BY FAX & MAIL
May 19, 1999
Mr. Jacob Lew
Director Office of Management and Budget
Old Executive Office Building
17th St. & Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20503
Dear Mr. Lew:
We request that the Office of Management and Budget expedite the revision of OMB Circular A-110 or issue an interim rule applicable to the Environmental Protection Agency's ongoing rulemaking for the Tier 2/Gasoline Sulfur standards.
Circular A-110, "Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals and other Non-Profit Organizations," was proposed for revision, according to P.L. 105-277, in February 1999. The public comment period closed 60 days later in April 1999.
This request is being made in light of the EPA's reliance in its proposed Tier 2/Gasoline Sulfur rulemaking on a specific scientific study(1) that was produced under federal awards [EPA Cooperative Agreements CR-811650 and CR-818090]. EPA has relied exclusively on the Pope study to estimate up to 89 percent of the proposed rule's net benefits.
Pursuant to the provisions of P.L. 105-277, we filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for the Pope study data (see attachment) on May 11, 1999. Since our FOIA request, media reports indicate the EPA may not produce the Pope study, possibly because Circular A-110 has not yet been revised.
Given the economic impact of the rule, $3.5 billion in additional annual costs to be borne by the public in the form of higher vehicle and gasoline prices, it is in the public interest for the EPA to produce the Pope study data in a timely fashion to allow meaningful input during the public comment period.
We realize OMB may require more time to revise Circular A-110 as called for in P.L. 105-277. Nevertheless, it is in the public interest to obtain the data underlying the Pope study as soon as possible given the public comment period for the Tier 2/Gasoline Sulfur rulemaking ends around August 1, 1999.
Accordingly, we request that OMB take action to ensure timely production of the Pope study pursuant to P.L.105-277 and our FOIA request.
Sincerely,
Steven J. Milloy
DirectorMichael Gough
DirectorCitizens for the Integrity of Science
Attachment
cc:
Norwood Jackson, Controller (Acting), Office of Federal Financial Management
F. James Charney, Block Grants (OFFM)
Carol Browner, Administrator, EPA
Jeralene Green, EPA National FOIA Officer
Sen. Richard Shelby
1. Pope, C.A., M.J. Thun, M.M. Namboordiri, D.W. Dockery, J.S. Evans, F.E. Speizer and C.W. Heath, 1995. "Particulate Air Pollution As a Predictor of Mortality in a Prospective Study of US Adults." American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 151(3), 669-674. [the "Pope study].