EPA ousts dozens of Trump-era advisers
WASHINGTON — Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan will purge more than 40 outside experts appointed under President Donald Trump from two key advisory panels, a move he says will help restore the role of science at the agency and reduce the heavy influence of industry over environmental regulations.
The unusual decision, announced Wednesday, will sweep away outside researchers picked under the previous administration whose expert advice helped the agency craft regulations related to air pollution, fracking and other issues.
Critics say that, under Trump, membership of the two panels — the EPA’s Science Advisory Board and Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee — tilted too heavily toward regulated industries and that their positions sometimes contradicted scientific consensus.
The Biden administration said the move is one of several to reestablish scientific integrity across the federal government after what it characterizes as a concerted effort under the previous president to sideline or interfere with research on climate change, the novel coronavirus and other issues.
But former Republican administration officials accused the Biden team of hypocrisy, saying it is undermining, rather than restoring, confidence in the agency by kicking out those with contrary views.
“This seems pretty hamhanded to me,” said Jeff Holmstead, who led the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation under George W. Bush and is now a partner at law and lobbying firm Bracewell. “It’s a mistake in terms of building trust in the agency.”
The advisory boards, created by Congress, are designed to provide federal policymakers with the best advice from experts from a range of backgrounds. Members typically serve three-year terms. Their recommendations, though not binding, carry weight inside the agency.
“Resetting these two scientific advisory committees will ensure the agency receives the best possible scientific insight to support our work to protect human health and the environment,” Regan said in a statement.
Environmental advocates cheered the decision, saying that remaking the composition of the panels is necessary after the Trump administration illegally barred academics who received EPA grants from serving on them. The administration had argued that scientists who received research funding would not be impartial in their advice. But environmental and public health advocates, along with some former career officials within the agency, said the policy effectively elevated experts from industry while muzzling independent scientists.
The Trump administration ended up rescinding the restriction on grant recipients after being ordered to do so last year by a federal court. But it didn’t change any of its appointments after the ruling.