WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary Ken Sala zar on Wednesday became the first federal department head to issue long-awaited rules to protect scientific integrity, drawing praise from environmental and scientific advocacy groups that had grown frustrated waiting for similar action that was promised by the White House.
The Interior policy comes as the White House is more than a year late in complying with an executive order by President Barack Obama that required the Office of Science and Technology Policy to issue recommendations to guarantee scientific integrity across departments and agencies within the executive branch. Those recommendations were due in July 2009.
The Interior policy requires that Interior agencies document the science behind their decision-making. It prevents career employees and political appointees from suppressing or altering scientific findings. And it protects whistle-blowers who report violations of that policy.
The four-page policy took effect immediately.
