About the Agreement

The State of California is unique in requiring all draft environmental rule-makings originated by the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) to undergo independent external scientific and economic peer review. The mission of the CalEPA Interagency Agreement for Scientific Review is to contract with the University of California at Berkeley to provide to CalEPA, upon request, the names of pre-screened qualified candidate reviewers … Read More

What is Peer Review?

In 1997, Governor Pete Wilson signed into law Senate Bill 1320 (Sher), Chapter 295, statutes of 1997, which mandates that, before any CalEPA Board, Department, or Office adopts a final version of a … Read More

How does the process work?

A review begins with an official request from the initiating CalEPA board, department, or office (BDO) is submitted in writing to the UC.  The request includes: • A plain English summary of the … Read More

The Reviewers’ Responsibilities

The reviewer is to produce an unbiased, independent scholarly review free from any influence of anyone who was involved with the development of the proposed rule-making or other document and of anyone … Read More