On the eve of the latest meeting of EPA’s Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, four members are pressing EPA for a more assertive role in shaping agency policies.
Decades after the committee was created to provide outside feedback on implementation of the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments, EPA is still faced “with complex and technical issues” related to climate change, air toxics standards and other matters, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources air chief Gail Good and the other three members told EPA leader Joe Goffman in a letter last week obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News.
But while each committee member “was selected in order to provide informed advice to the Agency based on their diverse backgrounds and expertise …,” they wrote, “[w]e do not believe that EPA is currently receiving the full benefit of our individual experience and perspectives.”
To do better, they urged Goffman, head of EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, and other officials to furnish their written presentations on regulations and other topics to the committee at least a week in advance and allow more time for questions during each meeting, along with the opportunity for follow-up written queries. They also recommended that EPA create more subcommittees and work groups “to cover the full range of issues confronting implementation” of the act.
