EPA Says It’s Not Required to Review Science Panel Membership

The EPA said it doesn’t have to revisit the membership composition of scientific advisory committees that were already in place at the time of a federal court ruling allowing agency grant recipients to serve.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s position Tuesday came one day after a coalition of major environmental groups demanded the agency reinstate committee members who were “unjustifiably removed” due to an earlier policy barring members who had taken grant funding.

The February ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, finding that the EPA couldn’t ban grantees from serving on committees, also doesn’t ...