House Democrats are voicing concerns about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's effort to expedite a high-stakes review of federal standards for fine particulate matter pollution with the help of a recently convened ad hoc panel of outside experts.
In a Sept. 16 letter addressed to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, the chairs of two key House committees asserted that the agency has failed to adequately explain how it will replace the scientific expertise of two different advisory panels after Wheeler abruptly dismissed them in October 2018.
The disbanded panels — comprised of dozens of expert researchers — were tasked with helping the EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, or CASAC, in advising the agency as it reviews the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, or NAAQS, for fine particulate matter and ozone. A growing body of research has linked exposure to fine particulate matter, also known as soot, and ozone, a key ingredient in smog, to increased respiratory problems and premature death.
"Without sufficient expertise, we are concerned that CASAC will be unable to support setting NAAQS needed to protect Americans from these harmful pollutants," House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, and three other Democrats wrote.
The letter follows a draft policy assessment released by EPA career staff the same month that estimated approximately 50,000 soot-linked deaths occur annually at the current NAAQS for fine particulate matter. That assessment was published as the Trump administration seeks to complete NAAQS reviews for fine particulate matter and ozone by late 2020 under a streamlined "back-to-basics" approach outlined by former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
During an April Senate hearing, Wheeler told lawmakers he fired the two advisory panels because they were preventing the EPA from complying with the Clean Air Act's requirement that NAAQS reviews for six different criteria pollutants be individually completed every five years.
However, as part of the agency's fine particulate matter review, the seven-member CASAC informed the EPA later that month that it lacked the expertise to review the latest science on fine particulate matter, specifically citing the need for an epidemiologist. The committee also asked to review a second draft of the EPA's Integrated Science Assessment for that pollutant.
Wheeler responded in July by rejecting the request to review a second draft of the Integrated Science Assessment, but he agreed to provide "a pool of subject matter expert consultants" to aid the committee by Aug. 31.
On Sept. 13, the EPA announced the selection of a new CASAC member and 12 consultants from nine different states.
While not commenting on the individual consultants, former CASAC Chair Chris Frey said in a Sept. 13 email that the group fails to adequately address "the glaring deficiency of the chartered CASAC with respect to its lack of expertise in epidemiology." "After being hammered with an avalanche of public comments on this very issue, it is stunning that EPA would fail to appoint the multiple epidemiologists that are needed to provide depth and diversity in this scientific discipline that is critical to review of air quality standards," Frey said.
The Democrats' Sept. 16 letter also raised concerns about the pool of consultants, noting prior expert panels were assembled using "a transparent selection process that will allow for public input." The lawmakers also asserted that the process envisioned by the agency would only allow the consultants to respond to written comments from the CASAC chair, potentially leading to a "selective review that could sideline other CASAC members from the process."
The letter went on to outline a series of questions that Wheeler could face when he appears Sept. 19 before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology to discuss science and technology at the EPA.
An EPA spokesperson said the agency will respond to the letter through the proper channels. "That said, EPA has been transparent with the committee and briefed them numerous times on a variety of issues, including many outlined in the letter," the spokesperson said. The official added that Wheeler selected the pool of nonmember subject matter experts "following the recommendations and nominations from the public."