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S 4693 116th Congress Senate Science, Technology, Communications

BEST Act

Introduced: September 24, 2020 Introduced by: Lankford, James Republican · Oklahoma See on congress.gov
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This bill died when the 116th Congress ended
It never became law before the 116th Congress (2019–2020) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Sep 24, 2020
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Sep 24, 2020
Introduced in Senate
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 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Better Evaluation of Science and Technology Act or the BEST Act

This bill requires federal agencies to use the best available scientific information during rulemaking and publish specified documentation of the rulemaking process.

Specifically, the bill requires a federal agency, to the extent it is making a decision based on science when issuing a rule, to use scientific information, technical procedures, methods, protocols, methodologies, or models in a manner that is consistent with the best available science and the intended use of the information, based on the weight of the scientific evidence.

Each federal agency shall make available to the public (1) all of its notices, determinations, findings, rules, consent agreements, and orders in connection with a rule; (2) a nontechnical summary of each risk evaluation conducted in connection with a rule; and (3) a list of the studies considered by the agency in carrying out each evaluation, along with the results of those studies.

What's happening now September 24, 2020

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 4693: BEST Act. 116th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-4693/
MLA
"S. 4693: BEST Act." 116th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-4693/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 4693, 116th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-4693/.
Markdown link
[S. 4693: BEST Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-4693/)
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