Scientists receiving grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, D.C., many of them leading university researchers, are being purged from the agency’s advisory boards. The move, announced today by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, bars scientists from serving on these boards if they are now receiving money through an agency grant. It marks a major change in who can serve on the committees, which help steer EPA research and regulations by providing input on scientific questions.
Pruitt announced a new policy, effective immediately, restricting who is eligible to serve on agency advisory panels. It bans scientists from sitting on the committees while they are receiving EPA grant funding. Pruitt said the new policy was designed to prevent a conflict of interest. “When we have members of those committees that received tens of millions of dollars in grants at the same time that they are advising this agency on rulemaking, that is not good,” Pruitt said.
He has not raised similar concerns about potential conflicts of interest for scientists who work for regulated industries or state and local governments subject to EPA regulation. A majority of the scientists on the EPA committees have traditionally hailed from academia, with a handful from private industry, environmental groups, and state and local governments.
Regulated industries have been pushing for years to boost their presence on these advisory boards. The
U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year passed a Republican-backed bill that mirrors much of what
Pruitt did today. One of its main sponsors was Representative Lamar Smith (R–TX), chairperson of the
House science committee and a frequent critic of the science behind environmental regulations, particularly
climate change. That bill won the support of industry-backed groups including the American Chemistry
Council in Washington, D.C. But similar measures have failed to gain traction in the Senate, and have
never become law. So, in essence, Pruitt took administrative action to accomplish what Republicans in
Congress could not.
U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year passed a Republican-backed bill that mirrors much of what
Pruitt did today. One of its main sponsors was Representative Lamar Smith (R–TX), chairperson of the
House science committee and a frequent critic of the science behind environmental regulations, particularly
climate change. That bill won the support of industry-backed groups including the American Chemistry
Council in Washington, D.C. But similar measures have failed to gain traction in the Senate, and have
never become law. So, in essence, Pruitt took administrative action to accomplish what Republicans in
Congress could not.
Smith appeared with Pruitt today and praised the new policy, saying it will enable “honest government,
sound scientific opinions, and a more responsive EPA.”
sound scientific opinions, and a more responsive EPA.”
Environmental groups, meanwhile, have warned that restricting grant-funded researchers will weaken the
scientific rigor of the panels and tilt the balance toward people representing the groups that have a financial
stake in less-restrictive regulations.
scientific rigor of the panels and tilt the balance toward people representing the groups that have a financial
stake in less-restrictive regulations.
EPA didn’t provide a list of current board members who are disqualified. But people recently dismissed
from the main advisory board before completing their terms include scientists from the University of
Washington in Seattle; Harvard University; Stanford University in Palo Alto, California; the University of
Southern California in Los Angeles; and Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.
from the main advisory board before completing their terms include scientists from the University of
Washington in Seattle; Harvard University; Stanford University in Palo Alto, California; the University of
Southern California in Los Angeles; and Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The agency is one of the primary sources of environmental science funding in the country. Much of that research is done by the agency itself, through the Office of Research and Development. It also gives external grants, including approximately $50 million a year through its Science to Achieve Results program. The new policy would ban current recipients of those grants, many of them university researchers. In 2016, the agency listed grants with 36 principal investigators to scientists at eight universities. In his remarks today, Pruitt said committee members included people receiving a total of about $77 million in EPA funding over the past 3 years.
Though the agency didn’t release a full list today, Pruitt introduced the new heads of the three main
committees.Michael Honeycutt, lead toxicologist for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in
Austin, takes over as chairperson of the Science Advisory Board. Honeycutt has challenged EPA moves to
tighten standards for ozone pollution. He replaces Peter Thorne, head of the University of Iowa’s
Department of Occupational and Environmental Health in Iowa City.The new head of the scientific
counselors panel is Paul Gilman, an executive at Covanta, a New Jersey company that handles waste,
including incinerating waste to produce energy. He worked at EPA during former President George W.
Bush’s administration as the agency’s science adviser. It was previously led by Deborah Swackhamer, a
professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis who studies toxic chemicals in the environment. On
the clean air committee, it’s Tony Cox, expert in risk analysis whose private consulting firm in Colorado
lists industry clients in the oil and chemical industries.He replaces Ana Diez Roux, an epidemiologist at
Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
committees.Michael Honeycutt, lead toxicologist for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in
Austin, takes over as chairperson of the Science Advisory Board. Honeycutt has challenged EPA moves to
tighten standards for ozone pollution. He replaces Peter Thorne, head of the University of Iowa’s
Department of Occupational and Environmental Health in Iowa City.The new head of the scientific
counselors panel is Paul Gilman, an executive at Covanta, a New Jersey company that handles waste,
including incinerating waste to produce energy. He worked at EPA during former President George W.
Bush’s administration as the agency’s science adviser. It was previously led by Deborah Swackhamer, a
professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis who studies toxic chemicals in the environment. On
the clean air committee, it’s Tony Cox, expert in risk analysis whose private consulting firm in Colorado
lists industry clients in the oil and chemical industries.He replaces Ana Diez Roux, an epidemiologist at
Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
"Allowing scientists funded by the very industries the agency is tasked with regulating to participate on independent science review panels, while prohibiting leading scientists simply because they have received funding through EPA grants, is the height of hypocrisy.” — Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, ranking member on the House science committee
