Two Chemical Industry Officials Expected to Help Oversee EPA Chemical Regulations

A former chemical industry executive who fought against stronger regulations during the first Trump administration is returning to a critical role at the Environmental Protection Agency, two people with knowledge of the appointment said, raising concerns about corporate influence over chemical safety regulations.

Nancy B. Beck, a toxicologist and former executive director of the American Chemistry Council, the industry’s main trade group, is set to reprise a role that helps oversee chemical policy similar to the one she held from 2017 to 2021, albeit with a different title and scope. People said the case has yet to be determined. The chemical council represents dozens of chemical companies and large manufacturers.

Dr. Beck is credited with leading the sweeping pushback against chemical regulations during the first Trump administration, as well as what the subsequent internal investigation described as such. political intervention in agency science and policy making. He rewrote the rulesfor example, it made it difficult to monitor the health consequences of the cancer-related “forever chemical” and therefore to regulate it.

It also helped reduce proposed bans on other substances asbestos and methylene chloridea harmful chemical found in paint thinners. Neither the EPA nor Dr. Beck did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

Hunton Andrews Kurth, the law firm where Dr. Beck most recently served as director of regulatory science, said he is no longer with the firm. Dr. Beck is listed as a political appointee in the EPA employee directory.

Dr. Beck is also expected to be joined by Lynn Ann Deklevan, who also worked at the American Chemistry Council, and is set to return to a role that helps oversee new chemicals as an administrative assistant, though the title may still change. . An environmental engineer by training, his career in the chemical industry includes more than three decades at chemical giant DuPont.

Recent reports Released by EPA Office of the Inspector General said that Dr. Under Dekleva’s leadership, workers were forced to approve new chemicals based on less stringent evaluations, and if they raised concerns, they were held accountable.

Dr. Dekleva did not respond to requests for comment.

American Chemistry Council CEO Chris Jahn said in a statement that the group “looks forward to working with all EPA employees to support sound science” and policy to strengthen America’s competitiveness and create jobs.

Dr. Beck and Dr. Dekleva’s appointment to the agency’s advisory or deputy positions does not require congressional approval. Dr. Beck has previously failed to win congressional confirmation to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2020 after Democrats and environmental groups. accused him used his previous government positions to advance the chemical industry’s agenda.

“Nancy Beck, the EPA’s ‘toxics czar’ during the first Trump Administration, is back to fulfill the chemical industry’s wish list,” said Daniel Rosenberg, director of federal toxics policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group. “Weakening of health protection” from toxic chemicals is just around the corner, he said.

Over the past four years, the Biden administration has sought to regulate the most dangerous chemicals on the market by law. It was strengthened in 2016.

The Biden administration has proposed or finalized the restrictions About 10 dangerous chemicals, including trichlorethylenea chemical used in cleaners and lubricants, as well as being linked to cancer asbestosa heat and refractory mineral widely used in building materials that can cause cancer and lung diseases. More than 80,000 chemicals currently on the market do not undergo environmental testing or regulation.

The Biden administration also appointed for the first time federal standards for PFAS in drinking waterand two types are assigned PFAS as hazardous substances under a law that shifts the responsibility for cleaning up toxic facilities from taxpayers to industry.

The chemical industry has asked the Trump administration to roll back many of these regulations. In letter to Mr. Trump Last month, a coalition of industry groups, including the Chemicals Council, called for an end to what they called the Biden administration’s “unscientific, sledgehammer approach” to chemical policy.

In the letter, industry groups specifically ask the Trump administration to reconsider PFAS drinking water standards and the designation of two PFAS chemicals as hazardous. They are also pressing the EPA to speed up the review of new chemicals and roll back efforts to place new regulations on existing chemicals, which chemical companies say is causing “confusion, duplication and overregulation.”