Science, policy, and politics in judicial review of regulations

Perhaps the most effective control on the exercise of administration is to subject final decisions to evaluation by a reviewing institution capable of vetoing the initiative or remanding it to the agency for further work. All three branches of government—Congress, the executive branch and the judiciary—perform this review function to some degree, but the judiciary plays a uniquely powerful role in American government. During the last two decades, Congress has vested in regulatory agencies like the environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) broad authority to promulgate standards and regulations to protect citizens from the unintended adverse consequences of a modern industrial society. These powerful agencies must necessarily rely heavily upon scientific data in carrying out their responsibilities. They must interpret scientific studies and draw inferences on the basis of “scientific judgment.”; When the nature of the administrative task is so highly technical in nature, and especially when the agencies are working on the “frontiers of scientific knowledge,”; as they frequently are in scientific rulemaking, the value of review by a court composed of three lawyers with minimal scientific training is open to legitimate discussion. How the courts go about performing their review function in the context of scientific rulemaking is a critical question for American administrative law.