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Jackson, Ryan[jackson.ryan@epa.gov] POLITICO Pro Energy Whiteboard Fri 6/9/2017 7:46:59 PM EPA reschdules science meeting to add industry voices after Smith cries foul
By Alex Guilln
06/09/2017 03:43 PM EDT
EPA has postponed an upcoming meeting hosted by the agency's scientific integrity official and invited more industry officials and state representatives, following complaints from a senior Republican lawmaker.
The meeting is an annual event at which the scientific integrity official, Francesca Grifo, discusses her work and the agency's scientific integrity policy. House Science Chairman Lamar Smith last month flagged the meeting after discovering the guest list primarily consisted of environmentalists, science organizations, watchdog groups, certain media representatives and think tanks, but almost no one from regulated industries.
EPA "agrees that invitees to the EPA Scientific Integrity Stakeholder meeting should include a balanced representation of those organizations having an interest in scientific integrity at the EPA," Robert Kavlock, the acting assistant administrator for research and development, wrote this week to Smith.
Previous meetings included more industry attendees, and EPA "recently sent invitations to additional organizations representing the regulated community and state governments."
A separate email to invitees seen by POLITICO said the meeting would be rescheduled, but did not specify a timeline.
Grifo, a career official who was hired from the Union of Concerned Scientists in 2013, rose to prominence this spring when she was asked to investigate the Sierra Club's complaint that Administrator Scott Pruitt violated EPA's scientific integrity policy by saying on television that carbon dioxide is not a primary driver of climate change.
Earlier this week, the free-market group Cause of Action Institute filed a Freedom of Information request it says is meant to investigate alleged politicization in Grifo's office.
WHAT'S NEXT: EPA will invite more industry and state representatives and reschedule the meeting for a future date.
To view online'. https://www.politicopro.eom/energy/whiteboard/2017/06/epa-reschdules-science-meeting-to-addindustry-voices-after-smith-cries-foul-088884
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Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906
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Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906
ED_001523_00003582-00002