Science and the US Government: Where does your contribution fit into the picture?

ESIP 2021 Winter Meeting

2020-01-27

Organizers: ESIP Agriculture and Cluster Co-Chairs
Brian Wee, Ph.D. (Massive Connections LLC) and
William Teng, Ph.D. (NASA Goddard)

Instructor: Brian Wee

Your Provocateurs...

Steve Young
Arika Virapongse

...for Q&A + Reflections (Q&A + R)

Why this tutorial?

"Chance favors the prepared mind" (Louis Pasteur)

Gain awareness of the science, technology, and policy (STP) landscape. In the course of your S&T work, you might recognize landmarks and wander on over to investigate...

“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.” (Yogi Berra)

Provide a broad sketch of the STP landscape for you to investigate further if you're trying to effect change.

Out of scope

This introductory tutorial (we're not pretending to be a graduate school seminar class here...) will not be delving into the merits / demerits of specific policies. This applies to Q&A sessions.

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What does "policy" in the science and technology context mean to you?

(Breakout, 3 mins)

In the chat window, write what you think OTHERS in your breakout group said about policy in science and technology

Agenda

From an idea to an agency that flings stuff into space
Minecraft USG Part 1: what agency would you like to build?
Examples of science and technology in policy
Minecraft USG Part 2: how do you build your agency?
Walkthrough: Clean Act Air and Ozone
Interface points for S&T
Q&A + R

A very brief history of NASA and ESIP

* The recent National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act (NAIIA) of 2020 was also tacked on to an important bill: the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2021

A very brief history of NASA and ESIP

* The recent National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act (NAIIA) of 2020 was also tacked on to an important bill: the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2021

Different genesis stories

1970s:

Congress passes laws with clear roles for science: Nat. Env. Pol. Act (NEPA), Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act

Organic Act of 1862

Organic Act of 1950

Created by laws passed by Congress

Created via Presidential Directives
(~Exec. Order)

Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970

Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970

Co-opted existing organizations from agencies including: DOI, USDA

Co-opted existing organizations from agencies including: DOI, NSF, Dept. of Navy (pre-DOD), Weather Bureau, Env. Data Service

The US executive branch family tree (partial)

There is a more commonly-used representation of the Exec Br with (1) the Executive Department agencies as one group, (2) everything else under a group "Independent Establishments and Government Corporations". "Administrative Agencies" are also sometimes referred to as "Executive Agencies".

US Congress

House of Representatives

Committees (incl. Appropriations)
Subcommittees

Senate

Committees (incl. Appropriations)
Subcommittees

Congressional Research Service (Library of Congress) (GREAT reports!!!)

Government Accountability Office (GREAT reports!!!)

Take-aways

The role of NGO advocacy.
The role of government commissions with members from within and outside the USG.
Respect for the roles of the three co-equal branches of the USG.
Policy instruments to enact change:
* Non-legally enforceable
* Legally enforceable (just two examples):
-- Statutes (legislative).
-- Presidential directives (executive).

Agenda

From an idea to an agency that flings stuff into space
Minecraft USG Part 1: what agency would you like to build?
Examples of science and technology in policy
Minecraft USG Part 2: how do you build your agency?
Walkthrough: Clean Act Air and Ozone
Interface points for S&T
Q&A + R

US.Gov

Activity, Q&A, and Reflection

sli.do

#C197

Minecraft USG Part 1

Q&A + Reflection

Agenda

From an idea to an agency that flings stuff into space
Minecraft USG Part 1: what agency would you like to build?
Examples of science and technology in policy
Minecraft USG Part 2: how do you build your agency?
Walkthrough: Clean Act Air and Ozone
Interface points for S&T
Q&A + R

Where Minecraft USG fits into the framework below

Sources of US Law:

US Constitution
Statutory Law
Regulatory Law
Case Law

US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)

Statutory law that enables the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)

Citizen science and crowdsourcing

ESIP Board Members provided comments to Sen. Coon's (D-DE) draft “Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing Act of 2015”.

Citizen science and crowdsourcing

Signed into law (15 USC § 3724) by President Obama on 2017-01-06 just before he left office as part of the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act.

ESIP contributed / influenced

Superfund - Environmental Cleanup

40 CFR 300.430(e)(2)(i)(A)(1)

Regulation
Guidance Document

Not legally binding.
Per EO 13891 (2019): may require notice-and-comment.

Clean Air Act -
Nat. Ambient Air Qual. Stds. (NAAQS) (40 CFR part 50)

Six "criteria" air pollutants: Carbon monoxide, Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particle pollution (PM 2.5, PM 10), Sulfur dioxide

Legal citations provide a clue to S&T in policy

Statutory Law

Regulatory Law

Congress

Federal Agency

We are used seeing citations like this:

Wee, B., and A. J. Piña (2019), A vision for adapting at the pace of socioenvironmental change, Eos, 100, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EO116643.

What's this stuff?

Global Change Research Act of 1990. 15 USC 2921.
Crowdsourcing and citizen science. 15 USC § 3724.
National Ambient Air Quality Standards 40 CFR Part 50

Where's ~~Waldo~~ ~~Bernie~~ my S&T?

S&T: not the only thing that matters

Article III & VI of the US Constitution
Statutes: Politics (Constituency, caucus, horse-trading, etc)

Regulations:

Interpretation of what can be regulated: is it authorized under statute (e.g. CO2 as a pollutant)
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA: part of OMB) and the Administrative Procedure Act
Congressional Review Act (CRA)

Enhancing our STP framework

Sources of US Law:

US Constitution
Statutory Law
Regulatory Law
Case Law

Agenda

From an idea to an agency that flings stuff into space
Minecraft USG Part 1: what agency would you like to build?
Examples of science and technology in policy
Minecraft USG Part 2: how do you build your agency?
Walkthrough: Clean Act Air and Ozone
Interface points for S&T
Q&A + R

Minecraft USG Part 2

Thinking back to your answer about a pressing science/technology need: what sort of policy instrument is required to fulfill your goal? Why?

(Breakout, 5 mins)

Minecraft USG Part 2

Q&A + Reflections

Agenda

From an idea to an agency that flings stuff into space
Minecraft USG Part 1: what agency would you like to build?
Examples of science and technology in policy
Minecraft USG Part 2: how do you build your agency?
Walkthrough: Clean Act Air and Ozone
Interface points for S&T
Q&A + R

Clean Air Act's (CAA)-
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

Clean Air Act (CAA):
** First created: 1963
** Amendments: 1970, 1990, others
1970 amendments:
** National Ambient Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS)
** National Emission Standards for
Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPS)

Broadway, 1958 (Source: https://timeline.com/la-smog-pollution-4ca4bc0cc95d)

NAAQS

Seven "criteria" air pollutants:

Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Lead (Pb)
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Ozone (O3)
PM 2.5
PM 10
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)

O3 limit = 0.070 ppm = 70 ppb

2015: 75 ppb -> 70 ppb
2020: No change

CAA requires standards to be reviewed every 5 years.

Deleterious effects of ground-level O3

Human health ("primary standard")
Agro-ecosystem health ("secondary standard")

Agathokleous, Evgenios, et al. "Ozone affects plant, insect, and soil microbial communities: A threat to terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity." Science advances 6.33 (2020): eabc1176.

NAAQS review key steps

Samet, Jonathan M., and Thomas A. Burke. "Deregulation and the assault on science and the environment." Annual review of public health 41 (2020): 347-361.

Public Notice and Comment