White House Memo on Chemical Decisions Sparks Concern, Confusion

Polluters could have more power over the science that helps determine federal and state cleanup standards if a recent White House memo from the Trump administration is or becomes final, several attorneys and former agency scientists say.

The memo, reviewed by Bloomberg Law, requires the Environmental Protection Agency to submit more “health-based values"—or numerical ways of describing a chemical’s toxicity—to the White House’s Office of Information of Information and Regulatory Affairs, known as OIRA.

And for the first time, OIRA, rather than the EPA, would have the final word on what those values would be. Health-based values are used by ...