March 31, 2021 5:11 PM EDT
Today marks an important day for Biden administration progress to restore independent science, as EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced that he would be “resetting” the membership on two of its science advisory committees, the Science Advisory Board (SAB) and the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC). That’s a clear indication that Administrator Regan will make good on his and the President’s commitment to “listen to the scientists.” Read more >
November 17, 2020 11:12 AM EDT
In his first week as president-elect, Joe Biden instituted an advisory board of experts to provide science-based recommendations to respond to COVID-19. This could be a signal that independent science advice under a Biden administration is valued. After four years of watching the norms of science advisory structures eroded and undermined, especially at the EPA, it is hard to visualize the possibilities of a government informed by experts. Read more >
February 13, 2020 3:14 PM EDT
A court this week found serious flaws in the EPA’s exclusion from its advisory committees of academic and non-profit scientists holding grants from the agency. After permitting these eminent scientists to serve (for free!) for decades, the EPA abruptly reversed course in 2017. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York explained that the “EPA was required to provide a ‘reasoned explanation’ for its decision to ‘disregard[] facts and circumstances that underlay or were engendered by the prior policy,” but that the “EPA has failed to do so.” Read more >
January 17, 2020 5:25 PM EDT
The EPA’s Science Advisory Board is meeting this week and next to discuss the scientific basis for several EPA proposals, including the so-called transparency rule, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) Rule, the Safe Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles rule, and agency regulations to define the scope of waters federally regulated under the Clean Water Act (WOTUS). Read more >
October 22, 2019 9:39 AM EDT
A group of 20 independent experts on particulate matter air pollution, disbanded by EPA Administrator Wheeler last October and reconvened last week, has now made clear that the current particulate pollution standards don’t protect public health and welfare. Read more >
