EPA to eliminate office that advises chief on science

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency plans to dissolve its Office of the Science Advisor, a senior post that was created to counsel the EPA administrator on the scientific research underpinning health and environmental regulations, according to a person familiar with the agency’s plans. The person spoke anonymously because the decision had not yet been made public.

The move is the latest among several steps taken by the Trump administration that appear to have diminished the role of scientific research in policymaking while the administration pursues an agenda of rolling back regulations.

An EPA spokesman did not return emails or phone calls requesting comment.

Separately Tuesday, the EPA placed the head of its Office of Children’s Health, Dr. Ruth Etzel, on administrative leave, while declining to give a reason for the move. Agency officials told Etzel, a respected pediatric epidemiologist, that the move was not disciplinary. As the head of an office that regularly pushed to tighten regulations on pollution, which can affect children more powerfully than adults, Etzel had clashed multiple times with Trump administration appointees who sought to loosen pollution rules.

The EPA’s science adviser is Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, an expert on the risks of chemicals to human health who has worked at the EPA since 1981, according to the agency’s website. OrmeZavaleta did not respond to emails and telephone messages requesting a response for comment.

It was unclear whether Orme-Zavaleta would remain at the EPA once the decision takes effect.

The changes at the two offices, which both report directly to the head of the EPA, come as the agency’s acting administrator, Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, is overseeing a reorganization of the agency.

After dissolving the office of the scientific adviser, Wheeler plans to merge the position into an office that reports to the EPA’s deputy assistant administrator for science, a demotion that would put at least two more managerial layers between the EPA’s chief scientist and its top decision-maker.