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Between 2017 and 2021, five government agencies, including the EPA, lost more than 1,000 scientists, according to data collected and published in an article by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Other impacted agencies include the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), U.S. Geological Survey, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Institute of Education Services.
Former President Donald Trump’s “secret science” rule is currently the subject of scrutiny in lawsuits filed by states, cities, a county, and concerned environmental groups. In the latest filing, on January 20, 2021, a coalition of 18 states, 3 of the nation’s largest cities, and 1 county filed suit against the EPA over the Strengthening […]
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit found that an EPA directive that recast procedures for selecting members for the Agency’s 22 science committees violated federal law. Issued by former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in October 2017, the directive’s most controversial element prohibited committee membership to recipients of EPA grants. […]
As federal health agencies pour all available resources into halting the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the EPA has stepped forward with a second proposal governing the Agency’s use of science at the Agency. The action supplements the EPA’s April 2018 proposal, Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science. That proposal would ensure that when developing […]
For the second time in 2 months, a U.S. district court judge has dismissed a suit claiming that the EPA’s October 2017 directive establishing new guidelines for membership in Agency science committees was illegal.
In October 2017, former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that no individual who is benefiting from an EPA-issued grant may serve on an EPA federal advisory committee (FAC). The intent of the new directive was to eliminate “the appearance or reality of potential interference with [FAC members’] ability to independently and objectively serve as a […]
The EPA’s Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science proposal occupies a mere 7 pages in the Federal Register (April 30, 2018), and yet, among scientists, human health and environmental groups, and certain industry organizations, the proposal has been the subject of intense discussion. Congress has also been weighing in on the merits of the proposal.