S. 543: EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2015

114th Congress · introduced 2015-02-24 · Environmental Protection · Latest: Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 114-38.

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Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2015-02-24 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 114-38. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2015

Plain summary

EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2015 This bill amends the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 to revise the process of selecting members of the Science Advisory Board, guidelines for participation in Board advisory activities, and terms of office. The Board provides scientific advice to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This bill requires the Board to independently provide that advice. Federally registered lobbyists may not be appointed to the Board. The EPA must provide draft risk or hazard assessments in its regulatory proposals and documents to the Board. The Board's advice and comments must be included in the record regarding any such proposal and published in the Federal Register. The Board's member committees and investigative panels must operate in accordance with the membership, participation, and policy requirements contained in this Act, including new requirements for public participation in advisory activities of the Board. The member committees and investigative panels do not have the authority to make decisions on behalf of the Board and may not report directly to the EPA. The Board must: (1) strive to avoid making policy determinations or recommendations, (2) communicate uncertainties, (3) encourage dissenting members to make their views known, (4) conduct periodic reviews to ensure that its activities address the most important scientific issues affecting the EPA, and (5) respond to Congress fully and in a timely manner. This Act may not be construed as supplanting the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act or the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2015

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR] · 2 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR] reported raising $579,216 (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (3)

Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Federal Register: The official daily publication of the U.S. government for agency rules, proposed rules, public notices and presidential documents.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-114s543.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/114/s>

Record fed-us-cong114-s543 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114