About Us
Federal agencies regularly develop new rules which may directly or indirectly affect our lives or our society as a whole. Part of the process by which new laws and regulations are implemented is the “notice-and-comment” period, during which the public can participate and offer feedback on proposed rules. Members of the Science Policy Society Public Comment Committee work together to actively monitor legislation, research topics, and compile well-informed public comments to submit on behalf of the organization. Joining our committee is a great way to gain experience in science policy writing as well as potential networking opportunities through the Union of Concerned Scientists
For more information about the public comment process, the Center for Effective Government website has a succinct description. To find proposed and final rules which are available for public comment, visit Regulations.gov. If you are interested in joining or learning more about this committee, talk to us after a general meeting or send us an email at psusciencepolicy@gmail.com.
See up-to-date info on our next meetings in our calendar!
Previous Pieces
Policy Memo: End-to-End Lifecycle Considerations for Minerals Powering Critical Technologies
Authors: Angela Cleri, Ryan Spanger, Emilee Fortier
The United States (U.S.) is poised for a new wave of industrialization as it prepares to scale up domestic semiconductor manufacturing and widely implement clean energy infrastructure. The success of these initiatives is highly dependent on the non-renewable minerals used in critical technologies necessitating the adaptation of current business and legislative models to accommodate future long-term extraction and implementation needs. A group of SPS members proposed policy recommendations in for U.S. federal government to minimize environmental and socio-economic harm resulting from metal mining and promote integration of circular economy principles in electronic product design.
Op-Ed: Publish, Don’t Perish: Recommendations for Mitigating Impacts of the New Federal Open Access Policy
Authors: Alexander Belles, Karen Beatty, Claire Rodman, Charles Connelly
In August, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy issues a new policy requiring that all federally funded scholarly research be accessible to the public immediately upon publication. While this open access policy will ultimately benefit society by increasing the availability of data and research outputs, it could place heavy burden on researchers due to the relatively high cost of open access alongside an academic culture that tends to favor publishing in high impact subscription journals. A group of SPS members examined the complexities of the traditional publishing landscapea nd offer recommendations for agencies, universities, and publishers to mitigate the impacts on researchers.
Public Comment: PA Public Schools Science Education Standards
Authors: Hanna Leapaldt
In Recently, the PA Board of Education assembled a committee to update the science standards for PA public schools for the first time in almost 20 years! After reviewing the legislation, a group of SPS members submitted a public comment, both applauding the revisions to the standards, as well as identifying areas that required change or further thought including considering inequity between school districts, implementing data-driven metrics to evaluate effectiveness of curriculum changes, and adding a more explicit description of the role of human activity in climate change.
Public Comment: Public Comment: Restoring the American Chestnut
Authors: Hanna Leapaldt
In Consideration of the proposal by ESF is of critical importance to efforts seeking to restore the American Chestnut. We, the Penn State Science Policy Society, fully support the petition put forth to establish the nonregulated status of Darling 58. SPS members provide the following reasons for our support.
Public Comment: Take of Migratory Birds
Authors: Jeremy Sutherland
The Dept. of Interior’s reinterpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) has led to widespread objections from a coalition of environmental, political, and scientific organizations. Despite this, the DOI plans to reaffirm their interpretation of the MBTA into federal law. SPS members hold that it would be ill-advised to see this objective through.
Public Comment: Drug Abuse and Dependence Section of Labeling for Human Prescription Drug and Biological Products
The guidance is intended to assist applicants in writing the DRUG ABUSE AND DEPENDENCE section of the labeling, as described in the regulations for the content and format of labeling for human prescription drug and biological products. The recommendations in the proposed draft guidance aim to ensure that the labeling is clear, concise, useful and informative, and, to the extent possible, consistent in content and format within and across drug and therapeutic classes.
