Researchers sue EPA over Pruitt’s move to overhaul advisory boards

A group of the Environmental Protection Agency’s current and former advisory board members sued it Thursday over Administrator Scott Pruitt’s decision to bar scientists who receive agency grants from serving as outside advisers.

Calling the new policy “unlawful, arbitrary and capricious,” the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia argues that Pruitt did not have authority to change the agency’s ethics rules. A handful of environmental advocacy and public health organizations also joined the lawsuit.

In announcing the policy in October, Pruitt said his intention was to avoid conflicts of interest and ensure the objectivity of the agency’s 22 advisory committees — groups of subject-matter experts that offer regulators guidance on topics ranging from children’s health to hazardous waste.

But risk analysis specialist Robyn Wilson, of Ohio State University, who is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, argues the restriction duplicates existing vetting procedures. As a first-time EPA grant recipient whose term on the agency’s Scientific Advisory Board was cut short last month, she sees the policy change as insidious and “morally reprehensible.”

An agency spokesperson said Thursday that the EPA does not comment on pending litigation.