EPA’s Science Advisory Board Calls for Sweeping Review of Pruitt’s Proposals

(Washington, D.C. - May 31, 2018) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board voted this evening to review a wide range of Administrator Scott Pruitt’s proposals, including deeply damaging efforts involving censored science and targeting America’s Clean Car Standards, the Clean Power Plan, and pollution standards for oil and gas operations and super-polluting freight trucks.

“The Science Advisory Board is right to call for a deeper review of the impact of EPA’s actions, including the censored science proposal,” said Sarah Vogel, EDF’s Vice President for Health. “Administrator Pruitt should listen to the caution that’s radiating from tonight’s votes. To ignore his science advisors, many of whom he hand-picked, and push forward some dangerous proposals would be reckless in the extreme.”

Under the guise of transparency, the Censored Science proposal would undermine EPA’s ability to use research critical to protecting human health and the environment.

“The proposal is an attempt by Administrator Pruitt to censor the kinds of scientific studies that showed cigarettes cause cancer and air pollution is deadly,” said Vogel. “Next time there’s a study that shows a danger to our health, EPA may be blocked from acting on it to protect the public.”

The Science Advisory Board also voted to review: the scientific underpinnings for Pruitt’s planned rollback of America’s Clear Car Standards, the successful policy that reduces dangerous air pollution while saving families money on gas; a proposed loophole to allow super-polluting trucks to skirt our Clean Truck Standards, which cited a scientific study now under investigation by the university that conducted it; the adequacy of the supporting science and analysis for the proposed rollback of the Clean Power Plan; and the science underpinning EPA’s review of common sense air pollution safeguards for the oil and gas industry.