SACRAMENTO — Attorneys generals for nine states have joined forces to file an amicus brief in support of plaintiffs who are fighting an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) directive which prohibits scientists who received EPA grants from serving on the agency's advisory committee.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced he has joined the coalition of nine attorneys general in filing the amicus brief regarding Physicians for Social Responsibility, et al., v. E. Scott Pruitt, a case in which the plaintiffs are challenging the EPA's rule.
In their brief, the attorneys general argue the EPA directive will undermine the EPA's integrity as the advisory board's scientific guidance plays an important role in EPA decision making.
“This illegal directive is yet another example of the Trump administration asking the fox to guard the hen house,” Becerra said in a statement. “Administrator Scott Pruitt’s presumption that EPA-funded scientists already subject to conflict-of-interest rules are suspect, while industry-funded scientists are not, is nonsense."
The coalition includes Becerra and attorneys general from Washington state, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon along with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.