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Friday, Sep. 25, 2020

Did the Trump administration move to reduce the number of scientists on EPA advisory boards?

Esther Tsvayg, Gigafact Foundry
yes

From 2017 to 2019, the share of academic members on the Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board dropped by 27 percentage points, according to a 2019 review by the Government Accountability Office. On the Board of Science Counselors, the decline was 45 points. The changes resulted from an EPA decision in 2017 to bar the appointment of any academic researchers receiving funding from the EPA.

The GAO report also found notable changes in membership balance on two other committees of 18 it examined.

Outside groups, objecting to the diminished role for scientists in agency policy reviews, filed multiple lawsuits to block the changes. After losing its third court decision in June, the EPA announced it would revert to its pre-2017 policies, but not make any immediate changes to the committees' current members.

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