{"id":4805,"date":"2017-05-10T05:07:52","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T10:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/?p=4805"},"modified":"2017-05-11T10:37:49","modified_gmt":"2017-05-11T15:37:49","slug":"administrator-pruitts-war-on-science-is-the-epas-science-advisory-board-next-in-the-firing-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2017\/05\/10\/administrator-pruitts-war-on-science-is-the-epas-science-advisory-board-next-in-the-firing-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Administrator Pruitt\u2019s War on Science: Is the EPA\u2019s Science Advisory Board Next in the Firing Line?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

By Romany Webb<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Environmental Protection Agency (\u201cEPA\u201d) made headlines last weekend when the agency fired at least five academics from its Science Advisory Board (\u201cSAB\u201d). A spokesman for Administrator Scott Pruitt told the media<\/a> that he is considering replacing the fired academics with industry representatives as he \u201cbelieves we should have people on the board who understand the impact of regulations on the regulated community.\u201d These events have prompted questions about the law governing membership of the SAB.<\/p>\n

As its name suggests, the SAB is an advisory committee, established to provide EPA with input on scientific matters. It was first established in 1978 by then EPA Administrator, Douglas M. Costle, pursuant to the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act (\u201cERDDA Act\u201d). This blog post offers a short primer on the ERDDA, and on the composition of the SAB, the qualifications of its members, and rules on impartiality and conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Composition of the SAB<\/strong><\/p>\n

Under section 8(b) of the ERDDA Act (codified at 42 U.S.C. \u00a7 4365<\/a>), the SAB must consist of at least nine members appointed by the EPA Administrator. Each year, EPA\u2019s SAB Staff Office solicits nominations from the public for experts to be appointed to the SAB. The Staff Office reviews the qualifications of each nominee and submits recommendations for new members to the Administrator.<\/p>\n

In appointing members to the SAB, the Administrator must comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (\u201cFACA\u201d), which applies to all executive advisory committees. The FACA (5 U.S.C. App 1, \u00a7 5<\/a>) requires committee membership to be \u201cfairly balanced in terms of the point of view represented.\u201d The FACA\u2019s legislative history indicates that this requirement was intended to ensure that \u201cspecial interest groups [cannot] exercise undue influence upon Government through the dominance of advisory committees.\u201d Echoing this language, in National Nutritional Foods Association v. Califano<\/a>, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that committee members must be chosen so that no one interest \u201cdominates.\u201d Thus, for example, it has been suggested<\/a> that industry representatives on the SAB must be balanced by representatives of the environmental movement.<\/p>\n

EPA has indicated<\/a> that it will appoint, as SAB members, \u201cnon-EPA scientists, engineers, and economists and other social scientists . . . from academia, industry, federal, state, and tribal governments, research institutes, and non-governmental organizations.” As of May 8, 2017, the SAB consisted of forty seven members<\/a>, all but ten of whom were from academia. Of the ten non-academics, three were from industry, four were from non-profit public interest organizations, one was an independent consultant, and two were from state environmental agencies.<\/p>\n

SAB Member Qualifications<\/strong><\/p>\n

Section 8(b) of the ERDDA Act (42 U.S.C. \u00a7 4365(b)<\/a>) requires each member of the SAB to be \u201cqualified by education, training, and experience to evaluate scientific and technical information on matters referred to\u201d it. Beyond this little guidance has been provided on the precise qualifications required by SAB members. There is, for example, no requirement that members possess a particular academic degree or have particular professional experience. EPA has, however, repeatedly emphasized the need for members to be independent. For example:<\/p>\n