An amendment numbered 2 printed in House Report 112-680 to require that the Secretary, or any other Federal official proposing a rule under this Act, shall publish with each rule proposed under this Act each, scientific study the Secretary or other official, respectively, relied on in developing the rule. This amendment ensures that rules being issued are based on scientific study.

1. Adds SEC. __. PUBLICATION OF SCIENTIFIC STUDIES FOR PROPOSED RULES at the end of title I

   Adds a section

   Inserted: SEC. __. PUBLICATION OF SCIENTIFIC STUDIES FOR PROPOSED RULES.

   Inserted: (a) Requirement.--Title VI of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (16 U.S.C. 1291 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

   Inserted: "publication of scientific studies for proposed rules

   Inserted: "Sec. 722. (a) Requirement.--The Secretary, or any other Federal official proposing a rule under this Act, shall publish with each rule proposed under this Act each scientific study the Secretary or other official, respectively, relied on in developing the rule.

   Inserted: "(b) Scientific Study Defined.--In this section the term 'scientific study' means a study that--

   Inserted: "(1) applies rigorous, systematic, and objective methodology to obtain reliable and valid knowledge relevant to the subject matter involved;

   Inserted: "(2) presents findings and makes claims that are appropriate to, and supported by, the methods that have been employed; and

   Inserted: "(3) includes, appropriate to the rule being proposed--

   Inserted: "(A) use of systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment;

   Inserted: "(B) use of data analyses that are adequate to support the general findings;

   Inserted: "(C) reliance on measurements or observational methods that provide reliable and generalizable findings;

   Inserted: "(D) strong claims of causal relationships, only with research designs that eliminate plausible competing explanations for observed results, such as, but not limited to, random-assignment experiments;

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   Inserted: "(E) presentation of studies and methods in sufficient detail and clarity to allow for replication or, at a minimum, to offer the opportunity to build systematically on the findings of the research;

   Inserted: "(F) acceptance by a peer-reviewed journal or critique by a panel of independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective, and scientific review; and

   Inserted: "(G) consistency of findings across multiple studies or sites to support the generality of results and conclusions.".

   Inserted: (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents at the end of the first section of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to such title the following:

   Inserted: "Sec. 722. Publication of scientific studies for proposed rules.".

   Original wording

   At the end of title I (page 3, after line 12) add the following:

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As printed