As mentioned by The Verge and Nature, the revised guidelines arrive alongside concerns about appointments by the President-elect that have a troubling connection to science. His incoming energy secretary has previously said he'd like to shut the department down, but these new regulations would require Rick Perry to appoint an independent Scientific Integrity Official to handle complaints (like the kind you'd get after the coverup of an accident at a secret lab in Hawkins, Indiana).

The Union of Concerned Scientists notes the department has been working on the revised policy for years, pointing out an incident where a DOE scientist working at Los Alamos appeared to have been fired for a scientific paper he wrote on his own time. It will be up to the incoming administration to implement these new policies, and we'll have to wait and see if they try to roll any of the changes back. As it stands, they could be the only thing protecting employees working on issues like climate change or other politically charged topics. You can read the new rules yourself here (PDF).