Absent ORD Chief, Trump's Toxics Pick Expands Reach Across EPA Science

摘要

Nancy Beck, the controversial former chemical industry lobbyist who is the top political appointee in EPA's toxics office, appears to be playing a leading role in agency science issues beyond that of her title, deputy assistant administrator in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), according to recently released internal emails and recent events. Sources say her outsize role is driven in part by the fact that she is the only EPA political appointee with a science background in chemical issues, giving her an elevated status within the team of Trump personnel. A toxicologist, Beck's career with the White House Office of Management and Budget during the Bush administration and later with the chemical industry trade group American Chemistry Council (ACQ, has focused on regulatory environmental risk assessment. But this has meant that her influence is felt in other agency offices, especially the Office of Research and Development (ORD), which lacks a Senate-confirmed assistant administrator (AA) and whose top administration official - Richard Yamada, a mathematician and former House science committee aide - does not have a background in chemical issues.