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
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?
Where's Waldo Bernie my S&T?
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:
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
Some slides ago, we talked about:
EO 13891 requires public notice and comment for "significant guidance documents"
The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) requires public notice and comment for rule-making.
Federal Register
- Rules (regs)
- Proposed rules
- Notice
- Presidential Docs (e.g. EO, memo)
For action by:
- Individuals
- Groups
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
- Congressional Science Fellowship
- Congressional Visits Day
- Climate Science Day on Capitol Hill
- AAAS S&T Policy Fellowship
- Public Policy / Government Relations Office
- Policy email updates
- Seminars
- Conferences
- Email updates
- Coalition for Deep Space Exploration
- Friends of NOAA Coalition
- USGS Coalition
- Coalition for National Science Funding
- Natural Science Collections Alliance
- Data Coalition
Visualizing the S&T connections to legislation
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