EPA Defends Removal of Industry Reps from Clean Air Committee

A lawsuit challenging the removal of industry representatives from an advisory committee belongs in the D.C. Circuit, the EPA told a Washington, D.C., federal court, but even if it can proceed, the court shouldn’t block the committee from meeting.

Congress didn’t limit the agency’s discretion in deciding who it should appoint to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, the EPA told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs didn’t “come close” to showing that the Environmental Protection Agency abused its discretion in picking the committee’s members, the filing says.

The lawsuit says the group is mostly ...