Members of disbanded EPA air quality panel form independent group

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Reuters•September 26, 2019

Former members of an air quality scientific advisory committee that was disbanded by the Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday they were forming an independent panel to continue their work.

The 20 experts are scheduled to review the science on particulate matter pollution and health beginning at a two-day meeting in Virginia on Oct. 10.

Dubbed the Independent Particulate Matter Review Panel, the group plans to issue a report on whether the current federal particulate matter standard is adequate, members said.

Their announcement came as the EPA is also currently reviewing national air quality standards for particulate matter.

Members of the independent group previously served on the EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter Review Panel, which was disbanded last October by EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. The seven-member CASAC still exists.

Critics have said the move was part of an effort under Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, to cut the EPA's reliance on science when writing regulations.

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