Clean slate for EPA scientific advisory committees

Abstract

After just a few weeks on the job, Michael Regan, administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, is shaking up membership on two influential scientific advisory committees. Regan announced March 31 that he is eliminating all members of the agency’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) and the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and directing EPA staff to reconfigure the panels with a more balanced mix of expertise. The move comes after 4 years of the Trump administration’s dismantling various panels and excluding members who received grant money from the EPA in favor of members with ties to industry. “Resetting these two scientific advisory committees will ensure the agency receives the best possible scientific insight to support our work to protect human health and the environment,” Regan says in a statement. The EPA is encouraging members released from the committees to reapply if they are still interested in serving. It is