Democratic Senators Ask GAO to Examine EPA Advisory Panels

A group of 10 Democratic Senators has requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) review the twenty-three federal advisory committees that support EPA.  The Senators want to make sure these groups continue to be balanced and independent.  The recent decision by Administrator Pruitt to not reappoint many members of the Board of Scientific Counselors and other actions by the new Administration have raised concerns on both sides of the aisle.  Specifically, the Senators asked GAO to examine the nomination process, the independence of the committees, how EPA’s handling of their advisory committees compares to other agencies, how the composition of the groups compare to previous committees, and how these committees have been handled in previous changes of administration.  See more details about the request in the news release.