inside the IRIS program have expressed concern with OMB's involvement. Comments on the 2008 GAO report complained that the OMB review delayed the completion of assessments and said OMB's comments "can be very extensive and troubling to address." 

EPA does appear to want to soften the White House’s potential impact by setting time limits on the White House review and requiring public disclosure of written communications between EPA and other agencies, including White House offices.

But those measures still don’t answer the bigger question: why should the White House be involved at all? The IRIS program assesses the existing state of science regarding the potential health effects of chemicals that people are exposed to. EPA then subjects the assessments to an external peer review. The IRIS program engages in risk assessment, not risk management. In other words, this is not policy. The White House should let IRIS staff do its work in peace and allow it to publish public health information on its own terms.