Incoming EPW Chair agrees with NAS assessment that OMB plan to standardize risk assessment is "fundamentally flawed" and should be withdrawn

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the incoming Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, today praised a National Academies of Sciences report that said the White House Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) plan to standardize the risk assessment process is "fundamentally flawed" and should be withdrawn.

The White House OMB has developed a new way to calculate risk to our people from the most dangerous toxins in our midst. The Academy's peer review found that some of OMB's proposed changes could be especially problematic for infants, children, and other individuals who are especially vulnerable to toxic substances. The NAS characterized key parts of the guidance as "incomplete and confusing" and as potentially "misleading when sensitive populations are of primary concern."

Boxer said, "Time and again, this Administration has chosen to distort or circumvent science at the expense of public health. Rather than give a true assessment as to what level will constitute a risk, they have proposed to change the methodology from a science-based method to a special interest-based method. Today, the National Academy of Sciences issued a clear rebuke to this Administration, and stated clearly that their plan that does not fully consider the health threats to our families and our children should be rejected."

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