Van der Vaart

<div></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/environment/scott-pruitt-has-more-doubled-number-polluter-friendly-members-epas-science-advisory">https://www.alternet.org/environment/scott-pruitt-has-more-doubled-number-polluter-friendly-members-epas-science-advisory</a></div><div>
</div><div>...Instead of picking the best experts for his agency’s Science Advisory Board to protect public health, Pruitt appointed candidates who oppose the very laws the EPA is supposed to enforce.</div>To make matters worse, Pruitt did not renew terms for a number of respected members and even dismissed several independent scientists before their terms were up. All told, Pruitt shrunk the SAB from 47 to 42 participants and more than doubled the number of its polluter-friendly members.Undermining the SAB’s integrity might make sense to a former Oklahoma attorney general who openly promotes the interests of the fossil fuel industry. But doing so jeopardizes the independent science the agency needs to protect American health and safety.Pruitt’s Ill-Advised AppointmentsThe Science Advisory Board was established by Congress nearly 40 years ago as an impartial reality check. As Michael Halpern, deputy director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, recently <a data-beacon="//blog.ucsusa.org/michael-halpern/the-epa-science-advisory-board-is-being-compromised-heres-why-that-matters?ga=2.62958255.1205665851.1509414359-803850457.1367700932"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/michael-halpern/the-epa-science-advisory-board-is-being-compromised-heres-why-that-matters?ga=2.62958255.1205665851.1509414359-803850457.1367700932" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">explained</a>, the board “doesn’t make policy recommendations or decisions. It holds no veto power. It should exist as a check on anyone with an agenda, from environmentalists to oil companies. If the science is on your side, the board validates it. If you make unsupportable claims, the board calls you out.”The SAB’s role as “arbiter of scientific fact” has proven to be invaluable. Over the last five years, for instance, the board <a data-beacon="//yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/d21b76bff879fa0a8525735a00766807/8AA27AA419B1D41385257A330064A479/%24File/EPA-SAB-12-008-unsigned.pdf"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/d21b76bff879fa0a8525735a00766807/8AA27AA419B1D41385257A330064A479/%24File/EPA-SAB-12-008-unsigned.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">provided</a> the EPA recommendations for integrating science more effectively into its decision making process; <a data-beacon="//yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/368203f97a15308a852574ba005bbd01/86E44EE7F27EEC1A85257B7B0060F364/%24File/EPA-SAB-13-004-unsigned2.pdf"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/368203f97a15308a852574ba005bbd01/86E44EE7F27EEC1A85257B7B0060F364/%24File/EPA-SAB-13-004-unsigned2.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">advised</a> the agency on the best model to use when evaluating the health threats posed by <a data-beacon="//www.scientificamerican.com/article/perchlorate-in-drinking-water/"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/perchlorate-in-drinking-water/" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">perchlorate</a>, a likely carcinogen; and <a data-beacon="//yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/0/f7a9db9abbac015785257e540052dd54!OpenDocument&TableRow=2.0"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/0/f7a9db9abbac015785257e540052dd54!OpenDocument&TableRow=2.0" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">determined</a> that the EPA’s preliminary finding that the hydraulic fracturing drilling process has not led to “widespread, systemic impacts” on drinking water resources was not supported by the best available science. The final version of the fracking study, released in December 2016, correctly <a data-beacon="//www.apmreports.org/story/2016/12/13/epa-fracking-contamination-drinking-water"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://www.apmreports.org/story/2016/12/13/epa-fracking-contamination-drinking-water" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">concluded</a> that the technique has indeed contaminated some drinking water supplies across the country.As reconstituted by Pruitt, however, the SAB is more likely to come down in favor of industrial polluters than public health.Take the new board chairman, <a data-beacon="//www.publicintegrity.org/2014/12/18/16532/texas-weakens-chemical-exposure-guidelines-opens-door-polluters"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/12/18/16532/texas-weakens-chemical-exposure-guidelines-opens-door-polluters" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Michael Honeycutt</a>, who directs the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s toxicology division. Over the last decade, Honeycutt rolled back the state’s protections for <a data-beacon="//www.tceq.texas.gov/toxicology/dsd/final.html"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://www.tceq.texas.gov/toxicology/dsd/final.html" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">45 toxic chemicals</a>, including arsenic, benzene and formaldehyde. He also attacked EPA rules for ground-level ozone (smog), which aggravates lung diseases, and particulate matter (PM) (soot), which has been linked to lung cancer, cardiovascular damage, reproductive problems and premature death. Despite the overwhelming scientific <a data-beacon="//www.nrdc.org/experts/john-walke/political-vendetta-against-health-safeguards-founded-shocking-falsehoods"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/john-walke/political-vendetta-against-health-safeguards-founded-shocking-falsehoods" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">evidence</a> linking fine soot particles to premature death, Honeycutt <a data-beacon="//science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/hearings/HHRG-112-%20SY20-WState-MHoneycutt-20120606.pdf"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/hearings/HHRG-112-%20SY20-WState-MHoneycutt-20120606.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">testified</a> before Congress that “some studies even suggest PM makes you live longer.”Many of Pruitt’s other appointees to three-year terms on the SAB share a similar disregard for established science.<ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li>Kimberly White is senior director of chemical products at the <a data-beacon="//www.ucsusa.org/center-science-and-democracy/fighting-misinformation/american-chemistry-council-report#.Wck2YMZrw5d"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://www.ucsusa.org/center-science-and-democracy/fighting-misinformation/american-chemistry-council-report#.Wck2YMZrw5d" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">American Chemistry Council</a>, the country’s largest chemical manufacturing trade association. Representing the interests of 155 corporate members, including BP, Dow, DuPont and ExxonMobil, the ACC has delayed, weakened and blocked science-based health, environmental and workplace protections at the state, national and even international levels.</li></ul><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li>Samuel Cohen, a professor at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, produces industry-friendly papers and testimony for chemical companies and trade groups, including the American Chemistry Council. He has <a data-beacon="//www.publicintegrity.org/2014/06/28/15000/how-politics-derailed-epa-science-arsenic-endangering-public-health"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/06/28/15000/how-politics-derailed-epa-science-arsenic-endangering-public-health" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">downplayed</a> the risks of monosodium methanearsonate (MSMA) for the arsenic-based weed killer’s manufacturers and <a data-beacon="//theintercept.com/2017/07/21/trumps-epa-chemical-safety-nominee-was-in-the-business-of-blessing-pollution/"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://theintercept.com/2017/07/21/trumps-epa-chemical-safety-nominee-was-in-the-business-of-blessing-pollution/" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">testified</a>on behalf of Dupont during a kidney cancer trial involving perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), the main ingredient in Teflon.</li></ul><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li>Economist John D. Graham, who ran the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for five years during the George W. Bush administration, has a <a data-beacon="//www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_D.Graham"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_D.Graham" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">long history</a> of emphasizing industry’s costs to reduce pollution, while discounting scientific evidence of exposure risks and ignoring the benefits of a cleaner environment.</li></ul><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li>Anne Smith, a senior vice president at NERA Consulting, is another economist with a pronounced corporate bias. Over the past few years, NERA has <a data-beacon="//www.eenews.net/stories/1060013812"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060013812" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">written</a> reports for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers and other industry trade groups arguing that the EPA underestimates the cost of its rules, including ones designed to lower mercury emissions and reduce ground-level ozone. In February 2015, Smith <a data-beacon="//www.nera.com/content/dam/nera/publications/2015/PUB_Smith_EPA_Testimony_0215.pdf"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://www.nera.com/content/dam/nera/publications/2015/PUB_Smith_EPA_Testimony_0215.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">testified</a> before Congress against the Clean Power Plan to curb coal-fired power plant carbon emissions.</li></ul><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li>Donald Van der Vaart, former secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality, was the agency’s point man against federal air quality rules, including a cap on nitrogen oxide emissions, a major component of ground-level ozone. Last November, he sent a <a data-beacon="//pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/letter-van-der-Vaart-to-Trump.pdf"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/letter-van-der-Vaart-to-Trump.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">letter</a> to then President-elect Trump denouncing “federal overreach” and asking him to all but eliminate the EPA. “By returning responsibility for implementing these laws to the states,” Van der Vaart wrote, “your administration can avoid the agenda-driven federal regulatory process that has stifled our country’s competitiveness.”</li><li>https://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/letter-van-der-Vaart-to-Trump.pdf</li></ul><div>
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</div>Pruitt also enlisted Richard Smith and S. Stanley Young to serve on the board. The two statisticians co-authored an August 2017 <a data-beacon="//www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230017301538"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230017301538" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">study</a> claiming there is “little evidence” of a connection between fine particulate pollution and premature death, ignoring established scientific understanding of air pollution and health risks. Three other appointees, meanwhile, directly represent the energy industry: Merlin Lindstrom is vice president of technology at Phillips 66, Robert Merritt was a geology manager at Total, and Larry Monroe was the chief environmental officer at Southern Company....==President-elect Trump

November 16, 2016

Page 2

require low energy prices to compete. Under WOTUS, our agricultural industry would be severely

hampered by cumbersome and unnecessary land use restrictions.

To fight back, each of our states filed suit against these overreaching federal rules. In an

unprecedented move, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the power plan, and a lower court stayed the

WOTUS rule. We hope that your administration will review these regulations and base its policy

decisions on scientific environmental data that shows what works and what does not. Work with State Governors and Environmental Directors to Eliminate Federal Overreach

When the federal government becomes overly involved in environmental matters that were originally

intended to be administered by the states, the result is both unwarranted federal overreach and

wasteful duplication of effort. For example, EPA enforcement, in addition to state enforcement

efforts, often results in duplicate investigations with no benefit to the environment or the economy.

Second-guessing state efforts is not an effective means for the EPA to provide productive oversight.

Our country still needs the EPA, but not the EPA of recent years. We need research targeted at our

specific, clear environmental challenges. This can best be done by coordinating industry-level

initiatives that cross state lines, which can be defined by measurable success. We must put an end to

the idea that more regulation is always good, and instead allow state and local experts to improve the

environment. End Secret Policy-Making by Washington Insiders

In too many recent instances, the EPA has shown a preference for bringing special interest groups

into the rulemaking process in lieu of a broader stakeholder process that includes state governments.

In one case, the EPA fought against allowing states to participate in litigation, arguing that the states

lacked standing. The EPA then used sue-and-settle practices to allow only special interest groups a

seat at the table. State governments welcome the opportunity to participate in the rulemaking

process, and that process will run more smoothly once the EPA shifts from being an autocrat to being

our partner.

We look forward to working with your administration in order to protect our environment while

bringing economic prosperity to all Americans. Thank you, and congratulations again on your

success.

Sincerely,

Donald van der Vaart, Secretary

North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Lance LeFleur, Director

Alabama Department of Environmental Management Jim Macy, Director

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality David Glatt, Chief

North Dakota Department of Health and Environment Randy Huffman, Secretary

West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection===