"Under Trump, the EPA administrator is pushing a deregulation agenda and a plan to reduce the use of science in decision making, particularly with pollution."

"Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler vowed on Wednesday to make greater use of the agency's official board of science advisers. But soon after he spoke, some of those advisers and other outside experts protested that the agency was instead limiting their role.

Wheeler took the unusual step of addressing the first meeting in a year of the Science Advisory Board (SAB), a group of advisers established by law who should be holding six to eight meetings annually, according to its charter. The reason he was there, Wheeler said, was to show his commitment to a better process.

'I'm glad to be here to lay out a new direction for how EPA interacts with and uses the SAB,' he said. 'I will be the first to admit we have not utilized you the way that we should. We can and we will do better.'"

Marianne Lavelle reports for InsideClimate News June 5, 2019. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"EPA Head: We Will Consult More with Science Advisers" (U.S. News) [3]