Three months after emptying out two of EPA’s most important advisory committees, the Trump administration is poised to begin restocking them with what is expected to be a more industry-friendly cast.
Starting Thursday, EPA will open parallel 30-day windows for nominations to serve on either the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee or the Science Advisory Board, according to Federal Register notices.
The first, often known by its acronym CASAC, provides outside expertise to agency staffers during legally required — and closely watched — reviews of ambient air quality standards for smog, soot and other common pollutants.
The Science Advisory Board serves as an in-house think tank to EPA leaders, with members tackling topics that have ranged from hydraulic fracturing to the risks of inorganic arsenic. The board can also assess the validity of the science underlying specific regulations, a role that assumed outsize prominence during President Donald Trump’s first term.
