Agency punches back in science advisers lawsuit

摘要

U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has sole authority to name members to almost two dozen advisory committees, agency attorneys argue in a new court filing that seeks to throw out a lawsuit challenging membership standards imposed last fall.rn"Ultimately, the power to appoint committee members is the administrator's alone and is non-reviewable by the courts under the circumstances presented here," agency lawyers wrote in a lengthy dismissal motion Friday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The suit "is unprecedented and should be rejected," the filing added.rnThe salvo marked EPA's first formal response to the legal challenge, which is the first of three brought by various university researchers and advocacy groups since Pruitt announced the new standards in late October.rnMost controversially, Pruitt's policy bars current recipients of EPA grant funding from serving on the Science Advisory Board, the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and some 20 other panels that provide outside expertise on subjects ranging from water quality to environmental justice.