EPA kicks Trump advisers off panels

WASHINGTON — Moving forward on a pledge to restore “scientific integrity,” the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency is reversing Trump administration actions that sidelined many academic scientists from key advisory boards in favor of industry figures.

Administrator Michael Regan said the “reset” of the Science Advisory Board and Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee will return EPA to its timehonored practice of relying on advice from a balanced group of experts. He is clearing out the two important panels, although current members can apply for reinstatement.

Restoring public confidence in the EPA is a top goal, Regan said. “And I think to do that, we have to identify and root out any decisions from the past that were not properly aligned with science,” he said.

The overhaul will oust current members of the two science advisory boards.

The panels provide scientific expertise and recommendations for air quality standards and other policies intended to protect public health and the environment.

Democrats have said the decision by Donald Trump’s first EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, to remove scientists from the advisory panels tilted the panels in favor of the chemical and fossil fuel industries.

Regan said the EPA will be part of a White House effort to investigate Trumpera political interference in science across the government. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced a task force Monday aimed at identifying past tampering in scientific decisions.