EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) met in Washington, D.C. June 5-6 to discuss a variety of ongoing and upcoming agency actions. Administrator Wheeler kicked off the two-day meeting by highlighting ways in which EPA might better utilize the SAB, an area where the administrator admits the agency has fallen short. “We have not utilized you in the ways that we should. We can and will do better,” he said to the members of the SAB on June 5. The administrator committed to engaging the SAB early in rulemaking processes and providing the board more frequent briefings on the status of agency rulemakings and other actions. Wheeler also asked for the SAB’s help in improving the timelines of SAB reports, which he said the board had previously identified as an area for improvement.
Finally, Wheeler mentioned that the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) is currently out for interagency review, and he expects the proposal will be issued within the next few weeks. The agency’s Spring 2019 Unified Agenda predicted a July 2019 release of the LCR proposal.
The SAB had a full agenda and discussed topics including the Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science Rule, Waters of the U.S. Rule (WOTUS), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The full board committed to drafting letters on both the transparency rule and WOTUS to be given to the administrator later this year.