Ten AGs Filed Amicus Brief to Protect Independent Scientists on EPA Advisory Committees

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson led a coalition of 10 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in support of environmental groups’ challenge to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that bars scientists who receive EPA grant funding from serving on the agency’s advisory committees. In their brief, the AGs emphasized that the EPA had no legal basis for its decision, which violates the Administrative Procedure Act’s “most basic requirement” of reasoned decision-making. The AGs also called attention to the 40 percent drop in independent academic scientists on the EPA’s Science Advisory Board following the rule’s implementation, and noted that regulated industries’ representation across the agency’s advisory committees tripled over the same period.